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Here is an appetizer to the major site overhaul I promised a couple of months back, an illustrated step-by-step of one of the ways I paint heads.
Before I start, it goes without saying (though I'm saying it) that there are a lot of methods for painting anything, from miniature heads to house walls. Each person's style is different and some will appeal to you more than others. I myself have a number of different ways I paint heads, depending on the equipment I've got at the moment, my laziness quotient at the time, and the effect I'm looking for. Generally, as for the latter, I try to go for a realism, rather than anything stylized or made-up. I also own an airbrush which I normally use when painting heads for either primer coats or base skin coats. It's particularly useful for getting an even coat with the minimum of brush work on my part, so it's great for painting female heads or clean-shaven male heads and getting the finish/tone I want right away. However, because it can be a hassle to set up the airbrush and the compressor, I usually wait for the heads to pile up before I do any airbrushing. For a couple of recent one-off projects, I put away my airbrush and did everything by hand. It was also good practice for my brushwork, and practicing is always important for improving one's work. So, here is my basic acrylic "wash" method with the minimum amount of materials required to finish painting a head.
I will be using washes for this project and I find that flat-finish paint washes go on more easily than gloss washes. I can always affect the finish later on with the clear-coats. A wash is simply a watered down version of a paint. My washes are extremely thin; basically, it's colored water. I get the right consistency by testing on a test piece first. The wash is just thin enough that some pigment is applied, but in a transparent coat. You should be able to see the base coat underneath your wash after it's applied. When working with washes, it is essential that the existing coat of paint be absolutely dry before applying the next coat, or else the existing coat can come off with the wash. With acrylic, remember that water is a solvent. The same thing for enamel washes. The thinner you use to create the wash is also a solvent, so wait for the existing coat to dry before applying the new coat.
I start with a blank white head, usually the hard plastic resin variety that's been freshly minted.
After it's been cleaned up (i.e., mold lines removed, rough patches smoothened, all holes filled with putty, etc.), it will likely have a variety of different textures on its surface, some of which (the sanded areas especially) will be porous. Since I will be using acrylic paint washes, this means the different textures will absorb/repel water differently which can result in an uneven, patchy finish, so the first step is usually to seal the head with a primer to give myself a smooth, even surface for painting. For this, I'd normally use an airbrush just because primer can gunk up easily (massing is one of its purposes, after all). But you can apply a primer by hand using the wide paintbrush as long as the primer is of a fairly thin consistency and you work quickly to cover the primed area. Water it down if you have to. Make sure you get all the sanded surfaces.
The head is now ready for a base flesh tone coat. It isn't too important with the first coat how dark or light it is, since this will be just the first of several coats of paint I will be applying, and shade can be lightened or darkened later on with the washes. On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to start the process of mixing the 2 skin tone paints to approximate the flesh tone you want to end up with since this cuts down on the number of washes needed to get the final tone. The Acryl paints I'm using actually have 3 different skin tone paints, from very light (the "base tint"), to very dark (the "shadow tint"), which I WON'T be using. Why won't I be using the shadow tint? Just take a look at the first run of Dragon's Hermann or 21st Century's Monte Cassino, British Commando, et. al. At this scale, you do not need to paint shades into the sculpture. It's large enough to catch light on its own. That's my opinion, anyway. So, I do some preliminary mixing of the 2 shades to get a good first cover coat. Here's an approximation of the color I ended up with (true color screen):
What is important at this point is getting as consistent a color as possible with the base coat; therefore, the first coat needn't be watered down as much as subsequent washes. What I'm looking for is a consistency to the paint so that it covers the white surface, but is still fairly thin so it doesn't obscure the details of the sculpture because paint can accumulate and cover up the details of a good sculpt. Also, with this first coat, I over paint the hair/scalp line by at least 1/4". I'll appreciate this later when I'm painting the hairline and hair.
The next step is to paint the lips and to start the eyes. Using the base skin tone, mix in a little of the insignia red paint, for a reddish-pinkish fleshtone. Here's an approximation of the color I want:
With this pigment made fairly thin, but of the consistency of the first skin coat, I color in both lips using the fine brush. I also use this pigment (same to slightly thinner consistency) to line the shape of the eye (1).
The rest of the eye from this point is pretty straight forward. With the white paint, I paint the whites of the eyes (2). You might want to dull the white with just a spot of the black or brown, since most whites are too brilliant out of the bottle. With the whites of the eye, first use a white wash, so that some of the pink flesh shade shows through and isn't completely covered by the white. The second coat of white can be of similar consistency as the lip paint. Don't paint completely over the pink flesh liner.
Next, the irises, then after they dry, the pupils, using the fine detail brush with paint of fairly thick (one-coat) consistency (3).
Next, a light spot (optional - 4). If you paint in the light spots, make sure you place it on the same point and make it the same size on each eye--common sense, but it's easy to forget unless you remind yourself and constantly compare both eyes as you're painting them.
Finally, with a pigment 2 or 3 shades darker than the final hair color, the eye lash line.
Now to get the appropriate flesh tone. I determine the right flesh tone before I start with the washes. Here is the color I ended up with, which is a bit lighter than the base coat:
For this head, I also decided I wanted a five-o-clock shadow, so I mixed up some color of what I wanted the hair to be:
And with a wash of this color, painted in the bearded area. It's very important that the shadow go on as a wash rather than a full-blown coat of paint.
Next, using the final skin tone, I just started washing over all the flesh areas, including twice over the lips to subdue their color, and about 6 times over the beard to get it to the right shade. Of course, I avoid the eyeballs entirely, getting just to the eyelids. I used a total of 6 washes.
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Next, I painted in the eyebrows and the hair.
Finally, when I'm satisfied with the head, it's always a good idea to protect the finish with a layer of clear-coat. For the skin, I use a flat finish. For the eyes, lips, and hair, I use the semi-gloss. The semi-gloss on the eyes and lips is especially effective for making them appear moist, but don't overdo it or the figure will appear like it is either salivating or crying. I have to blunt the semi-gloss with some of the flat to dull it just a bit. This is especially important because I painted light spots in the eyes and I want to avoid redundant light spots.
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(c) 2001 Binky Nebab.