| About Face! |
Many thanks to undeadair for this article.
Hi everyone!
I've gotten numerous requests for a tutorial on how to paint flesh so I thought I would take the time tonight to oblige those who have seen my Imperial Guardsmen and have inquired.
Hopefully even those that don't play IG can take something away from this. Faces can be scary to the beginning painter and I will attempt to show that this shouldn't be the case at all. With just a little practice, patience and THINNED paint, anyone can make great faces for their armies which will make the model "pop" even more on the tabletop.
Just a quick disclaimer: My photography set-up is not really that great. I use a piece of poster board and the same lamp I use to paint with for a make-shift studio. Since I had to set up and tear down for every step, you'll notice some variations in the photos (most obviously in the backgrounds). I've done my best to make each photograph as representative as possible of each step in the process, nonetheless. I think for the purposes of this tutorial we should be OK and I'll describe as much as I can for each picture.
Now, onto to FUN.
Here is what you'll need:
I forgot to get my paint brushes in the shot, but for this project I used the same brushes I always use for faces. American Painter sizes 18/0 (for the extremely fine details) and 3/0 for the rest. I paid $1.69 each for these brushes at a local craft store. Take that, GW! (Also, not pictured: CODEX GREY... doh!)
For the first step, I just painted the soon-to-be-flesh areas of the model in GW's amazing Codex Grey. I love the hell out of this color because it covers black instantly and lighter colors can be painted right over it with very minimal effort. Trying to paint flesh colors straight over black is just a pain, so break out that Codex Grey and get to it!
Note for newbies: Do NOT use your paints right out of the pot... thin the paint to approximately the consistency of skim milk.
Now, take Reaper Master Series "Tanned Shadow" and cover all of the Codex Grey. Since you've thinned your paints (right?), it will probably take two quick passes for full coverage, but these will go on relatively easy.
GW's Brown Ink is awesome. Whenever you buy a pot of ink, the moment you get it home, take a drop or two of dishwashing liquid and put it right into the pot. Be sure to shake the pot before each use! For those who don't know: The liquid soap will break the surface tension of the ink when you apply it to the model and will let it flow into the deepest recesses.
With a mix of 1:1 Brown ink/water, strategically apply the ink so the majority of it goes into the deepest cracks of the model. You'll notice I was quite liberal with the application treating it almost as a wash and at some points, I went full ink (no water) and put it on the parts that would be the most dark such as between the helmet and the face, and around the eyes.
Now, this part is actually two steps in one... After the ink has dried, use "Tanned Shadow" (again) to go over the parts of the flesh that would stand out from the shadows, such as fingers, cheeks, eye brows, nose, knuckles, etc.. just imagine the light hitting the model and paint the things that would naturally stand out, relegating the inked sections (from last step) to the shadowy parts of the model.
Now, with "Tanned Skin" hit those "light" parts again, but now paint the parts that would be even lighter. Parts such as finger tips, tip of the nose, cheekbones, bones on the hand, etc...
Here is where you should take your time and go for as much realism and grit as you like... want a more dirty looking face/hands? Leave more of that ink showing! Want a pretty boy? Use more "Tanned Shadow" and hide more of that ink.
Finally, use "Fair Shadow" sparingly to hit the most extreme of highlights. Ends of fingers, end of nose, highest points of the knuckles, etc. If you find the color is too bright for your liking, you can paint over it with "Tanned Skin" to turn it down a little, or just mix it with "Tanned Skin" to begin with.
You're done!
Next tutorial we'll take this Guardsman and give him a uniform!
Hope this helps!
PS: Please reply with any questions or comments! If there's something you think should be clarified in this tutorial, I'll edit the post if I think it will help. Thanks!
Thanks to undeadair, too, for allowing us to post this
