Need help please on basic figure painting

Anthony, what type of paints do you use?

Anthony, I usually paint the faces burnt sienna first, then blend a mixture of yellow ochre & white in, taking care to leave the recesses dark. This gives my basic shadow. I then highlight the obvious areas like the forehead, nose and cheekbones. When totally dry, I drybrush a small amount of flesh overall. I then reline the eyelids and add the pupils. You are not supposed to see the white of the eyes. Invest in a 0/10 & 0/5 brush for the fine lines and a #1 brush for the large areas.

Clothing:- I paint an overall darker base colour for the uniform, making the creases/shadows prominent. The plain base clour is the drybrushed on and a lighter shade drybrushed on for highlights. A thin wash is applied afterwards to further accentuate the shadows.

Keep practicing and happy modelling.

Tappie.

Thanks for the help Tappie. I surely will try you suggestion. I am wondering whether enamel paint or acrylic paint will make any difference. Thanks.

I usually use enamels as acrylics dry too fast and tend to go on much thicker than enamels. On larger figures I use artists' oils, but it takes longer to dry.
I'm glad to be of help.
Happy modeling,
Tappie

I'm in the same boat. When I started modeling again, the figures was the hardest part for me. I can call them generation 1, 2, and now generation 3 figures as my technique has improved. Buy a bunch of kits and just keep practicing until you find what works for you.

I use acrylic paints and dry brush with enamels. I am still working on faces too :)

-Muzzleflash

If you really want some practice (and all-important conversion skills) try picking up a box of Games-Workshop figures. For less than $30, you get 20 or so figures. They're great practice for skin tones trial and error. As a bonus, the "Catachan" box makes great Marines!