# Painting Eyes



## chrisb (Jan 3, 2008)

For 1:20 figures, I having trouble with the pupil. Gave up using a brush. I shapened a round tooth pick and dotted light blue iris's on each eye. 
My problem is getting a smaller black dot for the pupil. Any advice? I'm using acrylic Model Masters.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

I found this to be one of the biggest pains with my few efforts into figure painting as well. I ended up using the tip of a needle (one of those sorts that infest new clothes) and I still couln't get it right half the time. Fortunately, those figures are now inside passenger cars, making detailed inspections of my blunders difficult.


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## stevedenver (Jan 6, 2008)

i have painted whites and pupils -if you get the proportion correct is makes a nice look-never tried an iris without it looking a bit google eyed 

what i do now is simply paint a pupil-ie a very small black dot in the eye area-sometimes not centered but looking aside 

usually the shadow area under the eyebrow ridge allows this to be quite effective 

no its not like the really finemilitary minaitures but it still seems to work for me 

i use a tiny brush 0000 and lightly thinned paint -dip and wipe and then paint 

ive tried pins, wires, etc and usually get too large a pupil and not the best control over placement either-hard to get enough paint or get the paint to simply 'stamp' thinnly and not over do it and get 'em the same 

less is more-its amazing how anything like a pupil will catch youre eye on a figure-


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Look at people as you're walking around outside. Unless you're close, you can't see their eyes. I often don't bother to paint eyes on my 1:29 figures. 

If I do paint eyes, I add just a touch of color for the eye color, then paint eyelids over most of it. I've never bothered with pupils ;p


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

I just use a wash to darken the eye area. I used to paint all that detail, but you can only see it in an extreme closeup.

Most of my viewing is done a bit further away. 

I just used a wash on this guy:


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

paint the pupil first and then use a small tube to add the iris. Blow into the tube so just a ring will paint. I'd suggest a # oooo hypodermic needle ground flat. Remember the lamp you are using will cause the pupil to close so paint a tad oversize.... wink wink lol


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

You can't even see their eyes even up close. Half of these have a small black dot in the middle of the eye and the half don't. You can't tell the difference - 










-Brian


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Zombies! they're all Zombies! lol


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

I see, said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

I paint whites, iris's and pupils. You can very small brushes at most art stores that work just fine. The trick is 
steady handy, 
painting between breathes,
waiting for each part to dry. 
and following a sequence. I do the lashes first, but painting the hole eye the color of the lashes which is usually a the color of the hair mixed with the color of the flesh.

I wait till that dries and paint the cornea (whites of the eyes) but not white. The cornea is usually a little pinkish on some folks and a little yellowish on others and almost always has touches of grey or dark blue. The tone should be fairly close to the skin color on caucasian people, which makes it more prounounced on people of color.
I take artistic license and tone it down a little more on darker people so they don't look shocked,,, unless of course,,, I want them to look shocked.

Next I do the dark area around the iris, usually thats a daker value of the color of the iris. 
Then I do the iris,

And finally the pupil.
Thin your paints a little, and make sure that by the time you get to the iris and the pupil your brush isn't completely loaded with color, as that will always leach over to the surrounding areas.

I don't follow the 10 foot rule, because I want to be able to get as close as I can to a figure and try and make it look as real as possible. Of course, I'm still a ways off, but so far the above steps help.


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## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

for us 1:29 guys... I am lucky to even have one eye evenly sculpted with the other! lol 
At 1st I used to use a toothpick to place a white dot and then a needle for the darker pupil, they looked bug eyed like a crack dealer or something! so now I just use 1 dark spot and move on.... 
1:20 must be much easier!?!?!?


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

A Sharpy ultra fine marker? works for eyebrows, and Errol Flynn mustaches too (as long as the figure is dark haired) Most people squint outside, so I don't bother painting whites, just a dark dot... they look fine from 3 feet away.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice tip on the Sharpy, Mik! I'll have to try that.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Just make sure it's the ultra fine, the regular sharpies are too fat


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

So how do you make a checked shirt? Somebody said they used a sharpie to draw the checks, but there are arms in the way, so my people are all in solid colors.


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## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

like this Tom?


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

hehe 

Maybe I'll stick to solid colors


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## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's a link to an earlier thread in a similar vein: http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...rumid/22/postid/57932/view/topic/Default.aspx


Painting Figures' Faces


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Perhaps these eye decals from Archer are a solution: http://www.archertransfers.com/catFig.html 
There are no 1:20 scale available but perhaps the "various scale" sets are usefull. 
BTW; they also have nice scale tattoo's!


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

They have a nice range of sizes provided I am reading the description correctly, anywhere from 2 1/8 inch tall figures to 6" tall figures. Might be worth a try.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Okay, here is a suggestion that nobody can do anymore!









MANY years ago, (I don't remember how many, it was that long ago), in a magazine (which I cannot remember which one it was) there was a "Thing to do" sort of article about taking a "Polaroid" photo print apart to get at the chemicals inside during the development time and stretching it over an egg to put the photo on the egg.

I say that nobody can do this anymore because I don't think Polaroid film is available anymore and if there does happen to be a company making it, it is probably way too expensive to be doing this kind of experimenting with.

Anyway, Has anyone attempted to print photos of people's faces on decal paper and then paste that on a sculpted head? Would you have to sculpt the head perfectly or maybe only give the general 3-D shape and let the photographic shadows "fill in the detail" of shape while filling in the detail of the person the model is of?

The Polaroid film technique was unique because the chemicals and the substrate they were on was stretchy and could easily conform to odd shapes. Are there any decal substrates that can do that? (The only stuff I have ever used tore much too easily to attempt to stretch it over a nose and forehead and dip into eye sockets, etc.)


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

C.T. 
I have used paper to simulate cloth on sculpted figures and it is no easy matter. The paper will tear very easily on the slightest of bends. A face has some very complex curves to lay a decal over. That being said, it may be possible that given the right software, to print out a decal that matches a texture map like on a CG human face. I think, it would be much easier to paint the face than it would be to cut out such a decal and lay it down on a G Scale sculpted face.


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