Faces 3 Ways! From Beginner to Artisan!

'Faces and bases make models aces!' Never a true word has been said about miniatures painting and a phrase that we have always referred to on our hobby journey. In this tutorial, we show you 3 different methods for painting miniature faces which are often the focal point. We start off demonstrating a speed painting method which is also fantastic for beginners and it only requires two, yes two, paints! Then we show one of the methods we most commonly use which is great for Intermediate painters. And finally, we go all out and use a multitude of techniques to paint a face to a higher level, an artisan level if you will. This is great for display pieces and perhaps even the general of your force. And the best part is, is that it is not as difficult as it might think. So go grab your brushes, paints, and wet palettes and follow along.
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Facebook: / twothincoats
Equipment used:
Medium Layer Brush (Citadel)
Small Layer Brush (Citadel)
Artis Opus S Size 1
Artis Opus S Size0
Artis Opus S Size 00
Wet Palette (RedGrass Games)
Paints Used:
Flayed Ones Flesh
Crusader Skin (AP)
Bugman's Glow
Reikland Fleshshade
Cadian Fleshtone
Kislev Flesh
Ushabti Bone
Rhinox Hide
Skrag Brown
Phoenician Purple
Pink Horror
Mechanicus Standard Grey
Matt Black (AP)
Matt White (AP)
#duncanrhodes
#miniaturepainting
#paintingwarhammer

[@shanetropman9804]

When Duncan looks you dead in the eyes and says something is ‘difficult’ let’s you know it’s the real deal. Super incredibly helpful tips for character models! A star as always.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thanks Shane 😊

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Yup!!

[@thedisabledwelshman9266]

enjoyed that duncan. thanks very much.

[@WozWozEre]

Keeping the name of the paint you're using in the top left of the screen during the actual painting is so incredibly useful. It means you don't need to keep skipping back and forth throughout the videos. Amazingly professional and well shot tutorials, thank you.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you, we are glad you enjoyed it

[@nialltucker5851]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA😅nM look

[@jamessharman9247]

I've always struggled with faces, but after watching this, my next few faces have been the best I've done. Thanks for another excellent tutorial video!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

That's great. Thanks for watching 😊

[@slyfawkes7772]

To whom it may concern: 1:15 - Beginner/Speed paint 7:11 - Intermediate 19:24 - Artisan

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Thank you for the timestamps!!

[@mitchdufraine220]

The eye trick is fantastic! That looks great. Going to start doing that on my Call to Arms minis. Thank you!

[@tabletoppdx]

Seriously that trick. oh man.

[@MrPolicekarim]

1/72 or 1/32, please?

[@BrewAndBiscuits]

This is super helpful, I struggle all the time with faces. I'd love to see another video but with faces of different ethnicities

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

We have a great one on our website covering that very subject 😊

[@cristhianmlr]

Glad to see Duncan fighted the good fight against Nurgle's blessing.

[@Fortunes.Fool.]

So years ago I emailed GW customer service (because I didn't know now to reach out directly) thanking you for making painting WAAAY less intimidating in your almost Bob Ross style. While still bad at painting I'm "less worse" now and you still make it look too easy.

[@juansnow5897]

just a few thin coats more and you'll be a professional 😆

[@ghostface320]

This is one of the better face painting videos. I appreciate you showing most of the stroke techniques instead of simply showing before and after of each step. Too many KZbinrs do that and some noobs like me don't benefit from that.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you. We are glad it helped :-)

[@Mr.Goufball]

A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

[@benthomson1132]

Hello there.

[@Mr.Goufball]

@@benthomson1132 General Kenobi.

[@benthomson1132]

@@Mr.Goufball You are a bold one!

[@Nmx6286]

Duncan's tutorials are the best. I remember when before I first started painting my first miniatures I watched a whole bunch of your videos on how to and what not. Incredibly useful and handy! My first miniatures came out REALLY good. Some of my more experienced painter friends experienced shock when they saw the miniatures. Thanks for your unbelievable work, Duncan! Keep it up and keep on rockin!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you, we boith appreciate your kind words and are glad we could help 😊

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Yes they are!!

[@GentrifiedPotato]

I'd love to see a series on speedpainting, especially for horde-type armies or model sets. There's so many techniques and orders-of-operation that can be used to shave minutes off groups of models.

[@sweatilaa5325]

I very recently got into the hobby so it was nice to see that I can actually make somewhat good looking faces with only 2 colors. Great tip so I won’t break the bank trying to paint a face!

[@MechaWrecka]

This will now be my go-to video for help with faces. Really simplified it and took the intimidation factor down to zero. I like how you can work your way up depending on your confidence and how much time you want to invest.

[@andrewpower]

Great stuff. I have some Deathwatch and was too afraid to really tackle the faces properly. Now I know what to do, thanks for this video.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad we could help! Painting faces can be a little intimidating but it doesn't have to be 😊

[@owenhouck5281]

Good lord, the artisan level is just an absolute masterclass in this sort of thing. It looked like he was just bringing it to life with ease. Incredible.

[@mancominiaturas]

Awesome!! Happy you guys are uploading more regularly!! Thanks for another great tutorial!

[@DaThingOnTheDoorstep]

Pro trick is to combine beginner and some steps from intermediate. Fast, easy, and looks perfectly fine!

[@quadcannon]

Thank you for posting this video up here on KZbin. It's appreciated.

[@socalastarte6727]

Been painting for over 20 years, and have always struggled with faces. I'll give these tips a go, thanks Duncan

[@biggunsnevertire1718]

Cheers for the video, needed this for my new Custodes army! 😊

[@deborahbryant4094]

Great tutorial. You make it look easy.

[@Rhone007]

Outstanding video!! In my opinion the work you guys did on this is easily as good as many of the portraiture classes I took in art school. Well done! 👍😁

[@shaneramsey251]

Thank you sir. I have been having a hard time painting faces as I have only just taken up the hobby. I will try these ways! Looks easy enough.

[@tonyounsworth7904]

Great video and also nice to hear someone acknowledge something that a lot of pro painters seem to forget to mention - that it’s difficult!

[@AverageBritishNerd1138]

Cheers Duncan! I've always wondered how to do a decent face. In the past, I've taken the easy way out and always put a helmet on the model instead! However, with the arrival of my Chapter Master (a converted Garro), I should really give him a decent face to show off his olive skin, and set the tone of the chapter. I might try the 3rd version (I have a lot of marine heads to practise on) to get the skin tone right before applying it to the 'hero' head.

[@hectormorales254]

Awesome tutorial Duncan thank you, when I did my first unhelmeted marine I used your face tutorial for Warhammer Shadesphire Severin Steelheart

[@Dracobyte]

Awesome tutorial as always!

[@custodianguard749]

Faces have been the bane of my existence in the world of mini painting. Iv3 growm and gotten better but faces still offer a real challenge for me.

[@Genercidel]

Gold as usual Sir.

[@seanhadley2672]

Excellent tutorial sir. Just watched this on the academy and wanted to ask you to show the process of the “second thin coat”. And then you did it. Thank you sir 😊

[@ICYKCBlue]

you are the best! thank you and thank you for the content!

[@BiffTummyTum]

Duncan, you are an absolutely brilliant communicator. Awesome video, great production inovations, thank you.

[@daemonchills]

Love it thanks for sharing

[@MikeSpicyWinner]

I very much needed this, thank you!

[@stevepickering5978]

Brilliant all look great the last one Stunning.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thanks so much 😊

[@joeg875]

Thanks for this Duncan! very informative.

[@philhitchings]

Fantastic tutorial. Thanks very much.

[@christopher4795]

Awesome tutorial! Exactly what I was looking for...great sequence!!!

[@barryphillips1719]

This is awesome! Simply explained and a big help for a 1/35 scale military modeller.

[@TheYendukua]

This was extremely helpful

[@Ramza012]

Just what I needed today! Thanks for the video Duncan!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

No worries, thanks for watching.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Amazing video as always!!!

[@bomberman64rodriguez41]

Excellent work man

[@jounipurhonen4676]

Now this is excellent! Thank you very much.

[@finnishfatman]

I never really gave too much thought about faces or skin in general, since most of my miniatures have some sorta armor on them or they're orks or something, but recently I've been thinking about making some improvements to my models and started painting different models too, that have exposed faces more often, so this tutorial was spot on perfect for me 👌 Very well and clearly explained and testing these different methods will certainly improve my painting skills. Subbed, because of excellent content.

[@Anderslang14]

Although my February 2009 issue of White Dwarf has always been a great referral for painting faces over the years, it's great to see different levels of detail done in person. Great content as usual Duncan!

[@gregoryroth5527]

Just watching the way you lay out the paints and mix them and thin them on the palette is pure value! Thanks!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You are so welcome!

[@jmc7034]

This vid popped up just at the right time. I’m looking at a face and was wondering where to start. Now I know ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@garyhartley7148]

Absolutely excellent, thank you 👍👍👍

[@Aln0x]

This shows you how easy you can knock out a face using the standard wash method but also why it’s actually harder to bring the layers up and choosing the correct layering colours with the pressure of making mistakes. While the last method is not generally harder, just more time consuming but you have more control over everything. Just need willingness to dive into it! Duncan my man, what a brilliant video! You’ve just got your self another website Subscriber. Could you do more videos of you painting and working the wet pallet in the future please!

[@garlondaddyo]

This was THE best video I have seen yet! Thank you!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad you liked it and you're welcome

[@j3ffr0ck24]

The man, the myth, the Legend! Excellent thanx

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You're welcome! ☺

[@padanfain7466]

The Artisan part of this video is pure genius Duncan. I've been giving all my marines helmets for years, I finally decided to give faces a go. Got each of my colours out on the wet pallette, whipped out my thus far untouched kolinsky brushes and took a deep breath after watching this video a few times. I painted the mkvi HH sergeant head with eyepatch and beard. It is so damn good, that every time I look at the face I painted with your advice I blow myself away looking at it. He has a scar, a beard, shaved head and I even painted an eye in (and yup it took a few attempts). I'm actually astounded by the final product so thank you. Excellent video.

[@mattsmokes2505]

Thank you so much for this this is exactly what I needed to up my painting game

[@twistedthistle]

Awesome video and super helpful. I always seem to struggle with faces so will definitely need to get me some Space Marines and follow along to get some practice in. I love how the GW models have such clear details to make use of the shading and layering techniques you show here. A lot of my issues with faces I think is I mostly play other table top games where the minis are often 28mm scale and softer shapes giving less defined features on the face to follow.

[@rawkstar4144]

You've always made my life easier when it comes to painting my 40k models.. .for years!!! thank you!! You are known as "Lord Duncan" in my circle of hobbyists.

[@HurricaneHanz0]

I really appreciate this tutorial, thank you. Super thorough. A small thing that I really appreciate and feel makes a huge difference, you used the same head for all three techniques so I can get a good feel for the actual differences. Sometimes creators use different models for different techniques on the same video and it’s hard to compare them. Thank you for maintaining such good consistency in your tutorial.

[@Alf_Hairy-arse]

Awesome stuff as usual. Good to see you using an Artis Opus brush. I always wondered why you stuck to layer brushes rather than a high end brush. But then I guess with your skill you could get half decent results using a paint roller!

[@guyloren]

I'm so late watching this one but THANK YOU,Duncan- superb tutorial & has revolutionised the way I use glazes!🤯 Wonderful work,sir.🏆

[@vendorlucid]

Thanks for this awesome video. I was struggling a lot with faces (and especially the eyes) recently. You got me motivated and set to get my skills a step further on. Cheers!

[@Residualshade]

I love this. This reminds me another KZbin channel I like Epicurious that shows 3 levels of cooking. Would love to see more of this 3 levels content.

[@ralex3697]

This man is so brilliantly talented. What a loss for GW. Glad he’s going strong with his own channel He is able to teach all levels of painting. Truly gifted

[@MarieAvora]

The trick of using Rhinox Hide for the eyes is great, I heard somewhere else to just flood them with a brown wash but I got a mini with eyes that were large and raised so the wash didn't stick where I needed it to

[@JokerFace090]

DUNCAN! Just found out you have this channel. I use and share painting techniques I learned from you in my Painting II class at the community college. You legend.

[@Bee-gg5mk]

Thank you very much. As someone just starting out this has really made face painting so much less of an intimidating task.

[@xXlamikXx]

I love the format of these videos. Having the colors and tools listed at the top left is my favorite feature

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad you like them!

[@xXlamikXx]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA any chance you can do a tutorial on painting 1/100 Gundam model kit pilots?

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , DRPA . 🐺

[@barryxanchez2965]

Great tips! Thanks

[@Beartree]

Brilliant!

[@ianpettman7482]

Best face painting I have seen in a long time. Thank you.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you so much 😀

[@wesbrown3831]

Fantastic Tutorial, you have added to my skill set... absolutely love the shows music...it has a taste of FireFly... a western twang.

[@nathanback760]

Great video, very helpful

[@chriscampbell5691]

Holy crap that eye trick is amazing I needed that so bad

[@tyrxa]

great stuff! thanks

[@monsieurp237]

Best vid I have seen from DRA so far. Of course I like the usual « simple yet very effective recipe to paint a given model », but this has so much more depth to it! As an « artisan » type of painter, geez, I am suddenly very interested in the speed painting process, especially for an army, and I do not master that technique at all, so yeah, usefull on many levels!!! Thanks.

[@icemanx3790]

One of the best tutorials👌🏼😮 Thx a lot 😎

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You're welcome!

[@fontenoyjoe]

Great information and easy to follow instructions! Thank you!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You're very welcome!

[@ChNetrunner]

Your videos are always a great help and inspiration for me. A big thank you from me. :) I wouldn't be where I am now without your videos.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You are so welcome!

[@romupython]

Thanks a lot for this tutoriel !!!!!!!

[@VicodinElmo]

Small thing but thank you for actually enabling subtitles on your videos. Blew my mind that the Citadel team never enabled them for any of their videos.

[@eldraque4556]

nice one Duncan

[@emilydowd-arrow3751]

Your tutorials are fantastic at breaking down processes into achievable steps and explaining concepts simply. This simplicity is incredibly difficult to achieve and is proof of the time and effort spent on the material. Thank you.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You're very welcome and it's our pleasure 😊

[@MrTrenttness]

Thank you! 🔥🎸🔥

[@Batflapers]

these tutorial are immaculately produced, not to mention incredibly helpful! Awesome channel man!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad you like them!

[@romanhimmelhan8741]

Thx a lot! I always hate painting faces, but i'm also always surprised about how good they turn out in the end. When painting eyes, i'm painting white all over the eyeball. Then, a thin straight line of black from the top to the bottom of the middle of the eyeball. Finally, i'm applying super carefully either Agrax Earthshade or a nicely watered down brown colour that sets in the recesses around the white, giving the white an off-tone and defining its boundaries. Easy, quick and super controllable in terms of direction of where the miniature is looking at.

[@lordsofthewildwood7553]

Really good instructions for all levels. I have never seen the purple and pink steps. I wanted to try using a red and green base coat to work up to skin tones from to show shadows the face that were different colours.

[@jakelilevjen9766]

I just stumbled upon your channel, and I am already glad I did. You really take the time to explain exactly what you are doing and why, which is awesome. Plus, I really appreciate you making the effort to show your pallet and how you mix, even how you add water to get the consistency you want. Really, really helpful as I am still working on my fundamentals. Looking forward to seeing more!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Awesome, thank you!

[@joshwright3217]

This is the first really detailed skin guide I’ve found, just tried the second method and I’m really happy with the result! Thanks for the tips

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad it helped! And thank you for the kind words.

[@MrSmashySmash]

I don't think I clicked on a tutorial faster. I think this is a very welcome development.

[@chenhan22]

Cool eye trick, I’m going to try it. I’ve been doing single color eyes with no pupil for a long time, most of the time white almost as if they’re glowing with power. Very cool trick

[@bladieeightwheels]

Thanks duncan. In the beginning I was like how different could it be.. turns out a lot. I am very much at the start of my miniature painting journey but I love to try and paint well. The techniques on the artisan head are things I have been working on but the level of glazing is something I will be doing more thanks so much I owe so much to you for where I am already. Your work is so good. I wish I was able to contribute further but for now my subscription and like is all I can give cheers.

[@simontatler4533]

Thank you for this great tutorial!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You're very welcome!

[@MrCaptainChallenge]

Thanks Duncan, this was super helpful! I’ve been looking for an instructional video on how to paint high end faces and this has covered that

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad it was helpful!

[@OlivierVanAcker]

Excellent tutorial.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad you liked it!

[@ericdaglish490]

Thank you thank you thank you. This has cleared up a lot of questions I had, and made sense of those figure painting books I’ve read❤️

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You are so welcome!

[@davidpepin3017]

Thank you for this video. I knew about all these techniques but not exactly how to do them. Your video was nice and very clear and I feel like I've learned a lot.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You are so welcome!

[@PetitLouplechat]

This is simply the best tutorial I have seen for painting faces, and I have seen numerous ones.... You also offered a simple and very effective techniques to paint eyes, it will help a lot of people for sure. Thank you so much Duncan, now I Wonder what a tutorial from you about painting nmm would look like 🙏

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Today is your lucky day! We have two full, in-depth tutorials in the Techniques section, on painting NMM on our Academy website (duncanrhodes.com) for both gold AND silver ☺

[@SniffBackBetter]

38:47 this guy's fine motor skills could make a robot cry.

[@theaquess]

I was just looking for a tutorial for this!