Brandy Small posted on March 08, 2009 13:49
You will find out that the most catching part of any figure is the skin tone. We as people, see the distinct differences in our own skin verses that of others. The technique that I choose to use is the staining method. This means that I put on a base coat then cover it with oil paints, letting them stain the base coat. I then wipe off the excess.
The base coat is very important; I have tried several type and brands of paint and the best I have found is Humbrol Flesh. It holds the stain very well. I then use Gumbracker Oil Paints, a mixture of black, burnt sienna, raw umber, burnt umber, burnt sienna, titanium yellow, cadium red, and satin white will produce any skin tone known to man. Now research enters the picture. You have to determine what type of skin and color of skin your figure has. For example, I know that El Cid, the person portrayed in my bust was Spanish, this means his skin will have a dark tint to it, he was also a warrior and thus his skin was in constant contact with the elements, so it will have a leathered appearance to it. Now that I know what type and color of skin I have I can begin to paint. I paint on the Humbrol Flesh and let the figure sit for a day.
Once the base coat is dry I mix the oil paints until I have the tint I want i.e. black, reddish, brown. Remember, we are using the oils like a stain so put on a thick fully covering layer on the face, hands or bare skin and let set.
After approximately 30 minutes, take a flat brush and begin to wipe the oils off. Once all the oils are removed the face will still be dark, take another clean flat brush and continue to wipe the face off until it is the color you want. When this is completed we will begin to highlight with face.
The object of highlighting is to accent the raised portions of the face, such as the chin, forehead, cheeks, and nose. This gives the face a three dimensional appeal. I have learned that if you have dark skin tones, use a lot of titanium yellow and white. With lighter skin tones use more white, and with black skin use equal yellow and white, and add a slight bit of red. Take another clean brush and put just enough on the brush for it to be wet. Then lightly brush over the raised areas until you are satisfied with the results. This process depends more on individual taste, how do you want the figure to look and you should paint accordingly.
Once you have the oils done, let the figure dry for a day. The last step on the face is the eyes. Eyes are very important and very hard. Most modelers have a problem with their figures being crossed eyed. If your figure's eyes are bad they will distract from the whole figure, but there is a way around it. Once your oils are dry you need to get acrylic white. Paint the complete eyeball white, let set until the paint is dry. When you start painting the pupils you need to do the eye that coordinates with your writing hand, in other words if you are right handed, you will start with the right eye. Use black and paint a round pupil on the white. Then when you want to do the other eye flip the figure upside down and paint the other pupil. This allows you to view the face not as a mirror image, and prevents crossed eyed figures.