Weird question

[AegisD]

This might seem like a very strange question (or maybe it won\'t, it\'s probably been asked before) but is there any way to paint the sisters of battle\'s faces so that they look less like dudes?

I picked up a couple to practice on when I want a break from my current army, and if I follow the traditional, lowlight, midtone, highlight, where I should, like I should, they really look like a bunch of transvestites.

 

[Einion]

I was going to say, \"Makeup?\" But that certainly won\'t help with the transvestite thing!

Einion

 

[Ritual]

You can\'t do any dramatic changes to the face by any painting technique I know of. But, you can make some adjustments and use colours to \"fool\" the eye of the viewer to see the face slightly different. This thread by Banshee gives some ideas what can be done with colour to change the appearance of a face:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=15861

Of course, the sculpt will ultimately set the boundaries of what can be done, but maybe you can achieve a little softer and more feminine results by applying some of Banshee\'s ideas?

 

[Dragonsreach]

Having painted an army of SOB\'s the basic answer is NO.
In reality the scuplts are more Almond shaped faces that the classic Space Marines, but the problem likes in the face that they are still kind of bland and generic (its thinner than a marine so it must be a woman) effect
If you go for lighter skin tones then then faces tend to look more feminine
This is about the best I\'ve managed;

But basically you are looking bad scuplt of Angelica Houston in Miniature form.

 

[Chrome]

@DR: Now that was NOT a compliment! lol

But yeah, it does kinda look like her.

I try to \"forget\" a few of the shadows when I paint girly figures, usually the minis are sculpted with very sharp features for ease of detail but when you compare a masculine and a feminine face you quite quickly realize that a woman\'s face is way less shadowed than a man\'s.
Take the classic cheekbone for starters, most men you meet in the streets have sharp cheeks that shadows the face. When you look at women walking by you very seldom see shadows on their cheeks from the cheekbones.

 

[AegisD]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
But basically you are looking bad scuplt of Angelica Houston in Miniature form.

I laughed so hard when I read that, but you are right. And it does look a lot like a bad sculpt of her. Yours is great looking though. I was going more for the GW version with the black armor and blue highlights, but I might have to try doing my own thing on the next one.

I think you and chrome are right though; lighter colors, less shadows. I kept trying to paint it realistically, and while I was (or at least would like to think I was) doing it right according to the sculpt, it was making for some very harsh and masculine features.

 

[Ritual]

@Chrome
Actually, men and women don\'t have that different facial features, in general. There are two things that usually differs... men have facial hair (coarser facial hair...) and women often wear make up. Make up is probably the main reason why you think of female faces as softer and with less shadow.

 

[airhead]

Mike, I thought of Anna Wintour when seeing SoB\'s... (the real Vogue editor that the movie \"The Devil Wears Prada\" was based on - she was also cartooned in the Incredibles (the costume designer)).

one of her kindest photos I could find: