Oils for Figures?

can somebodt relate the technique for using acrylics for painting faces ? I use oils so i would like to try different methods,,,

Personally, I like to use oils for the flesh colors on all of my figures that are 1/35 scale or larger. On 1/48 and 1/72 scale figures, I use an oil wash for the shadows. I have only used acrylic paints for flesh on one figure so far, and was not very impressed with the results. I have seen several folks do wonderful flesh tones with these paints, but I plan on sticking with what works the best for me. Francois Verlinden has published a soft cover book on figure painting where he spell out how to use oil paints for flesh tones that you may also find useful. I believe that the title is Figure Painting, Volume 1, and I will mention that it was first published a few years ago. Good luck with your figures, and give oils a chance sometime, I think that you will like the results.

I have used oils for skin tones and have found it very effective once I had developed techniques for using it.

Like Jeff and Rick I have started to use Vallejo acrylics also and have been very impressed with the results once developing the correct techniques.

Both of these methods can be a good practice once you develope the technique for using them.

I've been using Vallejo acrylics for some time now, and I've not touched oils since I got these.

The key is to use very thin washes of paint to blend in the colors, using layers instead of actually blending them like you would with oils.

Jeff

thanks rick, will put to good use

Oils are much easier to blend for subtle shading effects, so yes, this is a good practice. On anything smaller than 54mm (1/32), oils start to become very difficult to use however, unless you are a very skilled painter. For smaller figures, I only use acrylics, with Vallejo/Andrea being my favorite.

Regards, Rick