Painting Flesh

[J2FcM]

Does anyone know of good tutorials for this; specifically, realistic, dark grim flesh, with more of the greyish tone to it.

I have been to thminiatures, guildofharmony, articles here, and chestofcolors... Finding that Chest of Colors and Guild of Harmony have the best (per my taste).

I have a WIP at home I\'d like to post, and I\'d also like to get more theory, most of the articles I read are originating in foreign languages and I find them hard to fully appreciate.

Basically one thing I notice is that darker - purplish colros give depth, orangey colors give some color, and greys and light skin tones are for bringing everything together and highlighting respectively.

So... WIP soon, and any other good advice is welcomed. thank you

EDIT - I felt I was still being a little vague... check out this guy.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/index/whatm/GW/id/173269

I read the tutorials and linked references on him... but that is the feeling I\'ve always wanted to achieve with flesh. It has that greyish look, yet it is still flesh, and by no means would anyone say his skin is grey. Does that make sense? I don\'t want to copy that exact skin, but if I have to in order to improve then I\'d try that.

Any advice on GW paint recipes for that?
(my own attempts have been brown, purple, and some skin tone for shades.... and orange w\\flesh for color, and pale elf flesh + grey for the bringing it together... then ice blue... you\'ll see)

 

[Jericho]

He used some Vallejo color I\'m not familiar with, but mentions using Khaki for a hilight instead of white, Elf Flesh, or anything like that. This would keep the skin a bit more neutral since Khaki is fairly greyish. Washes are important for tinting flesh in subtle ways, and using purple and green and stuff like that can add a lot of richness to the color while still keeping it fairly neutral. Just be sure to thin down the washes a lot, so they barely change the color of the skin.

Should be interesting to see your mixtures in action, they sounds pretty different from anything I\'ve ever used!

 

[J2FcM]

thanks for the reply...

right now things aren\'t shaping up too hot... I\'ve fallen off the painting boat so I spent last night re-learning all my little ratios and mixes...

So far the pic I\'ll post tonight goes like this...

Basecoat: Komando Khaki + Elf Flesh

Shade: Scorched Brown + some purple (Liche?) + a dab of black

Highlight: Kommando Khaki + Fortress Grey+ elf flesh ... progessively add white

Then to add color on the forehead and cheeks: Fiery Orange + Elf Flesh + dab of grey

Finally,
Wash: Fortress Grey + Ice blue

She looks sickly and vampire like... which may be good (dress ain\'t painted yet).

I\'ll post when I get home.

 

[matty1001]

Check this out: http://www.farabi.it/pacchianetor/start.htm

And PM Seb, Automaton. I\'m sure he\'d be more than honoured to give you advise

 

[J2FcM]

Originally posted by J2FcM

, most of the articles I read are originating in foreign languages and I find them hard to fully appreciate.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/index/whatm/GW/id/173269

I read the tutorials and linked references on him...

thanks Matty... but as you can see...(see above that is)... I\'ve done that. Although you bring up a good point with Automaton, he has advised me several times in the past. Thanks... picture taking time.

 

[J2FcM]

welp, since my camera batteries died, I need to wait ages for them to recharge... so in the mean time... what about this guy...

he is unfinished, and I am not pleased with his skin.
It was some brown here, some dwarf flesh there. And I also used a speck of snot green to dull out the pink... I\'d really like his skin to look like skin... weathered battle weary skin. Not \"I ate too many carrots\" skin

 

[mattsterbenz]

I think the Pippin miniature that I painted has the fleshtone you are looking for. (It\'s in my gallery, and the face is my icon!)

I used a basecoat of Graveyard Earth mixed with Dwarf Flesh.

Elf Grey was added for highlights (Old color, but Space Wolves Grey can be used instead).

Shading was done with many thin glazes of Purple Ink, with a touch of Brown Ink added.

Hope this helps!

-Matt

 

[J2FcM]

mattsterbenz, thanks for the advice... I will try out your recipe... Perhaps it will aid in saving my disgraceful orange flesh above

 

[J2FcM]

crap I should get a better photo setup... I got a light tent and a freakin camera... what more!

 

[TAB Studio]

find your white balance camera setting, get revel bulbs, looks like your settings are for florescent bulbs if I had to guess hit the photo area here for more great info
hang in there it takes a while to get back up to speed even after just a month off.

 

[J2FcM]

This is the bulb i use...


http://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lampfml2765.html

Typically, I have a white paper back drop, and a piece of tissue above the mini, with the light practically touching the mini...


I can never decide whether to keep the camera up point blank and micro focus in, or to pull it back, and zoom in, then focus.

I balance the levels in Photoshop which I thought brought the color, but a lot of times I feel like I am getting additional \"grainy sharpness\" in my pictures that just doesn\'t exist to my naked eye.

 

[lahatiel]

Originally posted by J2FcM
I can never decide whether to keep the camera up point blank and micro focus in, or to pull it back, and zoom in, then focus.

I could be wrong, but my belief was always that it\'s good to have the camera set wide angle and be physically close, with the use of macro mode, rather than to be physically far and zooming in. That makes sure the camera is shooting from within (close to) the same light as the mini is under, rather than shooting from a darker area into a lighter one -- I could very well just be completely making stuff up here, though.

Also, what kind of camera do you have? I just replaced my old one, a Sony PSC-71, because I only discovered after having/using it for a while that the macro mode on it specifically was crap, even though it was a fine camera in all other regards.