Faceup Supplies and Process Advice

Hello!

I'm kind of curious what all is involved in faceup creation. I've looked up supply lists and process lists, and seen videos, but I still have some questions.

1. For the faceup supplies, particularly the pencils and pastels for blush, it seems like the best colors tend to be browns/reds/blacks but the packages for them seem to be expensive and include a bunch of colors that probably won't get used. Where's the best place to get these supplies with little to no color waste?

2. Airbrushes, are they necessary? Or is this something only certain artists use for stylistic purposes?

3. For doing initial sealant and doing final sealant (and layers), do you typically do that indoors like in a room to keep the dust out? Or would outdoor or a garage work also? I'm not sure how much the location that the spray is applied effects the debris caught in the sealant.

3A. If indoor spraying, how does one protect the room from getting spray droplets on it? Like the walls and stuff?

I currently don't have a garage and my space is kind of limited so any advice is appreciated.

Thank you!

Recently tried my hand at paintwork, which ended in tears, but some things I figured out while recovering from thinner fumes...

Using the forum resources I found, and think this video had the main creation points covered.

1. Supplies I think will depend on what you can get the most easiest, although some stuff might be worth putting some effort into aquiring like proper brushes .. I tried basic modeling 0/3 0/5 brushes, and trimming down 00 one's to a point, and while they sort of worked, trying to get nice pointy ends to the brush strokes just wasnt happening (though my paint might have not been thinned enough also).

Paint wise I went with what some other forum user had used, which was AV vallejo airbrush thinned pipette bottles. They didnt seem too expensive, and seem to stick onto a MSC base fairly aggressively. for my started project I just went with a dark red, white and grey that I thought I'd mix into suitable shades as needed, but I never got past the first outline phase because my brushes just didnt work as I wanted.

2. Id say the airbrush question from a beginner stand point depends on can you get your sealant in a spray can, or just in a jug, since in the above video they do blushing with just ground down pastels with a fluffy makeup brush. So since I could only get MSC in jugs, I was locked into using airbrushes... which was unpleasant as always. in the video above they just spray against a tablecloth... which may work...?

3. Any paint work is going to be subject to particulates in the air. So just having a clean workspace will probably get you a long way ... then again I just went ham fisted in my woodworking space with all sorts of nasties ready to blow up, since I knew I wasnt going to succeed first time around, and my cheap airbrush was already half clogged up.

3A, Airbrushes are technically nice since they produce a very fine controlled spray pattern versus a spraycan. With airbrushes there are small paintbooths for modeling paintwork available that you connect to your vaccuum cleaner to suck up most of the excess mist, but I dont really think they are suitable for spray cans. For airbrushes I've used a big cardboard box as a literally dirty solution, but there you need to keep in mind that whatever you are blowing into the box plus anything else in it, probably will vortex back out at you if running at excess pressures.

And an extra ddition to this, one thing to protect is yourself. Proper protection equipment if you are using aerosols or thinners with airbrushes, and just because some paints are water based does not make them automatically safe to breathe. So a proper mask with solvent filters (Or carbon filters..?) is very much recomended.

 

If you're looking for pastels, some websites (like dickblick.com) sell both student and professional-grade pastels and pencils in singles, so you can buy your own palette as needed instead of buying a big set that you'll only use some of.

Lomi's Playground on YouTube has a great intro to faceups video series. I really like having the visual reference for spraying sealants, especially when outside.

As far as spraying sealant goes, if given the option between outdoors or indoors, outdoors would be ideal so you don't inhale in the sealant fumes. If spraying indoors, as long as you have proper ventilation + mask, it should be good. I place my doll heads on top of a paper towel, inside a cardboard shoebox. If the weather is good, then I spray outside in my backyard. Otherwise if the weather is bad, I try to spray somewhere with open windows, and a box fan facing the outside to keep the fumes out.