Faceups Paints for Face-ups

Ressurecting this thread!

I cannot get liquitex paint to work with me x_x so at Michael's I went to buy a new brush and paints. They have the paints set up by quality, going from Academic-Artist-Professional. I chose to buy Galeria paints by Windsor and Newton(in the Artist section). I chose Mars Black and Burnt Umber. I LOVE these paints! They're perfect for me! I mix some Liquitex Matte Medium with my paint, dip my brush (18/0 Loew-Cornell Script) in a bit of water and it's the perfect combination.

$4.99 for a tube that'll last forever. I use the cap of the tube, where paint has pooled, as my palette.

Hope I helped someone!

 

Is it easier/better to paint and then blush with pastels, or blush with pastels and then paint? Also, has anyone ever used water color pencil and paint together? Like around the eye? And how did that work out?

 

Red Inkwell - It depends a lot on the effect you want. Most people tend to blush first with pastels to give a good "canvas" to work on, and then use paints for detail work. You can use watercolour pencils and acrylic paint together - when I've done so, I've waited until the paint was dry and did the watercolour pencil over it. You could probably do it the other way around, but it might be helpful to seal after doing the pencil so the paint doesn't smudge it.

 

I personally find it easier to paint first because the painting portion is my strong point. Plus I try to work in as few layers as possible, and putting pastel down first, then painting over it, then feeling like I need to redo the paint job causes the pastels to wash off.

 

CelestialSnow - You can always seal between the two, to keep the pastels from moving around.

 

Hmm. Does putting pastels over the paint cause the paint to lighten at all? Or do the pastel simple not stick to the paint?

I'm still waiting on my first BJD so I am trying to do as much research as possible before he arrives and I attempt my first face-up.

 

I just bought Louvre Gloss Varnish.. Anyone who knows if this is oil based or water based? They did tell me in the store that it was water based.. Buuut.. I dont think they're really trust worthy (16 year olds who maybe worked for some weeks and gives me the "O.o fuck" face when I ask them). Anyone used it before? I was thinking of using it as a gloss for lips when I do faceups (adding non-oil based pastels for color) and use it to paint nails. Any tips? Will it work? D:
It also says "thin with water and it's for acrylic colors.

 

If it says thin with water, and works with acrylic paint which is also water soluble, then that is a good indication that it is water based. Anything that is oil based is going to have to be thinned with things like linseed oil or mineral spirits and can't be thinned or cleaned up with water (ie: the 'water and oil do not mix' analogy). As for how it will work on resin I don't know. I would do a small test on the head cap. At least if it doesn't come off, the wig will hide it.

 

I apologize for the huge pictures ><
The supplies I like to use for doing faceups are:

~Americana acrylic paint (I read online under some professional BJD faceup artists that they use this paint as well). Americana acrylic is very smooth and can be thinned with just water (I prefer water compared to paint thinners).
~Soft chalk pastels for doing the base and shades for a faceup. I read that there are many that you can choose from but because I like to mix colors, I got a set that was composed of 36 colors, which is well enough for me
~Prismacolor color pencils. I use these to do the sketching for the eyebrows and other little details I may want to include on the doll's face. Most people use watercolor pencil to do sketching (which is probably the best choice thus far), but I use what I have in supplies.
~Cotman water color paint and Academy water color paint. I use these to do the lips, and eye lids of my dolls, the paint is smooth and wonderful to use. Because it is water color, you can leave it as is to make the color more dark/intense, or you can add water to it to make it lighter in intensity. And another thing I like, if you just sprayed before doing your water color layer and applied the water colors to it, and you mess up, you just need water to wash the colors away and you won't lose any progress (I do water colors on their own layer). I actually prefer water color paint over acrylic.
~Zoukeimura finishing powder very wonderful spray I like to use when sealing my progress, it's not too expensive either. I got my spray from Volk's US site for about $9.00 and they have instructions on the site below the product listing on how to use it.
~ Tamiya Color clear gloss. Awesome for lips and finishing touches Not sure if there's more to explain xD
~Winsor & Newton: Brush Cleaner & Restorer. I use this stuff on my doll head when removing the faceup. I soak the head for about 15-20 mins in this wonderful product to remove everything: paint, pastels, UV spray. After removing the faceup, you need to wash the doll head thoroughly with warm soapy water (your doll will appreciate you more if you use a liquid hand soap). Then spray your doll head with a sealant. Pour the paint remover back into the bottles (I find that using two bottles is the best and it's kind of expensive to just pour down the drain).
*CAUTION: 1. If you have a brown skin or dark colored doll, monitor your doll head in the paint remover. I've noticed when I soaked my doll's head in the solution for 30 mins (I went over my own time limit not paying attention ><), he had some lightening going on and I had to make him a tan coverup from mixing pastels. So be careful when using the paint remover.
2. Make sure you wash your hands and the area where you had the paint remover. If that stuff is on your hands/fingers as you paint your doll head, you'll be pretty upset to see spots missing in the faceup, and you'll have to redo everything. I know this from experience ><
~Brushes!! I use many brushes which I can't possibly name here but I got a nice pack of brushes from JoAnn fabric that cost me a good $30.00 (one stroke brushes).
I've only just started doing faceups about 3 days ago xD and have done about 6 on two dolls (my boys must hate me for that lol)

Here is a picture of the faceup stuff I use and don't mind Masaru, he's just hanging out xD




Hope I gave a little insight on some of the products used ^^

 

I went to Hobby Lobby a few days ago and picked up "Liquitex Gloss Varnish". I didn't see the Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish. I'm hesitant to use it because the label on the back states it is a "permanent varnish, water resistant when dry, to not thin with water, and to not mix with oils."

Do these things mean the varnish is not water based? If something is water based, shouldn't it be non-water resistant? If anyone has any experience with this product, please help me. ​

 

Can't say that I have used that one, but . . .

Water resistant just means that when the varnish is dry, if you get it a little bit wet, it will not dissolve or become damaged as long as you wipe up the water right away. However water resistant is not the same thing as water proof, water proof meaning no water will affect it. So with a lot of water, and probable with a bit of scrubbing, this particular varnish that you bought should come off. Worse comes to worse test in on the head cap first. My guess it that they don't want you to thin it with water because it may cause the varnish to either coat unevenly or cause air bubbles to appear.

Just remember that Liquitex is meant to be applied to canvas and generally once paint and/or varnish is applied to canvas, it is permanent, and meant to be so. Liquitex is assuming you will be using the varnish over a painting or something of that nature, not a BJD, thus the label on the bottle reflects as such. Resin is a completely different beast, or medium if you will, from canvas and will react differently to varnishes and paints. Resin possesses a lot more forgiveness when it comes to removing acrylic paint products then canvas would. Just remember that what would be permanent for one does not necessarily mean permanent for the other.

If you are still worried, then the only other thing I can advise is to not use it at all and look for another source for a varnish you know will not damage your doll. But my guess is that it will be fine. Just be sure to put down a good coat of MSC first. That usually helps prevent most face-up staining and aid in future face-up removal.

Edit: I forgot to mention scrubbing with acetone to remove the varnish works too, I alway forget that part.

 

Can I basically use any type of acrylic paints ? or some give better results than others ?

 

Just a quick little question of face-up paints.. What are brands you use?
Also, has anyone used the Citadel paints? Or do they cause staining?

Thank you.

 

Depends. You don't want to use enamel. Only thing I know that's okay of Citidel is the Purity Seal spray. Common acrylic paints are by Liquitex or Golden (the fluid type).

 

For make-up I mainly use the following acrylic paints:
- Maimeri Polycolor Fine Acrylics (Italy) - always buy in small tubes and long enough, these rather large palette of colors, with each other too well, mix without eats into MSC; opaque, but is easily diluted with water, as well, very easy to remove them if you do not like it painted. - Iwata Com-Art Airbrush Colors (USA) - liquid, almost like water, and a large palette, just paint each other well mixed, and there are opaque and transparent colors, besides not eating into MSC, is easily removed if you do not like painted.

 

Can anyone share some of their experience with Tamiya Color paints? I use them on plastic models with great results, so I'm curious to hear how they work on BJDs. Mainly: when airbrushing, do you notice that you need to apply multiple coats? How does the paint behave on resin compared to plastic? For plastics I tend to thin to an approximate 1:1 ratio; is this similar to or different from what you do in your own work?

 

Bumping this thread as I’m wondering if anyone has used paints such as the Citadel ones for Warhammer figures. I’ve been watching some videos by people who paint these miniatures and backgrounds and the effects seem ideal for a project I’ve been struggling with for years. Personally I’ve never painted these figures or used the paints so haven’t a clue but I will be needing to do rust type and light effects and these could be the answer if suitable!

 

Citadel paint are great for anything where you want a solid colur. They have a high pigmentation and build up next to no thickness.
The only potential drawbacks is that they dry very fast, so if you use small ammounts (such as for lashes or brows) you can't hesitate, or the paint may dry on the brush before you have the chanse to apply it and wet blending is very dificult to do. But on the flip side, layering is very easy as the wait time between layers is minimal.
Thay are also very expensive per volume.

I've used them on my dolls for over a decade without any problems.

 

@Lillith thank you for your input, I appreciate it. I wouldn’t be using them for lashes or brows but more for building up effects such as decay, rust and possibly glowing liquid, more or less the things those paints were intended for. I’m not very good or confident using paints of any kind for conventional faceup work, I always mess up.

The doll in question I’d be using them on is my DZ/Minifee hybrid. I’ve settled on the idea of a Brom inspired decaying lab experiment type look for her and think those paints would be just the thing to help achieve it.

Minifee Hybrid by Ali MacTavish-Riach, on Flickr

 

@Blodeuwedd - I recon they'll be fine as long as they are acrylic based but you might want to do some tests somewhere inconspicuous first to see how coating them with sealant changes them (shiny stuff might get duller, textures change with a topcoat etc).

 

@cobaltconduct thank you
Yeah that’s the worst thing about most sealants, especially when your choice is restricted like it is here in the UK, the tooth needed to work with usually means a matt finish. I don’t possess an airbrush yet so spray on sealant such as Vallejo isn’t an option and I’m not going to brush/sponge on Liquitex matt medium as to be honest I’ve found some Liquitex stuff to be rather unstable (it goes sticky after several months) which I think is due to moisture in the air but don’t know for definite.

I think most of the work on her would be quite dull/matt but anything that isn’t I can always re gloss if need be.