Musings of a Painting Noob - Tips & Tricks

Learning Along the Way

 

Well, I've finally gotten around to starting (trying?) to do face-ups for my Dollfie Dreams. I think a whole lot while I'm painting, and it dawned on me that, hey, maybe a newbie can post tips for newbies. Let's give it a shot!

 

Um, so this is just a list of random stuff that I found super useful. I dunno if this is common knowledge or not, but I hope it can help somewhat for anyone who would like to take the plunge.

 

 

Painting Techniques

 

Start off a shade or color lighter than what you want. For example, brown beneath black.

 

Thin out paint, though not too much, with acrylic color thinner (I use Zoukeimura) and build up layer by layer. See Thinning Paint section for ratio.

 

Lightly dab brush in paint a few times and use it on thicker parts of the face-up before doing thin ones like eyelashes. Alternatively some artists sweep the brush on the back of their hand.

 

Fan brush tip outward for fine lines, repeat to darken.

 

Turn head upside down when checking for symmetry. I like to sketch out my eyebrows first upside down and then flip it over before finishing the rest. Holding the head up to a light, facing away from you and without a headcap, can also provide the same effect. Mirrors or art programs with flip features are also handy for checks. ^^

 

Have Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner handy when you want to fix mistakes such as smudges.

Use Q-tips to apply and paper towel to wipe it away.

 

Go easy on blush at first! For some reason I find it hard to get rid of blush when there is too much. >.<

 

Thinning ("Watering Down") Paint

 

Drops of Color Thinner and Acrylic Paint Ratio:

 

5:1, 4:1, or 3:1 based on whether you want thinner or thicker

 

If you need more paint, multiply!

 

 

Other Ideas

 

Get a practice head!

White skin shows details in better relief.

Use any color paint you want, especially if you'd like to save neutral colors for final face-ups.

 

Give listening to music a shot. It helps me when I paint to a good beat. Other times I prefer silence, especially when I really need to concentrate.

 

 

That's what I got out of today's face-up session. I might post more if I come up with anything else~ Feel free to give your own input! Thanks for reading. Again, hope this helps.

 

Additional Information:

 

Safe Sealants and Materials

 

• - Zoukeimura Finishing Powder Spray UV Cut
  - Mr. Super Clear Matte UV Cut
  - Testors Dullcote Flat Lacquer, probably
  - Watercolor paints and pencils
  - Most acrylic paints, such as Liquitex
  - Soft chalk and pastels

 

Not Good: Sealants and Materials

 

• - Purity Seal
  - Krylon Matte
  - ANY MATERIALS WITH OILS

Edited August 1, 2014 by Guest

It does!

 

Come Australia spring/ summer - i want to try painting a dd head so one of my girls is painted by me

 

Your tip about checking symmetry by turning it upside down was something I would've never thought of!

 

I'll be watching this thread for more tips ♡

Your tip about checking symmetry by turning it upside down was something I would've never thought of!

 

Works for all kinds of art, actually; apparently there's even a neurological basis in it, due to the fact that neither or brains nor our muscles process left and right equally.

 

My most recent faceup realizations:

 

1. Be systematic! Getting things looking nice is as much about being methodical and analytical as it is about handling your brush/pencils well.

 

2. I've found I prefer to do my base eyelash and eyebrow work in *dry* watercolor pencil, which is faint and easily taken off with either water or an eraser. *Then* I layer the paint in, light to dark like Deux Silences said.

 

3. Pastels: I find I can keep it much neater if I hold the face parallel to the table/floor over my head. Sounds weird I know, but this way excess pastel falls onto the table, not the face. (Some people may not need to do this, but if I don't pastel ends up every place I don't want it and not anywhere I do. XD)

 

4. Pearl-ex and other mica powders: MSC and ZM will completely negate the sparkly effect when sprayed on top. You have two options: One is give a light coat of gloss. The other is to put the powder on immediately after spraying, before it's dried. I haven't had much luck with the latter method, however, due to my very dry climate.

 

So, yeah. That's what I've learned doing and redoing Agatha's head, mostly. XD

Your tip about checking symmetry by turning it upside down was something I would've never thought of!

 

Works for all kinds of art, actually; apparently there's even a neurological basis in it, due to the fact that neither or brains nor our muscles process left and right equally.

 

 

 

Oh.... so I've been drawing wrong for 13 years XD no wonder no one else like my art mwa haha

 

 

Thanks for the extra advice! ^o^

Good luck with your future face-ups (and art ventures), Oni-Chan~ We'll try not to lead you astray. ;)

 

Never knew that about how the brain processes symmetry... I guess there is some method in the madness! xD I've heard you can also use a mirror for checks.

 

Thanks for your input Poofiemus! Honestly, I think great advice comes from experimenting and experience. It's rather fun learning that way. ^^

Not just holding upside down, a mirror helps too. Or if you're drawing on paper, you can turn it the other way and bring up the drawing to light so you can see it. It immediately shows the mistakes (and for example when I draw on SAI, it has the option to flip the whole drawing so that's how I check for anatomy mistakes).

 

Another tip from me is to never, ever ever ever use Purity Seal!!!! *shot* It apparently for some reason gets all weird on vinyl. It doesn't harm it and you can remove it, but mistakes are very hard to remove and the texture is not all that nice + it attracts dust and stuff much more. It just kind of turns out...sticky in a sense.

Yep, mirrors totally work! Cellphone pictures got mentioned in another thread, where you either use the front-facing camera or an app like LINE Camera that flips the picture. (And I love that feature in SAI, and in MS Paint as well, since it saves my life every time when drawing faces.)

 

Never heard of Purity Seal, but it doesn't sound fun. I'm scared of trying even Mr. Super Clear, so I've stuck to Zoukeimura alone. It's really easy to buy from Volks USA, not too sure about internationally. ^^;

Is it possible to do a face-up all in water color pencils? I had read somewhere that someone had, but it seems that they aren't dark enough.

I have only tried to do one face-up in watercolor pencil before, but it's not so bad! To avoid lines being too grainy/light, I dip the pencil tip in water first. ^^ Then draw until the lead goes dry and dip again~

Not just holding upside down, a mirror helps too. Or if you're drawing on paper, you can turn it the other way and bring up the drawing to light so you can see it. It immediately shows the mistakes (and for example when I draw on SAI, it has the option to flip the whole drawing so that's how I check for anatomy mistakes).

 

Another tip from me is to never, ever ever ever use Purity Seal!!!! *shot* It apparently for some reason gets all weird on vinyl. It doesn't harm it and you can remove it, but mistakes are very hard to remove and the texture is not all that nice + it attracts dust and stuff much more. It just kind of turns out...sticky in a sense.

 

Photoshop can flip too, though it definitely helps to set a shortcut to one of the number or function keys. (Why there isn't a keyboard shortcut by default in PS I'll never know.)

 

Quite a few sealants don't get along well with vinyl sadly; Testor's Dulcote is another that turns into a sticky mess. (Thankfully I found this out on a G1 MLP rather than a DD, but it was still unpleasant considering we were keeping it in a house with shed-erific dogs. >.<)

 

Confirmed to be safe: Mister Super Clear (MSC) and Volks Zokeimura spray. (NOTE: MSC does come in both gloss and matte, so do check the listing carefully!)

 

I think there's one or two that at least have produced mixed results, but I've only used MSC--partially because it's also one of the few that's safe for polymer clay, so I've got other reasons to spring for it.

 

ETA: Yes, you can wet the watercolor pencil--either by directly dipping the pencil lead in water or wetting it after it's on the face--to get a more paint-like effect for a whole faceup. I personally find it hard to get long, thin lines this way, but once again I think it's the dryness of where I live. (Seriously, when humidity gets higher than 15% we start whining and can get rain. Paint doesn't stand a chance.)

Testor's is one of those sealants that I wouldn't write off completely for use on vinyl. I used it when I painted my Obitsu, and it's been nearly two years with no excess yellowing or weirdness/stickiness. Caution in all things unknown, but I definitely wouldn't write it off completely if that's all you can get your hands on.

Hi guys,

 

I need some helpful tip. I just start learning to do face up.

 

This is about fine line on eye liners. Example picture as below,

 

 

1. how to achieve these many fine lines..

 

2. and for eyeliner process, do we need draw brown layer first then black to have that brownish outer effect line?

1. how to achieve these many fine lines..

 

2. and for eyeliner process, do we need draw brown layer first then black to have that brownish outer effect line?

For 1, I would imagine that a fine brush with thinned out paints would help in achieving that effect. For thinning, you would basically add water or paint thinner (a.k.a paint retarder) to reduce the thick consistency and make it smoother.

 

For 2, yes, that's one way to do it. There are probably other ways but, that's one technique that I know of.

 

I hope this was helpful to you!

1. how to achieve these many fine lines..

 

2. and for eyeliner process, do we need draw brown layer first then black to have that brownish outer effect line?

For 1, I would imagine that a fine brush with thinned out paints would help in achieving that effect. For thinning, you would basically add water or paint thinner (a.k.a paint retarder) to reduce the thick consistency and make it smoother.

 

For 2, yes, that's one way to do it. There are probably other ways but, that's one technique that I know of.

 

I hope this was helpful to you!

 

I do have small tip brush >.> but suddenly I have Parkinson, shaky hands all the way made it bit hard..

Paint retarder is new, :3 wonder how it will help me smooth the line..

 

another way I think is, those edges thin line is actually pencil colours then thick lines use acrylic .. will it work tho..

I do have small tip brush >.> but suddenly I have Parkinson, shaky hands all the way made it bit hard..

Paint retarder is new, :3 wonder how it will help me smooth the line..

I forgot to mention, but you can also use watercolor pencils too. I heard they are easier to control than a paint brush.

another way I think is, those edges thin line is actually pencil colours then thick lines use acrylic .. will it work tho..

That seems like a good idea! Use paint to make the basic shape, then use watercolor pencils for fine details. Although, if it'll work, I guess you won't know less you try...but it seems like a pretty good idea!

I do have small tip brush >.> but suddenly I have Parkinson, shaky hands all the way made it bit hard..

Paint retarder is new, :3 wonder how it will help me smooth the line..

I forgot to mention, but you can also use watercolor pencils too. I heard they are easier to control than a paint brush.

another way I think is, those edges thin line is actually pencil colours then thick lines use acrylic .. will it work tho..

That seems like a good idea! Use paint to make the basic shape, then use watercolor pencils for fine details. Although, if it'll work, I guess you won't know less you try...but it seems like a pretty good idea!

 

that might be the secret of WDS face up ! will try next time when i have commission !