Roc
A Fixture
Painting the face of a figurine, in my opinion is by far the most satisfying part of figure painting. In the facial expression you can see and feel the soldier’s emotions. I think it is important not to alter the expression created by the sculptor unless it is not up to par..
My flesh tones:
After much experimenting, I finally came with this mixture about seven years ago, my flesh tones have already been explained in many Italian figure magazines.
Base= Titanium white+ Mars yellow +Mars brown and a touch of Raw umber to cool down the mixture.
To this mixture I add a bit of Windsor Newton odorless mineral spirits , I apply this mixture to the face and let dry under a 60w light bulb.
After my first application is completely dry, I start painting the eyes.
I start by painting the whites of the eyes, I paint the eye lashes with ivory black using the same black to paint the pupils, using a sewing needle and some black I carefully and gently round the pupils off, this helps me achieve an almost perfect circle.
Using a very fine brush, I apply in the middle of the black pupil a little blue circle, being careful not to completely cover the black of the pupil, at this point the eye looks perfect. Almost all my Nordic subjects that I paint have blue eyes, for the only reason that they stand out.
We shall now move to the painting of the face. I start with the same base as described above to which along with the mineral spirits I add a little linseed oil to make the paints flow smoothly.
For the highlights I use Mussini clear flesh and for the shadows I mix Mars brown and Raw umber into my base mixture.
For the cheeks, under the nose and lips , I use Cadmium red to which I add a very small amount of Ivory black, the color should look like red wine.
Once satisfied with the highlights and shadows the face is finished.
I f you would like to give your figure a 5 o’clock shadow mix a little bit of Ivory black into the base mixture and apply wet on wet.
When the face is completely dry you can apply a coat of transparent satin acrylic varnish to the face to replicate sort of a sweaty look.
All the oil colors are Windsor Newton except for the Mussini flesh color. I can’t guarantee the same results with other brands.
I hope to have been of some help and would like to thank Rocco for taking the time to do the translation.
I love the Planet and it is a very great pleasure to cooperate with all my friends in the Planet.
Your friend
Luca Olivieri.
