Figure painting w/oils
Randy Pavatte
Not long ago I tried my very first 1/16 figure. It was a Dragon German
Officer. Because I wasn't sure how the experience would go, I opted for
plastic instead of resin. I'm not very experienced with resin, and
besides, the plastic figures are generally much cheaper.
Anyway, I'm quite happy with the results of my first effort.
Before getting underway, I consulted a few books on the subject, and
learned that the ultimate results seem to come from using oil paints for
the faces and other areas. Mainly the face.
For this first try I stuck with supplies already in my stock. I painted
the face with a basecoat of Humbrol Flesh, and let it dry a few days. I
also painted the eyes with Testors white.
Next I added the eye color (blue, in typical German fashion) and pupils.
Now for the shading. I used some Grumbacher artist oil paint for subtle
shading of creases and such.
For deeper creases I used a light wash of dark brown, and let it dry.
Finally I carefully softened edges.
My first try at a figure this size was very pleasing, and eventually I'd
like to try another one.
Next time I'd like to work more with oils, as I hear they "blend" much
easier. Drying time is longer, but with my work schedule its no biggie
to let it sit for a day or two. Even longer if needed.
Can you all recommend a basic starting set of oil colors for painting
fleshtones?
Someone recommended I buy the Windsor & Newton top-line stuff, but I
simply cannot afford those. Perhaps colors/shades can be suggested, then
I can search for paint that suits me.
As always, thank you for your suggestions, and I'll check back often for
ideas to make a small shopping list.
Regards,
Randy
IPMS Houston
We're living in a world that's been pulled over our eyes to blind us
from the truth. Where are you, white rabbit?
Stewart Schooley
First, let me say that I am an artist and retired art teacher. I lurk
here often because I always have a model to work on when I can get
around to it. My major hobby is restoring antique radios and I use oil
paints for painting over damaged cabinet areas and restoring grainlines.
Excuse me for saying it, but I am very good at this.
You don't need to buy top of the line artists colors. Most of the
manufacturers produce a line of student grade colors. They have
permanent pigments and some inert filler is added to bring the price
down. They are perfectly acceptable. Walmart has a boxed set of about 8
colors by Daler-Rowney for $15. They are smaller tubes and would be a
good way to start.
The first rule for any brush is that when it is wet with paint and you
bend the bristle over, they should spring back into place when you
release the bristles. If they don't spring back, you have a mop, so get
rid of it.
Also, for fine lines and details don't buy those itsy-bitsy, tiny, short
brushes. They won't hold enough paint. I never use a fine point brush
that is less than 1/2" long and prefer one that is longer.
Here is something from a post I sent to the antique radio guys;
"Next is the blending brush. You use it in a light flicking way so that
only the very tips of the brush are doing the blending. Wipe the tips on
a rag often so you keep them as dry as possible. The blending brush will
smooth out your paint nice and even. It is particularly needed when you
have to paint variations of color in the base coat.
"dry brush" is a technique used by many artists. Essentially, the brush
is prepared so that it makes a fine line and the artist uses it like a
sharpened color pencil, usually over a base coat.
The base coat should be dry to the touch before painting grainlines. To
prepare the brush, mix your woodgrain color very fluid. Wrap a tissue
around the ferrule and slide it up to the heel of the bristles to absorb
some of the fluid paint. Then lightly wipe the tip across the tissue
and the brush is ready. For fuzzier, multiple grain lines you can splay
out the tips. Splay them out some more and you can do multiple little
dots. Of course, it pays to do some practice first."
I hope this helps. There are some other oil paint techniques that could
be useful and if there is interest in them I'll be glad to discuss them.
Stewart
Greg Heilers
As the Python guys would say:
"And Now For Something COMPLETELY Different".....
I disagree with some of the above. The cheaper "student line" oils
are really NOT acceptable for figure painting. Using oils on a solid
casting, is entirely different than painting on canvas. The cheaper
"student line" paints can create a terrible mess on a figure, due to the
afore-mentioned "inert filler". Canvas will soak up this stuff with
no problem, but on a solid casting, one often gets a gooey mess.
The top-of-the-line Winsor Newton oils can be a bit pricey...but they
will last forever. Take care of them, and your grandchildren can use
them, and still have enough left over to pass on to their children.
In other words...you only have to buy them once (compare that to bottles
of Tamiya model paint...In a years' time; you will spend far more on "model
paints" --- than you will, in a lifetime, on oils).
Good colors to start with are:
Titanium White
Naples Yellow
Yellow Ocre
Burnt Sienna
Burnt Umber
Raw Umber
Alizaron Crimson
Pthalo Blue or Prussian Blue
Winsor Red
You might also want to grab a green and a "bright" yellow, that
suits your fancy.
These will give you the basics for flesh tones, and "weathering colors".
Note that there is no black. That is because, you should rarely paint
anything "black" (except, maybe, the deepest shadows on your darkest
areas). Use the "old masters'" formula for mixing black:
Pthalo Blue + Burnt Umber
This gives you a "scale black" (leaving wiggle room for your shading),
and allows you to determine your own warmness or coolness factor for your
"black", by varying the percentage of the two colors.
For the initial painting, "block in" the colors on your figure, using
your preferred MATTE acrylics or enamels. (i.e. paint the uniform
parts a matte green/khaki, the leather areas a dark brown, the flesh
areas a matte flesh, etc.) You need the "tooth" that the matte paint
provides; in order to then apply your oils.
And NEVER thin the oils. Use them "as is". Avoid turpentine like the
Plague. Use cheap old mineral spirits if you must. Turpentine creates
more of that "gooey mess" (although, again, it works on canvas...).
And you will find out that a little oil paint; goes a very long way.
Often, a small dab, smaller than a pea....will be more than enough
to paint what you are painting...and then some.
.....
As far as brushes go; once again, if you make a wise initial investment,
it will be far cheaper in the long run. Get some good Winsor Newton
"Series 7" brushes (not to be confused with their cheaper "Series 707"
line). Pick up several 00 and 000 brushes. Anything finer, is worthless,
as they will not hold enough paint. Remember, the size is not important...
it is the ability to hold a good sharp point, that is important. And
nothing forms, and holds, a good point, like the "Series 7's". For larger
brushes, it is okay to buy the cheaper (though good quality) "artists'"
brushes you find at Michaels', Hobby Lobby, etc. The "blending brush"
can really be any old, small brush. You do not need anything special
here. Just use what you become comfortable with.
Since Michael's and Hobby Lobby often have "1/2 Price Sales" on their
artists' oils and brushes....your investment can be a wise one, if you
are a smart shopper.
.....
Since your work schedule seriously cuts into your ability to keep up
a daily pattern of painting; take advantage of the slow drying time
of oils. I keep my "working pallete" in the freezer. The paints
will stay workable for months this way. And the best source for
"palletes" is the lids off of canned vegetables, frozen orange juice,
etc....lol. You can also keep your figure in the refrigerator, between
painting sessions, to make its color coats stay "workable" longer.
Now, if you want to SPEED UP the drying time of your figure, an ideal
way (popularized by the great Grand Master Phil Kessling) is to place
your figure in a crock pot overnight.
--
Greg Heilers
Registered Linux user #328317 - SlackWare 10.0
.....
In Marseilles they make half the toilet
soap we consume in America, but
the Marseillaise only have a vague
theoretical idea of its use, which they
have obtained from books of travel.
-- Mark Twain
Stewart Schooley
Greg,
I don't know about you, but I have been involved with painting in oils
since 1941 when I was 10 years old. I sold papers on the street to earn
the money and I was in art classes with adults at the WPA Art Center.
Let's look at some of the points you raised;
Winsor-Newton's Winton colors and Grumbacher's Academy colors are the
cheaper oils you are most likely to find in an art supply stores. These
two old, reputable companies do not put out any product that would
jeopardize their good name.
I've used a great deal of these paints over the years. I use a glass
pallette to mix my paint on and the cheaper paints dry just as hard on
the glass and are just as hard to scrape off with a razor blade as the
more expensive paints. After all, they both have the same amount of
linseed oil in them which is what provides the adhesion. The inert
filler has no bearing on this, it is just another powder like the
pigments and they are glued by the linseed oil the same.
I've used the cheaper oils to paint on copper and on lacquer and
polyurethane when touching up old radio cabinets. The "terrible mess"
you talk about will happen with either paint if you thin either too much
with turpentine, paint thinner or linseed oil. The first coat should be
applied as full strength as possible and this is where the blending
brush is essential to get a smooth coat.
Canvas doesn't soak up anything except the sizing that is applied first
to isolate the oil paint from the canvas. In the old days rabbit skin
glue was used, but today all the pre-primed canvas I've seen is coated
with an acrylic emulsion with white pigment in it. Either way you paint
on a hard, non-porous surface and your paint never touches the canvas.
You speak of first using matte acrylics and then using oils over them
which brings in added costs when the original poster stated his concerns
about cost. Yes, you can use oil paints over acrylic, but don't put
acrylic over oil.
I agree with you about buying the best if you can afford it.
There is an alternative to this. Winsor-Newton puts out a line called
Griffen which is just like oil paints, comes in tubes, has the same
pigments, paints the same way as oil, is non-yellowing and guaranteed
permanent, thins with paint thinner, but instead of linseed oil it uses
an alkyd emulsion as the binder. Best of all, the prices are in line
with the student grade colors and it dries fast. A normal coat can be
painted over the next day.
If everyone can wait awile, I'll go down in the basement and put some
coats, thick and thin, on just about every differnt kind of surface I
can find and post a report in a week or so.
See you then,
Stewart
Serge D. Grun
DeepG...@webtv.net says...
> Can you all recommend a basic starting set of oil colors for painting
> fleshtones?
normal fleshtones
1) titanium white, yellow ochre, lake, burnt sienna
1b) same, but less white
1c) burnt sienna, lake, umber
light
2) titanium white, vermilion, yellow ochre
2b) same, but more ochre and vermilion
2c) more vermilion
darker fleshtones
3) titanium white, umber, burnt sienna, green earth
3a) lake, umber, burnt sienna for the shadows
--
-sdg
"Un gromono, mon royaume pour un gromono!"
Shakespeare - Richard III
Serge D. Grun
gNOSPAM...@earthNOSPAMlink.net says...
> Canvas will soak up this stuff
Umm, no. Definitely no.
Properly prepared canvas will not soak up anything.
Stewart Schooley
Hue - The name of a color
Value - The lightness or darkness of a color
Intensity, Saturation, Chroma - You will find different art books use
one or another of these words. Consider them as referring to the
brightness or dullness of a color.
Complementary Colors - These are colors opposite each other on the color
wheel. Red-Green, Orange-Blue, Yellow-Purple. You use complementary
colors when you want to dull the intensity of, but not deaden a color.
Humans seldom have peachy peachy complexions. You need a touch of your
flesh tones complementary added to your color. Most often it will be a
blue/purple, but as Greg pointed out you get a lot of bang for your oil
paint dollars so do some tests. For pinkish flesh tones add some blue/
green, for orangy tones, use blue and for yellowish flesh tones use purple.
IMPORTANT- Lighten the value of the complementary color so that it
matches the value of your flesh tone before mixing a small amount in.
All this holds true regardless of what you are painting.
Stewart