Painting eyes

[gi6ers]

Redzed's example above is great IMO, if you can master that it's easy to add colour and dots of light.

Another example here, Marike Reimer does hers after the flesh is done, not for the faint hearted!

http://www.destroyerminis.com/eyes.php

Alternatively just don't bother, especially for the tabletop..have a look at Joe Videki's stuff:

http://www.geocities.com/jvideki/TMWOJV-Index.html

[matty1001]

The way Redzed does it is how I do it, but I do it after the first layer of flesh tone.

That Joes way makes them all look like they are squinting, not to good IMO.

[Keeper]

I pretty much do most eyes like like Marike, only I stop at the reflection spot step and I never manage to do it as well as she does :)

I've not bothered doing eyes at all on my 20mm plastic WWII, and they look great on the tabletop.

You didn't say how you like to paint eyes, gi6ers? :D

[Perv]

Why does the picture up top show 4 different minis for the different stages?  I find no help in those pictures at all, I mean picture B, come on it looks like a size 2 brush was used.....look at how much white remains in pic D compared to how much was used in pic B.  Picture D could be achieved by just dotting 2 white dots either side of the pupil, the pupil is same colour as the undercoat so I cannot see why all that trouble gone to for a 2 sec job.

Maybe I am getting wrong end of stick here and I'm looking at this wrongly?

[Keeper]

I think the end of the stick you have is:, yes you could acheive D with a bit of paint of the right consistency, a steady hand and confidence.

However, not everyone has steady hands or confidence, so the transition: A) big white blobs in eye sockets; B) vertical lines for irises; C) undercoat colour again to make the eyes the right shape; D) dots of light is a method that almost anyone can use to get this effect.

[Perv]

lets face it, if you havent got steady hands and confidence you arent going to get the eye right full stop.  If your hands are as unsteady as in picture B then how on earth are you going to get them steady enough to tidy up the eye in pics C and D?  If you can get them steady enough to tidy up then you can do it a lot simpler IMHO.  Picture D is a dot of light?  if you cant dot in the white of an eye in pic B, how can you dot in a spot of light in a finished eye which requires much more steadiness?

[gi6ers]

You didn't say how you like to paint eyes, gi6ers? :D

:icon_wink: I've only recently started paying real attention to them rather than them being a necessary evil, obviously it helps if you can get to the eyes and can paint small enough for the sculpt.

@Perv - it aint that hard if the sculpt allows it, just a bit of thinned white across the eye, then a vertical stripe for the pupil and just tidy from there.  It's absolutely easier than dotting in the pupil.  The light reflection is a lot trickier IMO and requires a tiny brush, slightly thinned white and a VERY steady hand.  The first time I tried it I got a big manga style eye (which I thought suited the sculpt):



Oh, another good tip is to turn the mini upside down for the second pupil as you won't have the nose in the way and will be easier to get a less cross-eyed look (in theory)

[Perv]

No I agree Gi6ers, it isnt that hard to paint a white horizontal and then a black vertical and thats the way I do it.  Except my black vertical is done with a finepoint black pen and not a brush.  That picture tutorial isnt a good guide is what I'm saying as anyone who gets that much white outside the eye socket obviously hasnt the steadiness\skill to do the tidying up afterwards.  If they had the skill to do the tidying up then they wouldnt be in that position in the first place.  Its like pics a and b were done by an amateur and pics c and d are where someone with skill corrected for them.

I think your eyes are great but I cant understand how you learnt to do them from that tutorial is basically what I'm saying