Eye painting tutorial

[72moonglum]

Hi All,

So for those that pay the least bit of attention to what I paint, you may have noticed that I paint mostly Ral Partha  figures, which is a brand I really do enjoy quite a lot.  I've been painting figures for their online catalogue for a number of years, and I just recently tried my hand at my first little tutorial, which was posted over at their site.  If you are at all curious, you could find it here:

 

http://www.ralpartha.com/index.php/blog/119-painting-guide-eyes-and-faces

 

It is by no means the end-all, be-all of painting eyes, but just shows the way I typically approach painting eyes with four recent examples of figures that I've done. I think it almost feels like a WIP for four different figures. So anyways, have a look, hope you enjoy it, and hopefully somebody somewhere can get a little bit of eye-painting inspiration!

[wdmartin]

I've been trying to follow Marike Reimer's guide to painting eyes.  It's hard.  Accurately painting multiple dots that small is just really freaking hard.

[Zink]

I often have trouble just getting a coloured blob in the general area of the eye. It's something I want to work on but lately I'm doing historical minis that don't really have eyes that lend themselves to painting. Thanks for the guides.

[72moonglum]

Just now, Zink said:

I often have trouble just getting a coloured blob in the general area of the eye. It's something I want to work on but lately I'm doing historical minis that don't really have eyes that lend themselves to painting. Thanks for the guides.

I think once you get the dark brown dot in a good spot, it's usually easier to get the colored dot in top of it because you already have a point to aim for. 

[Loim]

Very cool little tutorial. Thank you for sharing it. 

[Cranky Dog]

2 hours ago, wdmartin said:

I've been trying to follow Marike Reimer's guide to painting eyes.  It's hard.  Accurately painting multiple dots that small is just really freaking hard.

My problem with dots that small is that my paint will either be too thin or too thick, especially the white dots.

 

Anyone got white liner? Liner consistency would be best for me. Thin, smooth, and heavily pigmented.

[72moonglum]

I usually thin my paints with water, so use white paint with a little bit of water but not enough to not have control of where it goes. Does white liner actually exist?

[Silvervane]

I've found flow improve in the mix with a little RMS Matte Sealer or Matte Medium help thin the white and give me an extra couple of seconds of paint time before drying.  I use very little paint on my brush when I paint my eyes. to prevent the paint from running.

[Zink]

I have a lot of trouble getting the right consistency for doing work like this. Either too runny to control or it dries on the brush before I can get it where I want. Got some drying retarder and other additives/mediums to fool around with now that may help.

[rfusca]

Its by far the hardest part for me, faces in general but especially the eyes.  I feel like I like my mini and then 'BOOM' - holy crap whats wrong with her face!  I've been painting the wizkids mini's the last few days though, and some of the faces barely have any definition. 

I've ordered a Sakura 003 (.15mm) Technical pen though to see if it makes eyes easier.  Worth $5 if it makes it easier.

[Zink]

I've thought about trying out pens but have never seen one in person and didn't want to order it blind.

[72moonglum]

9 hours ago, rfusca said:

Its by far the hardest part for me, faces in general but especially the eyes.  I feel like I like my mini and then 'BOOM' - holy crap whats wrong with her face!  I've been painting the wizkids mini's the last few days though, and some of the faces barely have any definition. 

I've ordered a Sakura 003 (.15mm) Technical pen though to see if it makes eyes easier.  Worth $5 if it makes it easier.

I think for eyes it's a matter of practice and once you more or less have it down, then it's something you can kind of say you've "conquered" and you can worry about another aspect of painting.  My eyes are way far from perfect, but getting at least to a point where you aren't really depressed when you look at what you've done is a pretty good (relatively speaking) feeling.  I kind of feel that I do okay eyes, and now my bane continues to be NMM, which I must try to figure out a way to conquer, or at least come to terms with.

 

Edited September 22, 2017 by 72moonglum

[rfusca]

3 hours ago, 72moonglum said:

I think for eyes it's a matter of practice and once you more or less have it down, then it's something you can kind of say you've "conquered" and you can worry about another aspect of painting.  My eyes are way far from perfect, but getting at least to a point where you aren't really depressed when you look at what you've done is a pretty good (relatively speaking) feeling.  I know of feel that I do okay eyes, and now my bane continues to be NMM, which I must try to figure out a way to conquer, or at least come to terms with.

 

NMM? 

[Silvervane]

Non-Metallic Metal,  a method of painting metal parts of your miniature without using metal paints.

[72moonglum]

20 minutes ago, Silvervane said:

Non-Metallic Metal,  a method of painting metal parts of your miniature without using metal paints.

Yeah, have been working on that for years, and that continues to be hit and miss for me. I think it has a lot to do with the color I start out with. If you start out with an Ashen Blue it's more probable if will turn out better.  But of course there is always the shading and highlighting to make it look decent as well. It just never ends...

Edited September 22, 2017 by 72moonglum