Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

What is the correct way to paint eyes? Non-helmet space marines is what I am particularly interested in.

There's really no single correct way to do it (or anything else). To me the answer is "none", 'cos "..every time I see eyes get done on models they look like they're on drugs, eyes all dilated and crazy."

Waethion wrote:There's really no single correct way to do it (or anything else). To me the answer is "none", 'cos "..every time I see eyes get done on models they look like they're on drugs, eyes all dilated and crazy."

There are some who can paint eyes really good, but then again those painters are already crazy good. Examples include Infinity models in their website and some of Dark Sword Miniatures' painters.



Here's an example of my own work. Not the best eye paintjob ever, but it's not dilated and crazy:



Don't quote me on this, but I think it's necessary to have nicely sculpted eyes to pull off a nicely sculpted eye paintjob. Most of marine and GW paintjobs I see do look like they are crazy-eyed, so Les's comment does make sense. It's not common to see nicely painted eyes.

An easy way I guess is to paint the eye itself black, then to add a touch of white to the side. It's easier again to have them look off to the side than it is to look straight on. Just be sure to try to not get the black on anything but the eyeball, unless you want them to have eyeliner.



Also be sure to keep in mind the rest of the pose of the model when you do paint the eyes.

The rule of thumb in my hobby shop is either leave them be, and let the shading from the reikland flesh shade do it's magic (from anywhere but -realllly- close, it looks weirdly good,

OR

Paint a thin white line covering the eye, then paint a thin black line for the pupil. That's right, not a circle, a thin line like a cat's eye. From farther away, your eye will blend it together and it will look much more natural than trying to draw a complete eye.

Tip two comes from a commission painter friend of mine.

Here's a shoddy tutorial for a relatively easy way to do eyes that I made for a friend a few years ago:



1: (The blue is supposed to represent recesses and moulding in the plastic) I usually prime white, but you can paint the whole area white if you use black primer.
2: I use a Pigma Micron 005 pen to dot the pupils in - this is deffo my top tip! They're available on ebay, and are really really easy to use. It doesn't matter if you go over or under the eye recess here, as long as the dot is in roughly the same alignment on both eyes. It's important to ensure the pupil touches where both lids will end, or your character will look shocked or frightened. You can correct vertical accidents that cross the lids in the next two stages!
3: Here, you can do a small crescent under the eye using your base flesh colour mixed with something darker, like a shade of purple or brown, depending on how tired you want your character to look.
4: Finally fill in the rest of the area with your base flesh colour.

It can get you pretty good results even if the eyes are not particularly well pronounced in the sculpting:

I've personally found that most space marine models don't have terribly well sculpted eyes and are therefore difficult to do correctly. The eyes tend to be very recessed and once you've applied your washes and paints they are somewhat difficult to pull off...my recommendation is to let your shades do the work for you...if you MUST do something with the eyes then apply a thin line of white and some shade to that, painting pupils makes your models look like crack heads. (My Helbrecht has this effect but I actually rather like it for his model)

i agree with BrotherVord,

space marine models have their eye lids sculpted, but not their eye... and if you paint the eyelids as their eye. wel... you will have a crack head SM

what you can do is paint a thin white line over the eye ball but leave it at that...

a good way to get the look you want is to place someone like 30-40 meters away and look at them from a second or third floot ... do you see their eyes if they dont look straight at you?

Cool thank you guys for the help. Greatly needed and will rebook at my models. Thank you.

I'm not a first rate painter by any means (probably not even third rate!) but this is my best eye work. Generally I find that painting the iris first, then doing white on either side, then a very light wash of black will get the best effects--the wash brings out the eyes really well, and also hides any irregularities in the paint.

Miniwargaming had a tutorial/free video on their site about it. Might have been in one of their free video giveaways...They basically painted a mask over the eyes & nose before they painted anything else. Then once it dried, they painted the face around the eyes, and then went in for the fine details.

If I even bother trying to paint the eyes, Its the very first thing I paint. I fill in the area of the eye with white or a very very light flesh colour before painting a line though the rough area of where the pupil will be with black. I then use the faces base coat to tidy the up the eyes surrounds. Its a lazy but effective way of doing them when your trying to paint a production line of models.

Going from the inside out is the key. Trying to paint the eyes after the face is finished will just end in tears (hah!)