Warpaint

[archangel1]

I've noticed that a lot of Native American face paint in the colonial period consists of full face and/or upper body colouring.  How are you folks generally handling this feature? Are you painting the complete skin and then adding warpaint or are you simply painting the body up to the neck and then painting a red or black face.  I've been particularly admiring the figures in such threads as 'The Burning of Fort Lawrence'.

[Aaron]

I used to paint all of the fleah forst and then go back and add paint. I realised after doing 4 or 5 dozen that way that I was wasting a lot of time! Now I plan ahead which areas will be painted and work accordingly.

[axabrax]

I would say if you are going to do complete coverage paint in that color from the start. If you are going to paint patterns paint over the flesh. Seems to work well this way.

[Rhoderic]

This touches on something I've been having trouble with. When painting patterns in such a way that you paint the skin first and then the patterns on top, do you guys highlight the skin before adding the patterns, or after? I'm not sure which way to do it.

I've heard some people do warpaint, tattoos etc with translucent paints, so the skin highlights show through underneath and they don't need to start highlighting the patterns separately, but it sounds like an imperfect solution to me.

[Spong]

When I used to collect savage orcs for 'the game that shall not be named' I used to do all the basecoat, skin colour, washes and highlights first and then apply warpaint in the same way. Its definately a very simple way of doing things and you don't really waste that much time, I felt doing it this way I was less likely to make mistakes and probably save time in the long run. The other thing I will say is that in doing this you really do need to thin the paints a bit because otherwise it can start to cake on, but then you should be doing that anyway .

[Captain Blood]

I tend to paint the unadorned flesh parts first, leaving a few areas. Then fill in the bits with other colours.
Painting full flesh with 3 or 4 layers of highlights, then painting over it, would seem to be a lot of unnecessary work... 
Which is not to say you can't touch in a bit of flesh or warpaint colour either way if something is not working quite as you visualised.

When painting patterns of warpaint (or tattoos) as opposed to block colour, I paint the skin in its entirety and then add the patterns over the top though.

Here are a few of mine... 
Such colourful paint may not be strictly historically accurate, but they darn well stand out nicely amongst the fir trees on the tabletop 

[Ray Rivers]

Geez Captain..

A bit of overkill don't you think?   

Personally, I have never tried war paint.  I'm sure I would do it badly.

[Darkoath]

Love that purple calico shirt with the white spots!   Are those Redoubt indians Captain Blood?

[carlos marighela]

Wow thats lovely work. For my Tupi I painted the flesh all over, highlighted, added a wash and then add the black and red patterns. They look nowhere near as good as the Captains work needless to say.

[Captain Blood]

Love that purple calico shirt with the white spots!   Are those Redoubt indians Captain Blood?

Yep.
I'm afraid quite a lot of Redoubt stuff is a bit substandard compared to what we're used to these days from the likes of Copplestone, Artisan, Perry and so on.
I wouldn't touch their ECW, pirate or colonial ranges with a bargepole (well, that's not strictly true, I do have a few...  )

But their first batch of F&IW figures were in a class apart. I have about 60+ of these Redoubt Woodland Indians and they are all excellent, characterful figures.
Some of the early colonists are really good too.

Unfortunately, I believe the sculptor disappeared unexpectedly, and they gave the job of completing the range to someone else... And the second part of the range (including the last couple of packs of Indians, plus nearly all the rangers and French and British regulars) are totally different in style, size and quality, with distorted proportions, weird poses, and just generally hopeless. 

But the first 15 or 20 codes in the range, I can't recommend highly enough.

[axabrax]

Hey those look great. I don't think I've ever seen blue warpaint before, but they certainly are colorful and convey the feel of "brightly painted savages." 

In terms of the patterns. I think the notion of painting the hilites first and/or using translucent paint is far to elaborate and unnecessary.  Paint a shade in first and then one hilite over it in a bright, vibrant version of the color you are looking for. For very elaborate stuff you might try a very fine prismacolor pen in blue or black.  Try drawing the pattern out on a separate sheet of paper first if it's intricate or more pictorial (I do this for Plains Indian shields) to see if you like it and so that you know what you are doing in advance. Stick to geometric shapes that are easy to block in with a detail brush.

Take a look at some of the Ospreys or the Robert Griffing books for inspiration too.

AX

[Aaron]

This fellow has quite a nice gallery of himself and some of his friends at reenactments in warpaint. I am sure the period paints may have looked a bit different, but it is interesting to see how the paint wears off and the various shades "melt" a bit. I think most of the warpaint starts at page 2.

http://www.attheeasterndoor.com/GeneralInformation/PhotoGallery.aspx?PhotoType=1

[axabrax]

Wow--that's a cool link. Those reenactors look convcincing too. I was worried for a minute that it was going to be a bunch of middle aged fat guys running around in breechclouts! 

[Aaron]

I have seen a few pale, flabby Indians in my time too.  These guys do indeed look the business though. If I saw them creeping through my yard in 1755 I'd need a change of trousers.

[Spong]

if its of any interest I did a bit of web-research inspired by this thread.

what I found out is by no means definitive, I looked at generic information and specific stuff about Iroquis, Seminole and Commanche tribes (also other Plains Indians) and there seem to be alot of consistent repetition of colour theme and application.

"Except for black, which was the color for war, there was no standard
color or pattern for face and body painting: it was a matter of
individual preference. For example, one warrior might paint one side
of his face white and the other side red; another might paint one side
of his body green and the other side with green and black stripes. One
warrior might always paint himself in a particular way, while another
might change the colors and designs when so inclined. Some designs had
special meaning to the individual, and special colors and designs
might have been revealed in a dream."

and

"face and body painting was a matter of
individual choice and helped a warrior attune his mind for battle.
Faces could be striped or spotted in one or more colors or painted
uniformly. Bodies were colored in the same manner with a paint and
grease mixture, often with patterns of bold wavy lines.
Old wounds were often highlighted in red paint"

red - colour of war - represents blood (commonly used in bands or stripes on the face, the backs of hands, on wrists and knife handles)
black - a "living" color, worn on the face to prepare for war (seems to be applied similarly to red)
yellow - colour of death, represents old bones - worn for mourning (some suggestion that it might also be used for war)
white - colour of peace
green - mostly painted under the eyes to give night vision but also used generally.

"He then called for his red paint, and his looking glass, which was held before him, when he deliberately painted one-half of his face, his neck and throat, -his wrists- the backs of his hands, and the handle of his knife, red with vermilion; a custom practiced when the irrevocable oath of war and destruction is taken."

"Several of the Indians' fighting techniques were calculated to strike terror. Some warriors entered battle naked except for a loin cloth, but their bodies were streaked in bizarre examples in red and black paint... (In council) there might be a half red circle of paint under each eye and silver rings in the nose. A few famous braves had their ears elongated and slit."

"Yellow paint says a warrior is ready to die. Red war paint signifies blood; green under the eyes makes for 'see better at night.' Yellow, the color of death, means a man has lived his life and will fight to the finish."

I'd take some of this with a grain of salt, and then of course there's artistic license when painting your own figs anyway ,but at any rate I hope some people find it useful when painting native american warriors.