Byzantines in progress

[WillieB]

It's actually very simple. Now, I use oil paints but it also works with acrylics (I've tried it)
Paint the face as usual, complete with shadows (washes)

Prepare a mixture of dark brown and dark blue ( I use Burnt Umber and Phtalo Blue) Acryl equivalent would be Prussian blue and any very dark brown. Don't use black!

Get yourself a fine brush. I still prefer the Windsor and Newton series 7 but any good brush will do. Rosemary for instance or the Raphael range. A size 'O' is small enough. you don't need anything smaller for this.

What you've got to do is determine which way you want your figure to be looking. In most cases that will be towards the weapon he's holding or the intended target of the weapon at least.

Paint a small blue/brown dot between the upper and lower eyelids. If at all possible line the underside of the upper eyelid partially as well. You don't have to do this if there's already enough shadow from the washes.

So if you want to make the figure look to the right, paint a small dot in the left extremity of the right eye (towards the cheek) and another one in the left of the right eye( next to the nose). Simply reverse for a figure looking to the left.

Once this is done get your fine brush and dip it in pure white paint. Here's the 'secret'.That white paint should not be liquid. Oil paint out of a tube comes out as a 'blob', but so does acrylic paint out of a tube. Dip the extreme point of your brush into the 'mayonnaise-like blob' and put this very fine white 'point' next to the dark blue/dark brown dot. You will probably have too much paint on your brush at first so carefully remove some of it by gently putting a few dots on the base of the figure or any handy surface.

For that figure looking to the right, put the white dot to the right of the already painted dark dot in both eyes. Just a very, very  light touch without bending the bristles at all will do.
It takes some practise to get the hang of it but once you've learned it you'll never forget.

What I usually do is prepare about 8-10 figures with the dark dots and them proceed with the white dots. This way you'll easily do about a dozen figures a minute.

BTW if you are unsure about the exact acrylic paints you can use oil paint over acrylic. After all you only need three inexpensive tubes of oil paint. Burnt Umber +  Winton Phtalo Blue + Titanium White.
It's even easier because if you make a mistake take a brush with clean turps, wipe off the dark blue and white dots and start over again. It won't mar the already painted acrylic paint and you end up with a clean palette to try again.

Hope this helps somewhat.

PS for female figures I use a mixture of Phtalo blue and Alizarin Crimsom This gives  softer purplish hue and IMHO looks better on females.

[Hupp n at em]

That's a really great tip, thanks for sharing.    Although my painted eyes always look quite awful so I tend to just rationalize not painting them at all... 

[ErikB]

Ah, the dot method.  That works great for eyes looking somewhere to the side but I'm trying to get them centered looking forward.  This requires white on both sides.

Thanks for reminding me of this technique, though.  I will apply it with the 19 horses I still have in the queue.

[ErikB]

Update of "Red Platoon," so to speak.

[ErikB]

One more photo.

[ErikB]

And...

[ErikB]

These look horrible when photographed like that.  I'm going to have to try a different camera and see if these images are this bad because of my painting or the camera or the lighting.

In person, the puttees have contrast, the faces don't look like they're bruised up from a beating, and so on.

I'm amazed by the photos of some of all of your *perfect* minis.  I've been doing this for more than 10 years and these guys look so amateur.  Very frustrating.

[archiduque]

Very nice work!

[ErikB]

Thanks, folks.

First "platoon" of 16 are done except for shields and stripes on the spears that will match the shield colors.

I'll try to get a decent photo (with my wife's proper camera) of these guys lined up.  Though the faces are awful, I think the whole lineup produces a nice effect.  They'll look even better with those shields when I get them painted and decaled.

Everyone will get their bases flocked together, so that'll be after the next 84 minis.  It will take time....

Next "platoon" of unarmored spearmen will not have eyes.  I think it will go much better that way.

I'm looking forward to painting up the centurions and draco-bearers for some character. 

Also, to make nice rows of 10 models per row, I am adding a dog or two to the line.  I love dogs in real life and the Mastiffs and Irish Wolf Hounds from Warlord and Saga respectively look pretty good.  I hope I paint them well enough.

[King Arthur]

These look horrible when photographed like that.  I'm going to have to try a different camera and see if these images are this bad because of my painting or the camera or the lighting.

In person, the puttees have contrast, the faces don't look like they're bruised up from a beating, and so on.

I'm amazed by the photos of some of all of your *perfect* minis.  I've been doing this for more than 10 years and these guys look so amateur.  Very frustrating.

It's all about the background colour, the light and the camera setting 

I searched on Google images for a Light Blue graduated faded background, copied the image in Powerpoint, blew it up and printed it out on A3 and now I have to say my photo's never looked so good! You have to use a Light Blue Graduated fade in to White, it is all to do with Mother nature - there is a reason why everything looks so damn nice with a clear blue sky right? Same goes for photographing minis. The fade from Light Blue into White brings out all the colours and details.

You should arrange the blue background so that it curves slightly, you do not want a straight back drop (not good for the light reflection). Shine a lamp or lamps directly onto the miniatures.

If you have an SLR camera, set it to 'A' (Aperture) setting and then tweak your aperture exposure to allow as much light in as needed, if you allow too much, you get saturated images, too little and of course, dark images. Then you need to go to your Camera's options and search for the WHITE BALANCE (very important!!!!) set this to artificial light and the camera will adjust to your lamps which are shining on to the miniatures and then you should have some damn fine pictures of your models 

Give it a go!

Cheers

Gary

[ErikB]

Thanks heaps for the photography instruction, Gary.  I have no idea how to do it. 

My sense of color isn't quite like everyone else's, either.  I really liked the coloring in the movies Interstellar and Gattaca, a lot of people did not.

Sounds like another cool skill to learn.  I'll see what I can do this weekend.

[fred]

Gary's photo tips are good.

By using a white base (but not background) you are making things hard for yourself - the camera sees all the white and will adjust to let less light in. But having a cluttered background distracts from the figures.

Either go with a totally white base and background - and adjust the camera settings to get the figures exposed right - I find this quite hard.

Or just go with a natural base and background and the camera will cope with the exposure settings much better.

[ErikB]

Simple cellphone photos.  One more group of 20 to do, 19-20 cavalry, the foot HQ, and the shields and grass, but here are my first two groups, at least.

[ErikB]

And Team Red Comitatenses.

[Denouement]

Great looking collection and inspiring. 

Stuart.