Guest post: Tutorial on painting miniatures faces

By | 11/06/2018

I have been looking for a face painting tutorial for a while that made sense to me and didn’t skip anything. This is how I came across The Real Broken Fingers is a great painter on Instagram that I have been following via the sites own Instagram account. Everyone now and then this generous painter posts tutorials, rather good ones. I thought to myself we haven’t had a tutorial since Joe from Brokenpaintbrush did his piece on how to base Bloodbowl Orcs.

So I reached out to Broken Fingers and asked could I share some of his work, as his latest guide is rather good. I plan to try it out very soon. They were only delighted to help people out, so over to them.


The tutorial

This is how I personally do it. I’m still learning but this works for me. Apologies for the photos but this was done with my telephone/receptacle of all human knowledge.

1. Apply the white scar direct to the primed head tip of brush to inside of eye and stroke down leaving little black line at bottom of eye above lower lid. Add the black iris so the lower curve of the iris is fully visible in the white of the eye.

This is the hardest bit to get right if you are doing 2 eyes. I love bionic eyes because you don’t have to get both pointing the same direction


2. Bugmans glow base leaving eye


3. Layer glaze of thinned Cadian flesh except lowest surfaces


4. Layers of thinned Kislev flesh higher surfaces


5. Layers of flayed one flesh highlights


6. Layers of screaming skull (very thin) at extreme points nose tip, chin, brows


7. Lips cadian flesh then washed Carroburg crimson


8. Very careful targeted wash of Agrax in deepest points of inner eye.


9. Stubble on chin and head with thinned glaze of Dawnstone.

face painting tutorial cover


There we go, a lovely little face painting tutorial that I am going to test out soon (on a certain Lord of Iron).

What do people think?

9 thoughts on “Guest post: Tutorial on painting miniatures faces

  1. Daniel Badnall-Neill

    Interesting method. I hate painting faces but i may give this one a go. I’ll try any thing to get a good finish.

    Reply
  2. Siph

    I hate faces too, so will try to replicate, anything to make it easier! Thanks for this

    Reply
  3. Thor

    I can’t believe I never thought of doing the eyes first…it makes so much sense.

    Reply

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