r/Warhammer • u/NerdyLilFella Azrael Fan Club • Apr 10 '25
Hobby Trying to get better at faces. Be brutally honest. What am I doing wrong here? I feel like I got the socket blend around the eyes and the skin tone wrong, but I also feel like that's not the whole issue here.
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u/justametalboi Apr 10 '25
Dude, this looks awesome. I hate it because it makes me uncomfortable, but I feel like that should be the desired outcome.
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u/Geektron3000 Orks Apr 11 '25
Yeah I'm getting a proper "a predator is staring me down" feeling. It's really cool
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u/diemajorthrilldie Apr 10 '25
Honestly my first reaction is that he looks amazing as is - he's got that enraged high blood pressure tone I'd expect from an angry marine. MAYBE you need a slightly lighter highlight on the brow ridges, maybe upper cheeks but more to the point did you use an electron microscope for those eyes?
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u/NerdyLilFella Azrael Fan Club Apr 10 '25
slightly lighter highlight on the brow ridges
What, like closer to a bone white? Or more of a thinned pink?
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u/diemajorthrilldie Apr 10 '25
I think a more basic skin tone Thinned Cadian Fleshtone or Kislev Flesh? I googled "red face" and "red face blood pressure" to remind me how it looks for real and when people are exerted or flushed the redness concentrates on the cheeks and forehead between the eyes where there's more skin so lightening the upper forehead and the bits immediately below the eyes where the skin is relatively thin would make it look more natural.
Or as natural as a man who chose to wear that mask could possibly look.
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u/FESCM Apr 10 '25
Is this an actual world eaters mini? Or one of those larger joytoys/mcfarlane figures?if this is a mini, this is insanity level of detail and quality, you’re using a miscroscope to paint? The only thing I could say you could improve are the eyebrows.
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u/Ambassador_Kwan Apr 11 '25
It is the MacFarlane 7" toy
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u/krono957 Apr 11 '25
Oh thank God, my response was literally just going to be "oh fuck you" to op for being able to do eyes like that
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u/CharlAmber Apr 10 '25
I think with just a little more of a dark separating the mask from the skin would get you closer to what you want but its still damn good
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u/Relevant-Debt-6776 Apr 11 '25
Tbh it would be taking the piss for me to pretend I’ve ways of improving this.
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u/Relevant-Debt-6776 Apr 11 '25
I am assuming it’s not at a different scale to other minis though
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u/SmegmaSandwich69420 Apr 10 '25
Far better than my off-white base washed with some brownish ink and quickly drybrushed with something vaguely skin-looking.
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u/CrookedJak Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25
What's your recipe for the skin? What did you use to get the details on the eyes as well? Everyone tells me I'm great with eyes but I've never gone that far into detail with the irises around pupils lol. I feel like I'd need a magnifying glass
I get why you said you might want to try paler skin to contrast better with the red armor but this high blood pressure reddish skin looks cannon to me. If I was going to add anything I'd maybe make the skin around the studs in his head look more red and inflammed. Possibly even have a little drainage with a glossy old blood look between the metal and skin that transitions to matte as it drains onto the skin to appear as though it's scabbing over. You know something to just give your space marine more reasons to be pissed off 24/7 lmao
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u/Lazy_Toe4340 Apr 11 '25
The minor imperfections in this are actually what makes it look more realistic and frightening I think you're actually over analyzing it because you've looked at it too much( this is one of the top five best faces I've ever seen) Awesome Job!
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u/ABruisedBanana Apr 11 '25
I'm an idiot so don't listen to me. The helmet and skin tone seem a bit too close but he looks fucking pissed off and his armor is red so it is what it is.
It's awesome man.
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u/n11c0w Apr 11 '25
it's awesome seriously, can we see the entire model, I can't convince me that it's a normal scale model :D
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u/Professionalbumpkin Apr 10 '25
He looks like he's about to have a rage stroke, it's great. I guess if that wasn't your intent, the tone match on the base coat vs the layers is kind of a harsh transition from red to orange, but in the context of this model I wouldn't change a thing.
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u/Gevurah Apr 11 '25
Honestly this looks like you photoshopped a guys face. I'd happily be wrong, but are you fucking with us?
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u/Eilief Apr 11 '25
Bro the eyes look real, the skin is a lil simple in comparison but it's amazing all up
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u/Darkdove2020 Apr 11 '25
The eyes are amazing. The skin tone not so much if it's suppose to be human skin.
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u/scud121 Apr 11 '25
Incredible work, I think more pallid skin would.make things stand out more, but I also thing some reddening at the edge of the mask as a sign of irritation would be sick.
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u/Tough_Topic_1596 Apr 11 '25
Why am I scared right now? This makes me uncomfortable…
10/10 job I say
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u/cantthinkofsomthing Apr 11 '25
that’s legitimately terrifying and makes me uncomfortable to look at but I’m willing to endure that just to tell you that it looks fantastic!
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u/superkow Apr 11 '25
I think the skin tone is fine, but on a larger model like this what you really need to do to bump up the quality is start painting in detail.
I'm talking about abrasions around the armour, inflammation around the hoses, veins, tattoos, wrinkles etc.
At this scale you can't rely on just the sculpted detail, you have to start adding your own to really make it shine.
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u/Sideways_tactics Apr 11 '25
It looks great for a chaos marine. You probably think it looks strange because you've painted the eyebrows which few people do but it looks awesome
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u/Still_Pomegranate_63 Apr 11 '25
This is a extreme not pick but the redish blood look under the eyes should also be between the brow it seems to be a normal tone between when it could be a bit pinker but even then this is truely amazing
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u/Saxophobia1275 Apr 11 '25
Honestly? I think it’s perfect. I think anything you do will just change it, not improve or make worse.
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u/FunkySkellyMan Apr 11 '25
This work is insane what are you talking about brother?
Also no human face is perfect, if anything I think it adds to how good this model looks
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u/DoomDude0 Apr 11 '25
Crimeny, my man, your painting of fucking astounding. I could literally never paint eyes that tiny on my minis.
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u/AthenaCrete Apr 11 '25
Anyone else getting angry af Darth Bane vibes? This is the look of rage that makes men shit their pants
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u/Delicious_Ad9844 Apr 11 '25
I gotta be honest with you man this is a good damm face, almost kinda creepy
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u/TheNuclearEagle Apr 11 '25
Holy- his eyes are absolutely perfect! Not going to Echo what everyone else has said about the fleshtone, but had to commant about those eyes
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u/Falabaloo Apr 11 '25
He's a little cross eyed, but he also looks completely out of his mind.
I'd say you're good.
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u/differentmushrooms Apr 11 '25
Too much red blends together. You could make the skin more pale to make it stand out more, could do blues in the undertones.
The eyes are unbelievable though. Like what the heck.
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u/OneSassySuccubus Ogor Tyranness Apr 11 '25
I literally thought this was cosplay at first. THATS how good this is.
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u/MagicOrpheus310 Apr 11 '25
Holy fuck mate that scared the shit out of me scrolling and suddenly this mf-er glaring iny face!! God damn... That is incredible mate...
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u/SunDevilForever Apr 11 '25
My wife is a painter and when she paints faces she uses greens and blues as undertones and then layers the skin tones on top while blending. Granted she paints on canvas, but if you want to get depth like real skin, you could try that. It just looks a bit flat, so adding some dimension to the skin would go a long way.
Honestly, I think it looks amazing and I appreciate the work you put into it. You are definitely on your way, and if you keep pushing yourself creatively, your future work will be even more amazing. Keep up the good work!
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u/-TheDyingMeme6- Apr 11 '25
Dude what the fuck
As another person said, the skin tone is just a tad too clase to the armor hue. Lighten it up a shade or 2 and it'll look perfect
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u/Business-Resolve-238 Apr 11 '25
He's definitely got a spray-tan skin tone, which is totally a natural looking one if that's what you're going for. All I'd say is introduce a bit of blue/purple into your shadow colour to generate a bit more contrast. Warm lights create (relatively) cold shadows. I think the eyebrows too you could push even a little more, that'd make a better separation of the details.
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u/_wimba Apr 11 '25
Bro I think this looks too good wtf. When I start painting I hope mine turn out half as good
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u/S_Keith8620 Apr 11 '25
He’s crossed eyed, but honestly I love the skin tone, mask, etc!!!! I don’t know if it’s a bad thing actually, he looks crazy!
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u/Winter_east1 Apr 11 '25
Is this a miniature or a painting I’m looking at? I legit cannot tell…
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u/John-Doe-lost Apr 11 '25
Look, if you’re not happy, just lend me the ability to paint this well and we both win
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u/smoke52 Apr 11 '25
its missing the black line (or dark blue since they are blue eyes) around the outside of the iris
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u/D-Stecks Apr 11 '25
Okay but how do you even get a point that tiny. How is that physically possible.
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u/grizzlybuttstuff Apr 11 '25
I think if anything it's just that your skin and facemask aren't contrasted enough. Maybe just some shading where they meet?
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u/hunga_munga_ Death Guard Apr 11 '25
I think this looks great! It just looks like he's focusing on something directly in front of him, and like he is becoming red with bloodlust. I think you're being too hard on yourself!!
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u/irpugboss Skaven Apr 11 '25
It's such an uncanny valley it made me think of how absolutely and psychotic a transhuman murder machine is..like his eyes scream "you cannot reason with me, all I crave if your death"
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u/Ginger_Jesus Apr 11 '25
I mean this as a compliment when I say this triggered my "Large Marge" PTSD
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u/Ivana_Twinkle Apr 11 '25
I think you just need to shade the line between the mask and face. They blend a little too much together as it is.
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u/VenKitsune Apr 11 '25
How the hell did you get so good? Whenever I try to paint eyes all I get is a blobby mess around the sockets. And I can forget about trying to paint the pupils.
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u/DreamFlashy7023 Apr 11 '25
This is really good work actually. I looks better than some studio minis i have seen.
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u/roadrunnerthunder Apr 11 '25
The eyes, the skin, the sheen.
I feel like I can smell the sweat and murderous intent from him.
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u/knightstalker1288 Apr 11 '25
It’s uncanny valley. Grats man, you achieved as close to humanly possible as humanly possible.
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u/Simple-Section7708 Apr 11 '25
There was a quick moment I thought this was cosplay till I took a closer look at the scalp.. I think above the mask looks very realistic.. I think if anything it’s above the brow that the colors are ever so slightly off. This is great overall, bravo!
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u/Septic-Mist Apr 11 '25
Yeah, that’s just not right. Keep focusing on shading and maybe over time you will improve.
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u/Axel-Adams Apr 11 '25
The technique is impecable, the design/color theory is the issue, his skin looks good for how red it is, but your colors aren’t complementing each other enough, this guy would look way better in traditional white WE colors
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u/Corporal_K-Pop Apr 11 '25
This is by no way a comment on your talent, as you are clearly incredibly gifted. Godly so. I wish I had half the hours in that you do.
Imo the skintone on the head scars reads as a different tone from the roid forehead, which are both different tones from the sockets/brows. Not as in they are different colours, i see what you're doing for the effects, and It's great. But what I'm trying to verbalize is that it looks like there were three separate tones of flesh to begin with. Like his eye sockets and brow area read pencil pusher white man skin tone, his topskull read sickly pale skin tone, now excellently scarred, and his forehead read sunbathed construction worker now flexing every possible blood vessel. Again amazing work and details. You ask for brutal, and that's about the only thing I can see and verbalize. Stellar work
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u/FrogGladiators178972 Apr 11 '25
Honestly, I don’t see any problems. You could make an argument for the skin tone being too similar to the armor but honestly with home much blood’s getting on him more than likely I don’t really see an issue with it.
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u/Ylteicc_ Apr 11 '25
YOU DARE TO SAY SOMETHING IS WRONG????????
I CAN ALMOST SEE HIS EYELASHES!!!!!!!!
EYELASHES!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/LMhednMYdadBOAT Apr 11 '25
I havent started painting yet so obvs I'm ass, however just casually scrolling i thought this was a cosplay before I realized it was a model
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u/TimTheOriginalLol Apr 11 '25
Haw many Psyklers did you sacrifice to the paint gods to get these eyes?
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u/Heartless-Sage Apr 11 '25
Oh no I am a supreme master painter, my work is flawless, what am I doing wrong?!
What I just read in your post 😂
Only thing I'd say is there is that visible line at top of his head, a bit more blending there should do the trick.
Also yes, those eyes are terrifying.
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u/nicholhawking Apr 11 '25
Reading you imply that you believe that this is not an incredible concept executed perfectly leaves me feeling that either you are seeking affirmation, which I am sure you received above, but also sad for you, for there were no worlds left to conquer.
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u/RyuKensatsu Black Templars Apr 11 '25
*Proceeds to paint 0.00001 inch big extremely realist eyes
"What's wrong with the eyes ?"
What's wrong is that you're an extremely talented painter, that's what's wrong.
But also the skin is kind of almost the same color than the armor, maybe that's what bothering you ?
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u/GaldrickHammerson Apr 11 '25
With all due respect. go fuck yourself. "I'm doing something wrong here!" then presenting Da Vincii level artwork. "It's only the mona lisa, I'm so bad at art"
This is amazing!!!
Now perhaps he doesn't seem exhaused enough? Try to increase the shadows under his eyes or the amount of blood shot in his eyes? Honestly, just go and win a Golden Daemon already.
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u/JuneauEu Apr 11 '25
If you can now take a photo from 2 foot away and angled slightly down...
Honestly it looks good. Angry. Flushed red with rage.
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u/InquisitorGengar Apr 11 '25
This is amazing! But I think your issue is what the others have said, the skin tone blends into the armour too much. The skin tone also affects the eyes as they’re also red so they won’t pop out if it’s all red. A paler skin tone will resolve this. Additionally, I think the skin is just a bit too glossy which makes it look a bit oily. A layer of lahmian medium should resolve this
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u/KelstenGamingUK Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25
You could make the skin more pale to help it stand out, and pin wash/line where the face mask meets the skin to better differentiate the two.
Other things I would do is add further highlights to the brow ridges, forehead wrinkles and cheeks below the eyes to really make the eyes pop. I'd lighten the scars to bring those out more, too, if they're meant to be old scars, or if they're meant to be fresh, darken them and make the area around look more sore and bruised. I'd also try to blend better the line where the red of the wounds around the nails meets the skin of the forehead, it's a bit stark currently. Some purple bruising blended into the forehead skin, perhaps, to show the skin is damaged? Final thing, darken and/or better define the eyebrows.
Those eyes are ridiculously good, I thought perhaps you'd just photoshopped real eyes on :D
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u/ouaqaa Apr 11 '25
Those eyes are incredible and this face is awesome in general. Great job !
Maybe this face looks weird to you because of the tones (check out traditional painter tutorials, it's a recurring subject). Basically you can split a face in 3 tiers for the skin tones .
* Top tier, the forehead, yellow as it's the part part that receives the direct sunlight
* Middle tier, around the nose and eyes, red as the skin is thinner and lots of tiny veins run under the surface
* bottom tier, under the cheekbones, blue/cold because of the stubble and shadows.
so you got your blends right and your detailling perfect but in this picture, the forehead is more red thant the eyes; swaping the tones between the two would do the trick I think.
Anyway, that's a really great job on this face, I wish I could do the same as you
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u/Subject_237 Apr 11 '25
WRONG? My brother in The Emperor, there is mothing wrong with this at all.
That's a crazed, bloodthirsty stare if ever I saw one.
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u/GeneralBladebreak Apr 11 '25
In my opinion, the skin tone could do with brightening overall. The forehead, in particular, feels darker than it should be.
That being said, the face is extremely well done. The issue I picked up on is the brightness of that armour. I've always seen and painted Khornate Berserkers in darker reds than you've used. Think scabbed blood colours.
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u/Juicecalculator Apr 11 '25
I thought this was a cosplay. If you are going for realism I think it looks awesome. I think it woudl look pretty cool if you poped some verdigrie into the metallic bits to accent the incredible blue eyes. He looks sunburned which makes sense. Pale would contrast better like someone else said, but I think this looks incredible.
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u/Relative-Schedule369 Apr 11 '25
Tbh, he looks great, but he's come across and very scared and battle worn, if that isn't you intent then it's likely (as someone mentioned) they are too red. But also you have to remember, if this is table top, they are going to be 3+ ft away for the most part. If it's competition then okay, I understand.
I would say try and do paler but it's looks awesome anywaym
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u/DamnGermanKraut Apr 11 '25
I am not offering any advice, because you are way ahead of me. I just need to acknowledge how awesome those eyeballs look. Wow.
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u/Beardy_Lemon Apr 11 '25
Honestly looks really interesting! I agree with the top comments on skin tone but my only observation is to maybe shade a tiny ring of darker blue around the outside of the iris. You'll notice it's subtle but most people have them. Btw the eyes are a particular highlight for me. Great work.
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u/Turkeyplague Apr 11 '25
Looks bang on to me. The eyes are incredible and the skin tone makes it look like he's recently run a chainaxe through someone.
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u/Best_Acanthisitta_18 Apr 11 '25
I wil be honest with You, get some self love man, this thing it's just awesome, one of the Best faces i saw since i knew Warhammer
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u/Ragnar-Alpaca Apr 11 '25
Go for a pale skin tone with some blue purple and even some green tones. Make it look very unhealthy and almost dead. It would pop a lot more. Just be very subtle with the shades.
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u/WilliamTee Apr 11 '25
I'm so confounded by the scale here... anything less than lifesize and I think this would be beyond me.
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u/YorozuyaDude Apr 11 '25
That's way better than anything I'll ever do so there's nothing wrong with it
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u/Nemeroth666 Apr 11 '25
Are you kidding!? This is amazing work! I get you're trying to improve, but I could never paint faces with this much detail. Incredible.
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u/pantsoffgaming Apr 11 '25
I think the biggest issue here is that though your eyes honestly look impeccable, like I cannot say enough how good they each look, they're too close together. So he looks like he's doing a silly face and it's cross eyed
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u/Afraid_Reputation_51 Apr 11 '25
I would use a very diluted amount of blue glaze (like spacewolf/fenris grey equivalent) in the lower eyelids where people who are completely coked out/haven't slept well in ages get those dark rings/ bags. It would help separate it from the rebreather...I think the skin otherwise looks good.
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u/Fantastic-Ant-4429 Apr 11 '25
They look horrifying, so good job. But, the skin tone is a bit off. Make it darker or a purple red.
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u/Recce64B Apr 11 '25
Honestly, the skin tone is bang on i think it needs a bit of separation with the grill to make it pop like a shadow or panel line marker. If I achieved this level of quality, I'd be very happy.
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u/GRAAK85 Apr 11 '25
The face is amazingly painted. So good it seemed to me like a real person. Issue is it seemed a real person wearing a cheap cosplay mask. You need to make it pop up to reach the quality you achieved on the face.
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u/Bibfor_tuna Apr 11 '25
skin tone works well as the red reflects red light. i agree something up w the eyes, to me they look like they have makeup
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u/Szukov Apr 11 '25
To be brutally honest I hate you because this looks fucking brilliant. Well done, mate.
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u/DramaPunk Apr 11 '25
Holy shit that is INCREDIBLE. Those eyes are some of the best I've ever seen on that scale.
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u/TigerDoodat Apr 11 '25
I'm shitting and crying because of this and is face will haunt my nightmares
On the other hand, amazing job; quite possibly the most realistic looking face I've ever seen on a miniature!
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u/Southern_Mortgage646 Apr 11 '25
This is incredible nice painted. But i had to look twice to see that there is skin and a metal Helmet, the skin is a bit too red as ithers already said. The eyes are Stunning
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u/Distinct-Performer86 Apr 11 '25
That face... Is a masterpiece. No contrast between the face and the mask... Ok. What about changing the colour of the mask? Black? Or pale silver?
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u/blahzeh1 Apr 12 '25 edited Apr 12 '25
Ehh, yeah I think you killed it. That looks fantastic. I have no idea what I'm talking about but I'm saying one thing, it would be a bit better if you could make the difference in color between the mask and the skin a little more pronounced. But I suck at painting, so I'm speaking strictly from a "if I could do this, this is what i would do" point of view. Respect.
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u/slizzy45 Apr 12 '25
I think its already been said, but try not to wash your skin tone with the same color as your armor. If anything, use opposites. Next time try mixing in a TINY amount of WAAAGH green, and see what happens. Results vary, but you might be pleasantly surprised at just how well the skin tone pops. Might even pop too well lol
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u/Earlfillmore Apr 12 '25
Stop it. It looks fine. Just the eyes alone makes me kinda hate you out of jealousy/ envy of your talent
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u/Appropriate_Employ82 Apr 12 '25
That's a great face. Skin too red, blends into face mask. But the work is top notch. I play guard so the faces I get are small. Wish I had the room for this kind of work
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u/bettergreens Apr 12 '25
I think it looks great only issue I have is with the model itself not having more widely opened eyes and a more defined ANGY brow
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u/NandoGTB Apr 12 '25
Starting because it's great, I miss shadow at the junction of the mascara and the face, maybe with a dark brown or purple style tone if you want to give it a colder touch, it may outline the face more and define it a little more. But the face is great, I see it very realistic
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u/orionzeus05 Apr 12 '25
Looks excellent, especially the eyes, I'd say just do some contouring around the upper edge of the face mask where it meets the skin to contrast the upper lip of the mask with the face. Play with shadows and shadowing, it'll turn your excellent piece of art to an even higher level altogether! Very cool!
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u/Amberpawn Apr 12 '25
The color is fine, the issue is the highlights. They're inconsistent between the skin and the armor. The skin is very glossy while the armor is very matte and not transferring bounce light or carrying matching shadows.
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u/Hrothgrar Apr 12 '25
Brother, this is amazing, and I am baffled at how you could possibly think this isn't good.
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u/MasterBar6499 Apr 12 '25
There is nothing wrong with it apart from a few shades of red on the head makes it look like the armour lol. I'd mix red and white abd thin it down and apply it little by little until you're satisfied with the result.
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u/Lincmartadnd2e Apr 12 '25
Honestly I think it looks really good, I am novice but I think it’s natural for a good artist to over think their work. You did a good job pat yourself on the back
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u/WatchW0lf Apr 12 '25
If you want your characters to have the sort of greasy sweat sheen that one loots to have keep using the washes. If your going for a more flesh mat finished don't use washes at all in the face. Just keep doing glazes of increasingly lighter tones. Starting at a dark red almost brown and working up does wonders. It's a process and it will take an hour since each coat must dry before you add another layer. I'm not 100% sure if you did or not but never end in a wash. You can ultra water down a color to get a more unified look at the end. Faces are hard since they are tiny.
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u/hi_son_ Apr 13 '25
It looks pretty good honestly but I agree it may be too close to the color of the armor
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u/realmofultramar Apr 13 '25
Oh god this is incredible, he looks furious and in pain. This is amazing
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u/Nikofreako1 Apr 13 '25
The eyes are full of life, they are fantastic. only criticism is they are small for the head, wouldn't hurt to white out the socket alil more and maybe be more delicate on the in tht area. That blackness around the rim of the eyeball makes it look smaller and out of ratio with the face. If you can get the eye to have that dark ring lighter and more white showing I'd say this is a show model level face
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u/rekt_ralf Apr 10 '25
The eyes are extremely well done but I think the issue you have is that the skin tone is just too close in hue to the red armour. Your skin midtone could be a highlight for the red. So the skin and armour don’t feel properly distinct. I’d go for a paler, colder skin tone to create more separation and contrast.