Having considered the colour palette using I've opted for a brown undercoat - so no surprises there.
The first task was to get Jason's face painted. Like many other painters I tackle the face as soon as possible as it sets the character of the mini and if you can't get the face right nothing will save the mini from disaster! To be honest I dread painting human faces as they can turn into an epic struggle to get things looking right. I was also a bit shocked to realise that it has been a few years (at least three) since I painted a humanoid mini with the face showing.
Overall things went surprisingly well. I picked a pinker base colour than I might normally use as I wanted a fairly ruddy complexion and then I went in with some washes to create some definition. After that I painted in the eyes and then I painted in the eyes again several times over. Once I'd managed something that wasn't too ugly or comical I moved onto building up some highlights. For me the process of painting a face is one of constant adjustment and refinement. I constantly moved back and forwards between the shade and highlights to develop the face slowly resolving the features and definition of the face.
Coming back to the mini the next day I repainted the eyes again. I've been using a sable brush and although it gives a beautiful crisp stroke it was too soft to get a good dot for the pupil. I switched back to one of my older cottman water colour brushes and the slightly stiffer bristles and blunter point made the task a lot easier. That's something I will need to remember next time as it could save me a lot of time.
For the time being I'm happy with the face although I may need to adjust it as the mini develops.
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