Painting Eyes

[swralph]

Hi Everyone.
Could somebody give me some tips on basic eye painting,including eye colour and also eyelid colour etc.
Any help would gratefully appreciated.
Thanks.
Ralph.

 

[Funky50]

Great thread Ralph will be very interested in this myself....Kevin

 

[theBaron]

My technique is to lay in an off-white color, for the eyeball, then I decide where the figure is looking, where to direct the gaze. Then I lay in the iris color, sometimes round but usually as a vertical band, and then the pupil, again, sometimes as a dot but often as a vertical band. Then I cut in my flesh colors for the upper and lower eyelids, overlaying the upper and lower edges of the eyes. If the figure is large enough, I'll add a light or two, a dot of white or off-white, to reproduce the effect of a light source reflected off the wet surface of the eye.

In large-enough scales, I would add a slightly darker shade of the eyeball color along the upper lid line, because it does cast a bit of a shadow.

Having said all that, it does take me multiple tries to get it the way I want it. I have a Maschinen Krieger figure whose face I've stripped completely, twice, because I twitched and messed up an eye. But then I just cuss, and pick up and start again.

Hope that helps, prosit!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

I should add, in small scales, like 1/48 and 1/72, I can get away with painting the eyes as slits of shadow.

 

[swralph]

My technique is to lay in an off-white color, for the eyeball, then I decide where the figure is looking, where to direct the gaze. Then I lay in the iris color, sometimes round but usually as a vertical band, and then the pupil, again, sometimes as a dot but often as a vertical band. Then I cut in my flesh colors for the upper and lower eyelids, overlaying the upper and lower edges of the eyes. If the figure is large enough, I'll add a light or two, a dot of white or off-white, to reproduce the effect of a light source reflected off the wet surface of the eye.

In large-enough scales, I would add a slightly darker shade of the eyeball color along the upper lid line, because it does cast a bit of a shadow.

Having said all that, it does take me multiple tries to get it the way I want it. I have a Maschinen Krieger figure whose face I've stripped completely, twice, because I twitched and messed up an eye. But then I just cuss, and pick up and start again.

Hope that helps, prosit!
Brad

Great info brad,much appreciated.
Ralph.

 

[Babelfish]

There's an SBS here that someone posted for larger scales:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/painting-eyes-is-easy-sbs.46333/

I think there might be another SBS on here somewhere. Maybe someone has bookmarked it.

 

[BarrieHynd]

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/painting-eyes.12330/

 

[Babelfish]

That's the one Barrie. I knew I'd seen another one!

 

[swralph]

Thanks Steve and Barrie,greatly appreciated.
Hopefully I will get better
Ralph.

 

[kevininpdx]

Do people recommend painting the eyes before the face?

 

[Richie]

Hi Ralph,
There is one in the articles section, top of the page.
cheers
Richie
http://www.planetfigure.com/pages/Mark-Benette-Eye-Tutorial/

 

[Blind Pew]

Indeed, on a figure you've got to get the face right, and in a face you've got to get the eyes right. So much so, lately I start a figure with the eyes and the eyes only. That way, when/if I cock it up, I only have to strip that small portion before I re-do it. Try the link below, it's taken from an obscure online forum where hapless figure painters try and help each other out.........

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/ready-to-give-up.62191/

 

[swralph]

Thanks Richie and BP,much appreciated.

 

[Paul Kernan]

I generally lay in an offwhite/light flesh tone for the sclera, block in the flesh and then lay in the eyelashes. This is not the final product but it gives me a sense of the size/area I have to work the iris into.

A trick shown to me......dependant on your dominant hand, start on the opposite eye. So being right handed, start on the figures 'anatomical' right eye. In addition, turn the figure upside down periodically during the process to compare the size and position of the iris.

Placing the iris slightly off-centre, makes for a slightly more interesting look

 

[Gary D]

I was told to mix a bit of flesh with white for the eyeball.

 

[Helm]

I was told to mix a bit of flesh with white for the eyeball.

I use a slight amount of grey or blue mixed with white myself
Steve

 

[samson]

Great topic good info

 

[samson]

Not to change the topic so forgive me but hey the baron I would like to see any of you MA k kits or figures if you meant pm me some pics thanks now to get back on track great info thanks to swap for starting it

 

[Stephan]

Maybe that is helpful, but its hard to try it for the smaller scales.

 

[swralph]

Thanks guy's for all the info.
Ralph.