About the eyes, I think I have something to explain it a bit... I did make a lot of pictures from another model a looong time ago (in fact I forgot I had it until now), it's Alexia from Privateer Press (man that primer looks grainy on pictures this big). And I even found a write up to go with it... must be written a little while ago then (my head's a bit full with other stuff lately). Hurray for the stuff you can find browsing your own computer.
Click to see full-sized imageFace Tutorial by Bren
Miniature: Alexia from the Risen box, Privateer Press
Used brushes: W&N Series 7 #1 and #2
Used paints (all Vallejo Game Color): Pale Flesh, Scar Red, Falcon Turquoise, Gold Yellow, Dead White, Black, Glaze Medium.
As some people asked me how I paint the face of my (female) miniatures, here’s a little tutorial. This is the method I use now, I don’t pretend it’s the best method, just the way I do it at the moment. Maybe in a few months I’ll do it different, who knows
Before you look at the pics and think: OMG that’s grainy! Yes it is. I have some issues finding the right primer. However, in real life you can hardly see it. Remember these pics are way bigger than the real miniature or the size I’d normally show it to you. But if I’d show those tiny pictures you won’t be able to see anything. Nevertheless I really have to find another primer I guess…
Here we go. I wanted to create a pale, a little unnatural, ghostly skintone without her looking like a dead body (hence the red). I realize the photos aren’t completely true to reality, but they’ll do (well, they have to). About the technique I use for highlighting and shading, it’s all layering with highly diluted paint (sometimes with some Glaze Medium added). No wet blending, although I wish I knew how to do it.
1. I basecoated the face with Pale Flesh mixed with a tiny bit of Turquoise (the base color). I painted the eye sockets black. I like painting the eyes before I finish the rest of the face, I just know I’ll make mistakes with the black paint and I think they’re easier to fix on an unfinished face.
2. I added some white to the skin mix and started highlighting (forehead, chin, nose, below the eyes, upper lip, upper eyelids). I also painted the eyeballs white, a little messy it still is, but I’ll fix that later.
3. I started shading. A little while ago I used to do all the highlighting first and then all the shading, but right now I like to see the contrast grow slowly while I’m painting. For shading I used the base color and slightly mixed in more of the turquoise and also the red. As you can see I also painted the iris in both eyes. It’s difficult to see, but it’s some turquoise mixed with a little yellow, I thought she would look nice with green eyes
4. Some more shading, by now I used only a mix of turquoise and red with a little Glaze Medium added to it. You have to be a bit patient using Glaze Medium (it creates extended drying time) but I think it works great. The paint becomes translucent, so no loss of blends. But it takes a few layers before you get enough shading. I also highlighted the iris with the green color I had with some white added to it.
5. (shading of the face continues, the pics are somehow a little different as you can see from the blue background). I painted black dots as pupils.
6. (see 5.). I painted a tiny white reflection dot in both eyes.
7. Man she looks ugly here. As you can see I painted the lips. It’s a mix of black and red.
8. It’s hard to see, but I started highlighting the lips leaving a thin dark line on the outside. I first added more red to the dark mixture, and then I starting adding white. I also re-highlighted some areas of her face as they didn’t seem bright enough (mainly just below her eyes, the upper eyelids, her forehead, just above her upper lip and her chin). While I was highlighting I automatically fixed some messy areas around the eyes.
9. Finished highlighting the lips, I ended with pure white. Also finished highlighting the face.
10. I felt she needed a little more red on her cheeks, so I glazed a few layers of red on them.
11. Finished (at least by now, I’m not sure I want to add eyebrows yet). I found the black lines around her eyes were still a bit too thick, so I corrected them by painting a few thin layers of the appropriate skin highlight until I was happy with it. Picture 11a shows the actual size of the mini, #11b shows the size I’d normally show it to you.
12. Different angle. 12a shows again the size of the mini IRL.
Finished model just for those who are interested:
[rimg]https://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4386/alexiae.th.jpg[/rimg]
For the pink, I used a few different paints for it on this model:
VGC Warlord purple
Pegasus Weinrot/Violet red (this color is a bit like GW's Scab Red but I like this one better)
Pegasus Burgundy for shading
white for highlighting
I make a mix of the first two, with bit more red for the model itself and a bit more purple for the kitty. Then I highlight it to white adding increasing volumes of white to my mix. Finally I use glaze medium to create more shading and to make the white look less washoud out. As you can see the pink parts of the girls armour received more glazes of the Violet Red and Burgundy, while I wanted to keep the cat really pink so more VGC Warlord Purple for that one.
Click to see full-sized image![[rimg]https://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4386/alexiae.th.jpg[/rimg]](https://img690.imageshack.us/i/alexiae.jpg/){kind=link}