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We were at Ficzone 2014 in the painting faces masterclass with Ángel Giraldez. In this event we had two miniatures. A tanned face, using Stephen Rao and a female face using V.I.P. pilot (from Dire Foes 5).
Here we have Stephen. Because we want a tanned face the miniature was primed in black.
Otherwise, the girl's skin will be more light, so we primed in grey the face above the black base primed layer.
Before continued, I need to explain that the tutorial photos below are not the Ángel's miniature, they are for my miniature. In the masterclass we didn't have enough time for the V.I.P. and I couldn't take step by step photos, so here we are going to write the steps.
Tips before start:
Try to take few paint with the brush. Never dip it more than the half of the bristles. If the paint touch the metallic part of the brush, the brush's life decreases because the bristles separates each other.
If you don't use wet palette, like in the masterclass, try to keep the paint wet.
First of all we are going to give a base layer with cork brown. We reduce the paint with water, we don't apply the paint directly. You can see the photo of the palette below, in this amount of paint we mix two drops of water. We need to apply more than one layer. Be patient and apply thin layers. If you take few paint with the brush you will need about 3 or 4 layers.
Now we are going to make a mix using cavalry brown and flat earth. The photo of the palette isn't good enough, because there is some kind of black going down to the hole, but in the mix you should take more flat earth than calvary brown. We apply this mix in the gap between the face and the hair, the face and the beard, the dark circles and the cheek under the cheekbone.
As you can see in the photo above, this first mix should be use like a ink.
In the next step we are going to use a new mix. Cork brown and basic skintone in the front, nose, cheekbones and eye lids.
We are going to make the next light with basic skintone. We try to make it progressive. It is not easy. If you take much paint you are going to see a notable change in the colors, destroying the realism. A possible solution is take less paint in the brush. You should take very little amount of paint (an amount that you can't see, but an amount enough that you can paint on paper). So you can apply few paint and extend it with the brush to the darker zones.
We paint the inferior lip using a mix of orange brown and cavalry brown. We apply a light in the lip using a mix of calvary brown and basic skintone.
The last step are the final light. We use a mix of basic skintone and white. I can't do it in the masterclass because we need to paint the VI.P. and we are out of time... but, the miniatures made by Ángel were raffled and I was one of the lucky ones!! Stephen Rao painted by Ángel Giráldez (he signed the miniature base, a miniature that will be in my showcase).
It's time for the V.I.P. In this case I only have the steps:
We apply thin layers of basic skintone in the face (with few paint in the brush).
We use black in the lip junction.
Now we apply a shadow. We use beige red like a ink in the nose, the superior eyelid, the cheek and the jaw. If you apply more layers it will be more dark.
Now we use flat earth mixed with beige red in the eyelip, the cheek and under the nose.
If your transition in the cheek is not good enough you can fix it with base skintone and beige red.
We apply a light with basic skintone in the nose and the jaw.
You can blur the cheek with calvary brown and beige red.
You should use a mix of calvary red and black for outlining the eye.
Like in Stephen Rao we use a mix of calvary brown and orange brown in the lip. Then we use a light with a mix of calvary brown and basic skintone.
Finally we use a mix of basic skintone and white for the last light.
Here you have the photos of the Ángel's miniature, they are not good enough. This miniature looks stunning in hand.
Let's try it yourself! Here you have motivation photos ;D.
As Ángel said in the masterclass, don't be afraid if the miniatures you paint don't look good enough, nobody learn to paint in one day. Enjoy yourself painting and try to take the basic ideas and techniques you like in this tutorial.
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Color references:
All the used paints are from Vallejo Model Color
Beige Red: 70804
Basic Skintone: 70815
Cork Brown: 70843
Black: 70950
White: 70951
Orange Brown: 70981
Cavalry Brown: 70982
Flat Earth: 70983
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| This is how Ficzone 2014 looks. |
