Well, like it says, Im trying to paint eyes for some 1/35 figures, not detailed pupils and irisis, Im kind of just going for a oval shaped white dot and a brown/blue on inside of that a bit smaller. None of my brushes are small enough for the job, and Ive tried a toockpick but italso makes them too big and blobby, plus they are just perfectly round, not ovals or anything. Any Ideas would be great.
Forget about the whites… wouldn’t show up in this scale. The pinkinsh skin tone will suffice. For the colors, you can glue a small sewing needle into the tip of an old brush, tip removed. Thin the paint. Paint only the bottom half of the iris, unless the face is supposed to be real wide-eyed. If that’s still too small detail, then you can paint the entire round iris, overlapping the upper eye lid, then touch up the lid later with more skin tone. Hope this wil help. SteveM
Yea just like what SteveM said .
I disagree on the whites. I paint all the whites on my figures eyes. I use a fine brush and a cross method that I think was in one of Verlinden’s books. First paint the white as a thin horizontal line. Next, paint a thin vertical line across the white to make the iris in the color you want (blue, brown, etc) for the eye color. Lastly, carefully shape the eyes with flesh color to finish them off. It comes out looking great and isn’t that hard once you practice it a few times.
Here is an example.
“That’s the way to do it.” (quote from “Money for Nothing” [:D])
HeavyArty’s got it. The method he describes is an easy and effective one (probably you should have made a thicke line on the figure you have on this picture, Gino).
Whichever method you use eyes are the first thing to paint, because you’ll have to correct their shape with flesh tones.
Keep in mind that it’s better not to use plain white, but a veeeeeery light pink.
There is an ongoing dispute wether to paint thw white or not. To me the eye looks more reallistic if it has one, even if you can hardly see it.
This is my latest work a 54mm (1/32) knight:
Two points:
Nothing beats a good brush, and a single GOOD brush with care will last you many years.
I like size O or OO brushes, and I prefer Robert Simmons with the big black handle avaiable at Hobby Lobby or Michaels. Clean it carefully and onl use it for eyes or other very fine details, use hair conditioner on it once in a while and it will last many years.
In 28MM and larger try blocking in your eye color with off white or very very light pink inside the eyeball area with a "two -stroke- per- side of the eye"movement that looks like this —< O > --in reality when you are done . Fill in the iris later with your color of choice using brown, blue orhazel and finally a black pupil. Shep Paines work in his books demonstrated the cross principle but I was never able to pull it off successfully so I use this instead and it looks good. Also, keep in mind you will almost never see the entire iris unless the upper eyelid is totally pulled back either in fright or anger, whcy may be appropriate here, BUT, you dont want a popeyed look like all my first figures were.
Secondly I read many years ago (and it has served me well) to paint eyes on a figure while holding it upside down, somehow it seems to keep from painting the figure cross eyed.
I dont always have my figures looking ahead, i like ot make them look off to the side a bit toadd visual interest. If all else fails , paint the eyeball off pink of oyster grey, and use the very nice Archer Human Eyeball decals.
HTH
David
Ian
Just do what looks realistic to you. Those are great tutorials on how to paint eyes. Try it out on some.
Take a look at some real people at a distance of about 20 feet away. This would be your scale reference in 1/35. Note what detail you can make out in their eyes and face, bring that to your painting.
Keep in mind the situation you are portraying; in my opinion and in relation to your Omaha dio, those guys who reached the shore had been subjected to salt water in the face and sea air for hours, and been awake for a long time. Very minor detail and I don’t want to sound nitpicky or defensive, I’m just saying that you could easily get by without having to do all that excruciating painting[2c]
Have a great Thanksgiving,
SteveM
As Heavy arty et-al said paint eyes before fleshtones are done, and frame in the whites. Fine round brushes can be had down to 10/0. I never use bigger than 5/0.
Ian,
You now probably have more advice than you dreamed of. I actually have brushes down to a size 30/0 for my detail work, but that is not your original question. I always paint the “whites” of the eyes on anything bigger than 1/48 scale. I actually paint the eyes after the flesh is finished, but this is just my approach. I mix a little blue with gloss white to get the color I want, as white alone is too dramatic. In 1/35 scale and smaller, I have started using drafting pens (available at bigger hobby shops like Hobby Lobby) for the iris color and pupils. These pens are much easier for me to control than a brush and can be found in blue, green, brown, and of course black. Good luck with your figures!
Scott [oX)]
If you paint your eyes, right eye side first then left, you won’t have to look over the brush to see the previously painted eye. This prevents your figures from being walleyed and makes for matching up the iris position easier.
you have to be fairly close to someone to see the whites of their eyes, but seeing HeavyArty’s fig, I would paint them. like he says, white horizontal streak, blue, black or other color vertical streak, and then shape the eyes
Thanks guys, I got some great responses, and yeah, HeavyArty’s looks pretty nice, so I might have to try. And renarts, thanks for the tip, it seems insignificant, but now that I think of it its a great way to keep my figures from getting one huge eye and one tiny one. Thanks guys.