Eyes!

[finn17]

Welcome to the club!!

Hi jrock1
Welcome to the CMON forum. I like the sound of those transfers, but if they are anythig like the things that used to come with my Airfix kits, I think I will stick to paintinglol

In the interest of scientific research however, it would be appreciated if you could post a link.

 

[Infidel Castro]

Barkel gets it in one!

Barkel said:

\"ps. What really makes me mad is when the mini has screwed up eyes before I even paint. Who\'s genious idea was it to make the mold line run right down the center of the eye? And is it me or can GW not make dwarfs with a normal left eye? At least 20% of my dwarfs have some gash in their left eye, or they have extra pewter that has to be cut out, or some other problem that renders making the eye look good impossible from the start. I love GW, I think their minis are great, but they need to invest some money in QC.\"

lol

That is my exact issue as well Painting a beautifully sculpted Escher from Necromunda right now and the face is one of the nicest I\'ve seen...only that you need to file away the mould line from her eye before you can get any kind of paint job moving It\'s a dead shame it happens like that - the mould makers have got to exercise a little common sense and even though it isn\'t a precise art, they should at least aim for the hairline or behind the ear. From what I\'ve done in casting, there\'s no problem with attempting that.

Celtos did the same thing with one of their sword maidens that I picked up - nice sculpt, quite nice face and then BANG! What the hell is this big fat mould line running up through her right eye?! :flame:

I think it\'s a problem inherent in many if not all casts, and it\'s a damnable tragedy!

Anyhow, back to the top of the forum topic, I do the same as Dragonsreach and follow the ole McVey tip. One eye white then dotted black, then turn upside down and go again I never start with the face intentionally, but always find myself drawn to doing it pretty early on - it just lifts your confidence when you can see the direction the paint job is heading. A face well done is always the focal point *yawn* and the part you need to get right (stop me if you\'ve heard this before ). Therefore, if done well at (or near) the beginning of a paint job, it follows that you want the whole mini to be up to that standard. Psychology (or headology as our witches in the Discworld might call it) is an important thing in painting


And I recommend you be bold with eyes....timid painters ne\'er the eye shall see! Or something. ???

rev

 

[RLobinske]

An alternative view

If you are trying for a natural appearence in the model, eye detail should actually be left off. For a 25mm figure, viewing at 1 foot is like viewing a person at 60 feet distance, they whites, iris and pupil are not visible. Painted eye detial in this scale will appearly slightly to greatly oversized (especially on models with sculpted oversized eye detail to start with).

For this style, shade the eye socket normally, then maybe use a fine brown line for the eye.

 

[Infidel Castro]

That\'s not the point!

Scale isn\'t really an issue though, particularly in Sci-fi/fantasy 25mm/28mm/30mm (delete as appropriate). In the main, painting minis is about exaggeration, therefore attempting a perfect \'scale\' eye is unnecessary.

rev

 

[finn17]

No Such Agency Gave a good answer to this on page 1:

quote:
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I don\'t usually bother with eyes. If you hold up your figure in a crowded street (haven\'t we all done that....ahem) and try to match the scale to a real person at a distance, you don\'t see the eyes, just a vague impression of the shadows of the face.

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While this is true, I don\'t think mini painting is neccessarily about \"replicating the look of a person at a simulated distance\". If that was the case you could largely paint with just flat colours like some historical wargamers prefer. Like Renaissance painters using the exaggerated light/dark contrasts of chiaroscuro, we are trying to achieve \"super-realism\" when we highlight and shade. We want to give, with a tiny figure, the same \"impression\" as a full-sized person. And this means exaggerating a lot of things, including having distinct eyes. Eyes are supposedly the \"windows to the soul\", and eyes in shadow traditionally convey a sinister or gloomy character - not exactly what you\'d want for your Dudley Do-Right paladin or fair damsel. Of course this is all personal preference, right? If you can pull off a good-looking mini without painting the eyes, that\'s probably a sign of true mastery (No Such Agency)

 

[RLobinske]

Originally posted by reverend
Scale isn\'t really an issue though, particularly in Sci-fi/fantasy 25mm/28mm/30mm (delete as appropriate). In the main, painting minis is about exaggeration, therefore attempting a perfect \'scale\' eye is unnecessary.

rev

Actually, that is my point. That is why I called in an alternative view. You don\'t have to do the exaggeration, you can paint successfully toward a more natural look. This is just as valid as painting anime eyes on miniatures, just a different style to suit different tastes. To some of us, the exaggerated painting looks cartoonish and visually detracts from the model. Many people view my painting as \'flat\' or \'bland\'. However, I also have people surprised that you can paint minatures to look like minature people instead of minature cartoons. It is just a matter of taste and what looks right to the individual painter.

 

[laurence]

I see...

Blooming little eyes!!!

I\'m enjoying my mid-year holidays at the moment and envisioned myself completing three minis before I returned to school.

One of these minis is lying in the rubbish bin awaiting the Garbo, Why???

I messed up the eyes one time too many and cracked the shi5s



\'You live, you learn\'

 

[Pellimore]

Well RLobinske, you\'ve got a point...what about the scale? Okay, what if all of my space marines without helmets have HUGE eyes in the \"real world.\" (like 10 times the normal size). Then, when I paint them on my minis, its to scale AND has the cool look of detail. Can\'t argue with that, the best of two worlds.

Have fun!
-Pellimore

 

[RLobinske]

Originally posted by Pellimore
Well RLobinske, you\'ve got a point...what about the scale? Okay, what if all of my space marines without helmets have HUGE eyes in the \"real world.\" (like 10 times the normal size). Then, when I paint them on my minis, its to scale AND has the cool look of detail. Can\'t argue with that, the best of two worlds.

Have fun!
-Pellimore

Please note: \"alternate viewpoint\". I am not saying that everyone should paint that way, I was pointing out the scale effect. If you are trying for a more natural appearence, you will take that into consideration. If you are after the larger than life look, you will paint to that style.

 

[vincegamer]

This will probably drive some of you nuts, but I just painted a bunch of High Elves for Warmaster and I painted whites and irises for eyes in every one and found it kind of fun.

 

[ZaPhOd]

Yeah!

Cool Vince! I tried that with my little Empire command too, though my camera work is horrid! Not an easy feat to be sure

 

[Panza]

Originally posted by vincegamer
This will probably drive some of you nuts, but I just painted a bunch of High Elves for Warmaster and I painted whites and irises for eyes in every one and found it kind of fun.

Let me guess, you\'ve got a lot of time on your hands haven\'t you?

In warmaster scale (roughly 1/180th scale) a 1cm iris would be......um....0.05mm! Do you paint with an electron microscope?

POST SOME PICTURES!!!

 

[Coyote]

Don\'t paint an eye, paint a slit.

paint a light grey line horizontally in the socket. Add the pupil. If you are crazy (or the scale is big enough) paint a pure white dot on the eye as a highlight. Paint black lines to cut in the grey line and make it thinner then possible with a brush.

Paint flesh to cut in the black. Finish face.
For one, using grey instead of white will reflect the scale, and make the eyes more realistic. The grey should be about the grey of the smiley heads. like that.

Experiment, you may want a lighter grey if the skin is lighter. What you need is just a bit of contrast, but not as much as pure white.

 

[SaintRigger]

Originally posted by supervike
color). Then I kind of cheat since I use a Micron Pigma pen to \'draw\' in the iris/pupil.

Oh! I usually do them by hand.. I should snag a pen and give it a try. I hate it when I get the lazy eye, and this might help out.

Cool!

 

[finn17]

Clear your conscience...

Originally posted by supervike
color). Then I kind of cheat since I use a Micron Pigma pen to \'draw\' in the iris/pupil.

I have to admit, I wondered whether using a pen was cheating at first but now I have convinced myself otherwise. (I am good at that)
After all you are simply applying pigment using an appropriate instrument. No one is gonna colour-in a whole miniature with their felt tip pen set after all.
Ink is a perfectly acceptable medium and whether it is applied as a wash with a brush or more precisely applied with a pen is academic.
My main worry now is the lightfastness of the ink. I would hate to wake up one morning to find all my minis had gone \'blind\' overnight

 

[Infidel Castro]

Cheating, eh?

Well if it\'s cheating (or not) to use a pen to draw a pupil, would it also follow that painting a dot above an \'i\' with a paintbrush is also cheating? EH? ???

He\'s around one defender, and another, steps over the ball and turns, nutmegs the next and then he\'s through on goal...he aims, pulls back his foot and shoots, dummying the dirstion of the ball and sending the keeper the wrong way as the net bulges! IT\'S THERE! The 300th post! THE CROWD GOES WILD! :bouncy:

rev

 

[vincegamer]

Originally posted by Panza
Let me guess, you\'ve got a lot of time on your hands haven\'t you?

In warmaster scale (roughly 1/180th scale) a 1cm iris would be......um....0.05mm! Do you paint with an electron microscope?

POST SOME PICTURES!!!

Yeah, my summer class just ended and I don\'t have a job.

I occasionally use a jeweler\'s loupe or an optivisor.

I will. The silverhelms are done and I\'m working on the charriots and bolt throwers. I even added strings to the bolt throwers.lol

 

[vincegamer]

I am soo slow

Originally posted by vincegamer
This will probably drive some of you nuts, but I just painted a bunch of High Elves for Warmaster and I painted whites and irises for eyes in every one and found it kind of fun.

Well, I never got around to posting pictures anywhere, but my pieces are up on ebay now, so if you look at the ebay pics (where I\'m not limited in size) and look at the chariot driver in one pic and the bolt thrower hatless commander and the guy drawing the bolt out of a quiver, you can see the whites of the eyes and they\'re not too bulgy. You can see it on the other commander but he\'s kinda blurry.
Keep in mind these guys are 10mm tall! Less than my pinky finger is wide!
These shots also show how I attempted to make the balls of the bolt throwers into black gems, grayish on bottom with reflective white dots.
bolt thrower on cmonBolt thrower on ebayChariots on cmonChariots on ebay

You know, I really ought to have inserted something to show scale.

 

[Trevor]

Holy...

How on earth did you manage to do the eyes like that?

 

[wiccanpony]

I have a new respect for my cat!....


I have discovered the joy of using a cat’s whisker for painting in the pupil of eyes.....for me it does a great job.....the only difficult part is staying on the ball looking for dropped cat whiskers around the house..lol