painting eyes

[Dan11]

is it better to paint eyes coming from the side of the eye or to come from in front of it? i cant never get them spot on:evil:

 

[Avelorn]

Do you mean having them look to the side? Yes that is easier. Usually the problems I\'ve had with painting eyes are either a bad brush, not steading my hands or that the paint dries as I carefully approach the eye. having any of those problems?

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Dan11
is it better to paint eyes coming from the side of the eye or to come from in front of it? i cant never get them spot on:evil:

I what context?
If your models head is facing straight on and the body posture is aligned similarly then yes paint them straight ahead.
However if the head is turned or partially turned and the body aligned with it then yes paint the eyes as if they are looking towards the corner of the eye.

It might be easier to get a friend or family member to look to the side or turn their head and try to look behind them to get an idea of the position you might want. It\'s not easy to describe in words, but remember that the rotation of the eyes in the orbital sockets increases the visual arc that the necks\' limit imposes.
(I hope you understand that. )

 

[DaN]

I think what he meant - as I have this problem...

Is if it is easier to come in from the side with a brush in order to do the eyes, or if it is better to simply go straight down.

The reason being that my depth perception struggles to focus that close and going towards the eyes so slowly tends to make the paint dry on my brush! lol

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by DaN
my depth perception struggles to focus that close and going towards the eyes so slowly tends to make the paint dry on my brush! lol

Sounds like spectacles time, if you are not already using them. (Join the club).

Have to admit that these days anything inside 3 feet requires me to use my reading glasses. Distance isn\'t too bad as I can manage without glasses for a while, (like when I have to walk in the pouring rain) but don\'t certainly don\'t want to risk driving without them.


Going back to the original topic, I think I understand the question a bit better now. So here\'s my two-pennoth.
I paint eyes from the nose side out, using Vallejo Ivory as the base for the Sclera or white of the eye. Turning the mini upside down to do (facing me) the left eye.
Putting the pupils in I try to approach from as near as straight on (ie parrallel to the line of the nose) as the figures posture allows.
Don\'t always get it right, which leads to \"Colourful Language.

 

[QuietiManes]

Have you tried making a light dot with a pencil to locate the pupils first? I know it\'s not entirely a problem solver as the paint will be a larger dot, therefore if the paint dot is off center to the pencil dot, the eyes still look wonky, but, I find it helps alot, having that reference point to start.

If one of the pencil dots is off course you can widen the dot in the direction of where it should be. As long as you don\'t have to go bigger than the paint will be.

 

[chaos877]

Here, I whipped up an image for ya

the little outlines on steps 1 and 2 are just to show where the outline of the eye is

 

[RuneBrush]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
Sounds like spectacles time, if you are not already using them. (Join the club).

Have to admit that these days anything inside 3 feet requires me to use my reading glasses. Distance isn\'t too bad as I can manage without glasses for a while, (like when I have to walk in the pouring rain) but don\'t certainly don\'t want to risk driving without them.

I\'m the opposite, need glasses for distance and not close up. However for doing eyes I tend to use a set of magnifying goggles, though you need a bit more spacial awareness as you can clobber the end of the brush on the googles if you\'re not careful

pete

 

[Sauce Devil]

I\'ve almost given up trying to paint pupils in eyes; the eyes are easy but I can never get the pupils to look in the same direction which leaves my mighty warriors looking a bit retarded.

How do you accurately paint a detail that\'s a 20th of a millimeter and then copy it exactly?
It\'s so easy to get the position wrong.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Sauce Devil
I\'ve almost given up trying to paint pupils in eyes; the eyes are easy but I can never get the pupils to look in the same direction which leaves my mighty warriors looking a bit retarded.

I don\'t generally paint pupils on smaller-scale figures - they\'re just too small for me. Even the iris can be a challenge on some sculpts!

Einion

 

[cybersquig]

of course you could always sculpt huge eyebrows if you\'re really stuck
http://www.coolminiornot.com/203501

 

[nadine]

Originally posted by Sauce Devil
I\'ve almost given up trying to paint pupils in eyes; the eyes are easy but I can never get the pupils to look in the same direction which leaves my mighty warriors looking a bit retarded.

How do you accurately paint a detail that\'s a 20th of a millimeter and then copy it exactly?
It\'s so easy to get the position wrong.

I always found it helpful to paint iris/pupil (I only ever used 1 dark color because the area is so small!) in one eye, then turn the figure upside down to do the other side. The figure would look lazy eyed otherwise.

 

[Einion]

Another way of helping to get the eyes to match is to paint the difficult eye first, then the easier one. So if you\'re a rightie you do the figure\'s right eye first then do its left eye, where the nose isn\'t in the way at all.

Einion

 

[Amazon warrior]

Maybe you\'d have more luck with a pen? I understand you can get very fine ones that would be ok for doing pupils.

 

[airhead]

Try this:
http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/12

***
Another trick. Right handed: paint the mini\'s left (your right) eye. Then invert the mini (stand it on it\'s head) and paint the other eye. By inverting the mini, you get the mini\'s nose out of the way and your brain sees the patterns differently than it does when it sees a face.

 

[PegaZus]

I\'ll have to try the inverted approach. Thanks nadine and airhead!