she_flame wrote:Thanks for the tips! They are really welcome, as even if I have long history with arts, the whole face up thing is so new to me. ^^
And you can ask what materials I am using. I have: acryl paints (none used here), Koh-i-Noor's watercolor pencils (in need of sharpening, I see), two set of watercolors (one really cheap and more like gouache than watercolor, and another with better quality) and Derwent's chalk pastels.
With pastels I have problem using them: I can't seem to get the pastel dust to stick on doll. I scrape dust off wih knife, and then, as I try to apply it with brush, it kinda just flows off from doll, not sticking on it at all. When I use coarcer brush to brush dust off from chalk directly, it sticks better. Could the sealant I use (8url=http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/games-workshop/hobby-items/paints/purity-seal-satin-varnish-spray/prod_2209.html?ccUser=]GW's Satin varnish[/url]) be the cause of this? Or it is more likely to my my technique/brushes/pastels?
And finally: yes. I am gonna re-do her until I have got the look I want. Same goes with my other dolls - I have been thinking redoing Shalunia's face up and body blush, too.
<----The Koh-I-Noor seems like it's just a step or two below your average Derwent/Prismacolour in quality so yes, my guess would be they definitely need sharpened. When you watch faceup videos, take note that the artist, unless they're trying a specific effect, almost always has the pencil sharpened to the thinnest possible point. I don't have any experience with watercolours for faceups so I can't really comment on using them(sorry!
), but better quality is always good for a faceup.
The pastels...I don't own the sealant in question but my immediate knee-jerk reaction is "YES!!". MSC, when you use it, gives a very distinctive "tooth" (a very slight roughness you can feel with your fingers, though I don't recommend sticking your fingers all over the "canvas" to test this out
) which is what helps the pastels stick to the surface. It may also be an issue of you needing to do this in layers. Very rarely, unless the work is meant to be extremely subtle, is an artist going to get the desired result from just one layer of sealant. You're going to want to build it up in layers. I would really suggest investing in some MSC (and a respirator, or at the
very least make sure you have on a dust mask and that you're doing it in either a well ventilated area or outside, preferably respirator though, but since I've been known to play a little loose with the rules since I don't use it often I know others will and have as well, so I do suggest at least taking SOME precaution which is better than none
), and spray a nice even basecoat and then start slowly building up. I think you'll notice that it gives a lovely surface to work on for pastels and watercolour pencils.
With brushes, the only thing of note is that you should use a decent quality synthetic. You can buy nice quality synthetic brushes for around $3 a brush, and you can find nice sets on Ebay and Amazon for good prices. If you already have a selection of nice brushes (from a craft store is fine, as long as they're not the brushes that come with your crayola paint set you're pretty much good) than this is a pretty null and void comment, but since you asked I thought I would make note of it.
Finally...faceups are more about practice than any technique. All artists develop their own methods and styles according to what works best for them, but looking at tutorials and practicing is the best advice I can give!
I would love to see more of your faceups and most definitely your continued efforts! Too many artists don't want to grow and are afraid of criticism so please let me reiterate that I am so happy to see someone accepting it so wonderfully and realizing that a criticism doesn't mean I don't love what you're doing! The whole reason I personally give criticism is because I love an artists work and want to see them get better at what they're doing.
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 1:41 am
