ddubs
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 8, 2014 5:45:30 GMT -5
Posts: 225 
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Post by ddubs on Aug 2, 2021 10:39:29 GMT -5
I’ve been on these boards for a number of years and dabbled with customising a figure about 6 years ago. It was an AJ Styles before his WWE debut and it turned out awful! Safe to say I was put off and didn’t pick up so much as a paintbrush since! I’ll preface my testers below that I have never really had an artistic bone in my body but since I’ve been injured and can’t train at the gym I needed something to occupy my mind. I got my gear 2 days ago and am working to make a Jay White (head arriving imminently) so wanted to practice on some fodder I had laying around. Attempt 1 - Cesaro. I repainted the whole head focussing on skin tone. I then got to the eyes and realised I had an issue! Straight after watched some YouTube for inspiration on how to do these less cartoon like. Attempt 2 - Tyler Breeze - focus for this one was solely the eyes and they are much better but not perfect. Attempt 3 - Kenta - really happy with this. It’s not finished but the goal was to focus on skin tone and try a different technique for the eyes. I painted the entire head grey so all of the colour has been added by me Would be really interested to hear any tips you guys have as I’m very VERY new and am trying to learn quickly as I go!  |
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Post by shanieomaniac on Aug 7, 2021 15:53:23 GMT -5
Those are really impressive for a first time out!
I'm rubbish at heads, m'self. Faces especially with eyes being the bane of my existence. I have really bad eyes and it's hard for me to keep focus even with my glasses or contacts so, if I want a good look at if I've got the eyes right, I take a photo of the head with my phone, enlarge it on the screen, and go from there. I've discovered far more oopses that way rather than just looking at it.
I will say you seem to have a very steady hand. That's a big bonus. Also, the skin-paint on these is awesome, no splotchiness or overly-thick paint issues. Great job there.
Really, there's so much good here (for a first effort) that I don't know if there's a ton of tips that I can give you. About the only thing I might have is that, once you get more comfortable with your techniques, adding a bit of depth and dynamic to the hair via highlights, shadows, and dry brushing can help to make the head really pop. But, of course, the actual WWE Mattel figures rarely have that so unless you are going for artistic pieces, you can easily skip that.
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berealnicknaro
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Dec 16, 2018 10:48:10 GMT -5
Posts: 258
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Post by berealnicknaro on Aug 7, 2021 22:22:58 GMT -5
If you’re painting the skin anyway, start with the eyes and paint the skin around them. I prefer to use micropens for the iris and the lash line as well.
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Ohtimate Wahriah
Main Eventer
WF 10 Year Member
Joined on: Jul 1, 2008 12:35:07 GMT -5
Posts: 2,527
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Post by Ohtimate Wahriah on Aug 7, 2021 22:43:36 GMT -5
Nice job buddy, keep at it and in no time you’ll be perfecting your craft, trust me. Many years ago, I took up customizing those 12 inch Maximum Aggression figures JAKKS had put out. That was my first experience with painting a toy. I posted them right here on this forum & the reception everybody gave me kept me painting for over 13 years, to this day. I’ll never forget that. Paint because you want to & don’t worry about being perfect right out of the gate. Here, look at this comparison… Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedThe Ultron on the left is one of the very first free hand paintings over a figure I ever did. Less then 5 years later, I had improved quite a bit haha. It’s as simple as doing it over and over, you’d be surprised. You’ll learn all the tricks out of necessity. If you have trouble painting eyes, paint them first and then touch it up with the skin color, things like that will come naturally to you because it will just make logical sense. bottom line, just have fun. Paint because you like to, try new things, make things your way and be creative. You get good at it by accident, I’ll swear to that. You’re doing just fine, keep at it! |
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ddubs
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 8, 2014 5:45:30 GMT -5
Posts: 225
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Post by ddubs on Aug 8, 2021 11:39:09 GMT -5
Thanks all for your kind words and advice - it is really good to hear! I used your advice on the eyes and paid a bit more attention to what I wanted the end look to be. I painted a Balor yesterday and on reflection it wasn’t bad but he had this kind of sad/distant look in his eyes. I had the original Elite 82 head so decided to try something and I’ve tried to do more expression with the eye brows and painted skin tone first and then eyes, then finished the skin tone and it came out nicely. Yesterday’s Balor:  Original Elite 82 head - printing very bad:  Repainted Elite 82 head with hair added:  This is the look I was going for:  Really pleased with this one - more menacing/pissed off expression and a better paint job! |
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Ohtimate Wahriah
Main Eventer
WF 10 Year Member
Joined on: Jul 1, 2008 12:35:07 GMT -5
Posts: 2,527
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Post by Ohtimate Wahriah on Aug 8, 2021 12:55:30 GMT -5
Thanks all for your kind words and advice - it is really good to hear! I used your advice on the eyes and paid a bit more attention to what I wanted the end look to be. I painted a Balor yesterday and on reflection it wasn’t bad but he had this kind of sad/distant look in his eyes. I had the original Elite 82 head so decided to try something and I’ve tried to do more expression with the eye brows and painted skin tone first and then eyes, then finished the skin tone and it came out nicely. Yesterday’s Balor: Original Elite 82 head - printing very bad: Repainted Elite 82 head with hair added: This is the look I was going for: Really pleased with this one - more menacing/pissed off expression and a better paint job! Excellent job buddy! The new one is a pretty big improvement already! Something to keep in mind when doing eyes, the more of the pupil you can see, the wider the eyes will look. So for example, on your 1st Finn face, you said he looked kinda sad. I think that’s because you painted half of an eye pupil, so his eye lids look half closed. Had you painted a full eye pupil (full circle), his eyes would look wide open. Little things like that to keep in mind. Great job though 👍 |
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ddubs
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 8, 2014 5:45:30 GMT -5
Posts: 225
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Post by ddubs on Aug 8, 2021 13:54:08 GMT -5
Excellent job buddy! The new one is a pretty big improvement already! Something to keep in mind when doing eyes, the more of the pupil you can see, the wider the eyes will look. So for example, on your 1st Finn face, you said he looked kinda sad. I think that’s because you painted half of an eye pupil, so his eye lids look half closed. Had you painted a full eye pupil (full circle), his eyes would look wide open. Little things like that to keep in mind. Great job though 👍 Ahh that makes a lot of sense! I kept looking at it and it didn't seem right but not being a natural artist I couldn't put my finger on why but looking back now you're right and I can see it. Thanks so much for the advice again. Planning on doing some straightforward head painting to practice over the next few weeks and then might try something slightly more complex to see how I can manage painting gear... |
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Ohtimate Wahriah
Main Eventer
WF 10 Year Member
Joined on: Jul 1, 2008 12:35:07 GMT -5
Posts: 2,527
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Post by Ohtimate Wahriah on Aug 8, 2021 14:22:53 GMT -5
Excellent job buddy! The new one is a pretty big improvement already! Something to keep in mind when doing eyes, the more of the pupil you can see, the wider the eyes will look. So for example, on your 1st Finn face, you said he looked kinda sad. I think that’s because you painted half of an eye pupil, so his eye lids look half closed. Had you painted a full eye pupil (full circle), his eyes would look wide open. Little things like that to keep in mind. Great job though 👍 Ahh that makes a lot of sense! I kept looking at it and it didn't seem right but not being a natural artist I couldn't put my finger on why but looking back now you're right and I can see it. Thanks so much for the advice again. Planning on doing some straightforward head painting to practice over the next few weeks and then might try something slightly more complex to see how I can manage painting gear... You would have figured it out eventually, trust me, I’m just trying to save you some time haha. I use to do the same thing. Just keep going man, I’m telling ya, it’s that simple. Don’t be afraid to try something new when it comes to art, always look at trying something new like building the foundation to the next thing you’ll be good at. Nothing comes out perfect on the 1st try, but by getting an attempt under your belt, you’d be surprised how much you improve just by doing it. Even if you aren’t liking how it’s coming out, follow it through to the end because you’ll learn by doing that. You’ll see what you like and what you don’t and how to approach it differently next time. Most of all though, have fun! It’s the best way to improve and you already have in such a short time. That last Finn head came out VERY good, they all have really but that’s a nice improvement for sure! |
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Post by Nivro™ on Aug 9, 2021 21:46:52 GMT -5
When painting a head do the whole skin tone first. Then paint the thin black line on the upper eyelid. Dont worry you wont get a thin line it will run over into the eyeball and the eye lid but we'll get to that later. Once you have the black line, fill in the eye ball with white. Use the white to fill in the over run of black thats in the eyeball. This makes that thin black line thats impossible to do, thinner. Then with more skin tone go over the eye lid thinning out the rest of the black line. That gives you your thin black line and white eyeball. Next using a silicone sculpting tool (like this) dab it into the paint color of your choice and very carefully dab the tip into the spot onto the white of the eye where you want the eye color. Ive learned if you exhale and dont inhale while doing this your hand is more steady. Using the tool also doesnt "spread" the paint like a brush would when you put pressure on it. Once you get the hang of doing eyes this way you can get more detailed. You can find something finer (i shave down a toothpick) and then dab a little white inside of the color of the eye. Then eventually you'll be painting heads that looks like this or even much better cause Im not artistic at all!  |
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xtremer18
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Joined on: Aug 15, 2013 19:03:56 GMT -5
Posts: 1,625
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Post by xtremer18 on Aug 15, 2021 12:38:26 GMT -5
May I ask what kind of tone/paint you used for the Breeze head please?
Thank you so much for your time and help!
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