How I paint my figures

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rkapuaala

Guest
My father used to tell me; "There are three ways to do a job, the right way, the wrong way, and my way". He never told me his way is the right way,,,, so I'm not going to tell you my way is the right way, as long as you don't tell me its wrong.

First lets start with my philosophy on paints.

I use acrylics, because clean up is easy and they dry fast.

On my figures less than 1:10 scale I do not use a primer coat because the more pigment you cover your figure with the less detail is left from the original sculpt.

I mix model paints with artist colors from the tube liberally because model paints flow better, dry quicker but you are very limited on the amount of color you can get them in.

I work in layers because I like the effect and I pretty much am a clueless painter that treats each new subject as a chance for newer discoveries and a chance to reinvent the wheel.

PAINTS I LIKE.

I'm not going to get into brands because I'm sure that we all have our preferences, and besides I mix brands for the same reason I use artists paints,,, some brands have a better selection of certain colors.

I use flat paints exclusively,,, and that goes for my rolling stock and steam engines too.

COLORS I USE FOR THE FACES

burnt sienna Artist paint

raw siena Artist paint

burnt umber Artist paint

yellow ochre Artist paint

dark blue model paint

white model paint

insignia red model paint

SOME NOTES ON SKIN COLOR

Skin,,, no matter how dark, or how light, is never a consistent color. In addition to the reflected ambient colors of light bouncing off various surfaces of the human body (particularly the face) there are subcutaneous colors from bone, tendon, capillaries and veins. There are also imperfections on the skin itself. Some of these are caused by old age, some by disease, and some by bacteria. Some of these are called blemishes, and moles and liver spots.

Its important to note that in some cases, blood pools up in some place giving a redish or purplish hue to the effected are like around the knuckles of your hands if they have been dangling at your sides, or the tops of your feet from standing around all day putting tiny parts on other parts that zoom by you on an assembly line. At any rate, there are many conditions and areas of the body where blood causes the skin to turn red (blush) or purplish.

So,,, thats it in a nut shell on skin color. I would recommend at this point, you get a mirror and study your face in minute detail. At first it will probably appear to be all one color. For those of you with a 5 oclock shadow, you may notice that the skin around your mouth, chin and jaws has either a bluish or a brownish tint to it. If you look closer you'll also see that the area you shave, is also somewhat lighter.

Anyway if you stare long enough, you'll conclude that your face, male or female, black or white, yellow or red is not just one color.

So,,, I'll move on now to a demonstration.
 
R

rkapuaala

Guest
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I painted this figure yesterday and took images of the steps. He is a 1:8 scale figure that I was commissioned to sculpt, but except for the fact that he is much larger than a 1:20.32 scale figure and has been primed before I painted, the steps are pretty much the same.

Speaking of steps, this all I can cover. There are things like brush work and technique that I don't feel competent or knowledgeable enough to discuss, so I'll just leave that out.

First step for me for the larger scale is always the primer coat.

You can skip this if you are only interested in painting the 1:20.32 scale figures.

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I use a flat white acrylic primer. I make at least one copy of all my commissioned work so you will see two primed figures in the image above. One nice thing about a primer is, the paint flows better on a primed surface than a bare polyurethane resin surface. Also, if you are going to use water color affects its nice to have this primer as a substrate.

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R

rkapuaala

Guest
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I don't always paint the clothing first, but in this case because of the size of the figure and the fact that I would be doing such a large area of two base colors only, I decided to use an air brush on the shirt and paints. That meant, masking the face and hands,, something I don't like doing after they are painted.

Right now I am going to focus on painting the face and hands,,, keep in the back of your mind that cloth is also not just one solid color.

I like to start in defining the darker areas of the skin, places where there are creases seem to collect dirt and blood also likes to pool in these areas. The color on this image isn't so good, what looks like grey is really a mixture of blue (model paint) and burnt sienna which together make more of purplish color. I also water this down so its more of a wash, which invites the color to spread out and diffuse a little and pool up in some places and get darker. Let this happen,,, don't try to control it.

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After the wash has dried ( I'm impatient so I use a hair dryer to help it move along) I mix a very light combination of white artist paint (whoops forgot to put that in the list above) with a wash of blue model paint and burnt sienna. And I cover the face and hands with this wash in one even coat covering the hair and the eyes and all parts of the body.

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Notice in the image above how dark the water is with the blue model paint in it. I mix that with distilled water. I don't know what your tap water is like but our water is very alkaline so I avoid using for anything more than clean up. You really want that fist base coat to be very light and very thin if you are painting the skin of a very Caucasian person. The figure is not a likeness of anyone in particular,,, just a generic Irish American. I used my cousins hair color and skin color for my model on this one. He's very light, but works out doors a lot, which is what this estate driver will be doing.

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stona

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Steve
You've got me hooked. I'm crap at figure painting,it's a good job I don't do it very much,so I'll be following this along. Any tips from an expert are much appreciated.

Cheers

Steve
 
R

rkapuaala

Guest
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After the base coat drys thoroughly (use a hair dryer or bake it) I start hacking in the imperfections in the skin. Straight raw sienna is really good for freckles. I thin it with a lot of my blue model paint and water mixture and add some white artists paint to it here and there. I focus this color primarily on the surfaces that get hit by the sun a lot. This guy will be wearing a hat, but, instead of giving him a hat tan, I made it look like he didn't wear a hat. The tops of the hand get hit a lot by sun, so put even more on them. This coat is not a cover coat and should not be a consistent value through out. Water it down, darken in parts and try to let the base color come through in small areas.

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After the raw sienna splotches dry completely, I start with a burnt sienna wash (again using the blue distilled water mixture for the wash). I focus on the tip of the nose and ear and inbetween the knuckles on the hands. Note that the raised hand should not be as redish between the knuckles. You want to lean towards a purplish color. I do one other thing on the nose,,, I add some rubbing alcohol to the wash. This causes the water and pigment and alcohol to want to avoid each other and gives the appearance of tiny capillaries in the nose. I can't give you proportions on this mixture, you have to experiment. I uses another surface for my tests before I apply to the figure.

While the nose will get red from exposure to the sun, the bags under the eyes tend to get blood pooling in them, but not as much as the nose unless the person is drinker. I decided that my driver was partial to the drink while he drove the engine because he considered the task so easy it didn't require his full attention and because he was just flat out an alchy, so the bags under his eyes and the tip of his nose and ears were flushed more because of alcohol than sun.

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The color of your skin is also dependent on the colors of the world and other things on your person such as hair and clothing. So at this point, so I can keep my barrings I always do the hair and adjacent clothing color, like the suspenders in this case. A wash of raw umber and a little raw sienna make a good match for my cousins hair. Its a sort of a redish, dish water blond. I don't know what you call the color. I apply it like a wash letting the surface below show through and applying it in blotches to get some variation here and there. I want some darker areas in the mustache, because the big nose is like a parasol shading the upper lip. I also line the top of the lids with some of it.

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R

rkapuaala

Guest
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Now, I begin with my smallest brush and started working on the very small details. At this point I will switch back and forth using all my colors to bring the face into life. Small blotches of yellow ochre wash around the eyes and mustache. Washes of straight raw umber around the creases in the forehead and fingers to make them look a little dirty. Some darker blue model paint washes around the lips in the sockets of the eyes, and some high lights to bring out wrinkles and and tendons in knuckles. Finally I get it to this point.

Its important to note that even though you really can't tell from the image, the irises of the eyes and the cornea are made up of multiple layers of paint to give them more depth. The cornea closes to the nose is usually more redish and yellowish, this is where the insignia red model paints comes in. I use a very light wash over lay of yellow ocher and the red model paint. I use clear distilled water for this wash. Not the bluish water. I also use various values of blue and some black model paint (forgot to add that one to the list too) for the pupils and to accent the upper eye lashes.

Tomorrow I will work on the painting the clothing. The pants should be particularly interesting because they will be pin striped.

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M

m1ks

Guest
I'm always in for a tutorial of this nature, i've yet to paint a figure but would love to be able to do it well
 
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