Ron Jr.
Elite Cafe Member
Having done nearly 1,000 pretty (I hope they are considered pretty anyways) faces now I thought I’d share a few tricks I’ve learned over the years on how to get a small scale b&w face to look good. I also threw in a few what I think are “must do’s” for faces in general. These tips are not about getting absolute realism, they are about getting a very tiny female face to look pretty not under magnification but to the naked eye. Of course these tips are not the only way to achieve this, just some things that I have found to work for me. The face in the close up picture is about an 1/8” of an inch wide and was done on a nickel, very soft metal so the dot bulino is a little sloppy. The topless girls face is about 3/8” of an inch wide and on a stainless money clip. As you can see the bulino engraving is a lot “cleaner” (hard metal) and she looks more realistic due to the increased size. I still used a few “tiny face” tricks though. I’ll start with general advice on tiny face parts and end with bullet points giving you direct tips and tricks.
Eyes. Iris size and evenness in size is probably the most important, to small and beady eye, too big and bug eye. Two different iris sizes, yeah that’ll stick out big time. You can fix it if the eyes are a little off in the direction they are both looking though (cross eyed, lazy eye). You use white/light reflection spots in the iris’s, put the white spots in the same area of each iris and it’ll cover up and correct more than you’d think. (In general put the white spots where they would be if the lighting was coming from straight on and slightly above the direction her face is pointing, more on this later) If you put those white spots in different areas of each pupil your screwed, even if the pupils are each facing correct they won’t look it. I start with a big white spot and work my way down, checking my work often with the naked eye.
The nose is probably the most important part believe it or not. Its not about how it looks, it’s usually the best indicator to let you know if the model is looking up, sideways, down etc. In the example close up picture she’s looking at you from a slight angle (and no it’s not the best nose when viewed up close but when viewed with the naked eye it looks perfectly fine. If I remember right I made the line at the bottom tip of her nose way to big and dark and I had to burnish it slightly, gave it that muddy blurry look in a close up). A trick I almost always use is a very definitive line for parts of the nose. Where the line is, is determined by the direction her face is pointed and the angle you are viewing it at. In the close up I used a dark line for the far edge with a slight round for the far nostril, your mind automatically gives you orientation from that line. In the face in the bottom left of the close up I used a line just for the tip and her nostrils. Obviously that dark line is not realistic but its a quick and easy way to solidify a tiny faces direction. On a small scale viewed with the naked eye it does not look so out of place. Place the eyes and mouth right, get the face shape right but goof up the nose and what do you get? A goofy looking face that’s what
Lips. Big lips on women is a thing these days but on a small scale face they start looking pretty messed up pretty fast. If you insist on them start with smaller lips and work your way larger checking your work often with the naked eye.
Lighting direction. In general, even when the lighting direction is specific or even a little extreme I almost always shade the face as if the lighting is coming from the direction the face is pointing. It should look funny or off but rarely does IMO. I think it’s because we see so many professional pictures of models in ads, magazines etc. where the lighting on their body could be from any direction but the lighting on the face is more often than not perfect. Take the topless girl as an example. The lighting is pretty much coming from straight on and a little above the direction her body is facing. Notice that her face is turned slightly away from the lighting direction. Should that shading be on the near side bridge of her nose? Nope, not unless the lighting is coming from the right as we view it. Did you notice it before I pointed it out? Think it would look right if that area was as light as her upper cheek under her eye? Without that shading her nose would be lost, look flat, incomplete and unfinished when viewed on a small scale IMO.
EYES
-Dark/black iris’s are pretty much a must, make them light and they get lost on a small scale.
-Add a hint of a shadow under the eyes. The outside three quarters. Adds a hint of depth, gets rid of the “flat eye” look.
—Exaggerate the top eyelashes, big and bold. Makes the eyes stand out and adds a definite feminine quality.
-Eye shadow is a good go to, it should expand past the outside edge of the eyes.
-Use a white spot in the pupils to solidify the direction you want them looking or to fix “off eyes” that I talked about earlier.
-If the face is looking at you sideways and the pupil is in the very corner of the eye you NEED to leave a little of the sclera (white part) showing otherwise the pupil and the eyelashes will blend together and I can tell you from experience it definitely looks funny.
-Leaving a tiny sliver of white showing at the bottom of the iris’s helps give definition
MOUTH
-Shade lightly under the center of the bottom lip. Same effect as the shading under the eyes, adds a hint of depth. Note** Realism is usually a dark shadow under a plump, full bottom lip, on a small scale it does not convey well.
-A cupids bow top lip is always good. Make sure the center of the bow is in the right place centered under the nose though!
-Make the edges around the lips and the line between them pretty dark/definite but use a lighter shade inside of them to add depth. Light colored lips often get lost on a tiny face.
-Smile lines, cheek lines when you smile. Very difficult on a tiny face. If you figure out how to make them look right I’d love to hear how. On the larger face you can see some slight smile lines on the right side of her mouth. Now picture them darker, would look funny right?
NOSE
-Shade slightly at the top bridge of the nose between the eyes to add depth.
-Make a line or use dark shading to indicate the alar groove/s (nostrils).
-Philtrum…… ahhh shading the philtrum (the shallow groove between/under your nose and above your upper lip). I’ve found it almost impossible to get it to look right on a small scale. It always ends up looking like a hanging booger. The best I can do usually is shade one side of the upper lip darker or leave the philtrum area lighter or darker.
HAIRLINE/FOREHEAD
-Shade the edge of the hairline on the forehead, adds depth.
-Hair hanging down into the face will need a good outline or line defining it otherwise its lost.
CHIN/JAWLINE
-Usually only 2 options for the outline of this area, make a shadow on the neck under the chin (larger face) or use a visible line (smaller face).
-Shading the cheek bones is usually always good but can be tricky getting it right. You have to blend it well or its clown make up time
Alright, that’s all I have for now. Hope this helps if you ever find yourself wanting to make a tiny, pretty face
Ron Jr.
Eyes. Iris size and evenness in size is probably the most important, to small and beady eye, too big and bug eye. Two different iris sizes, yeah that’ll stick out big time. You can fix it if the eyes are a little off in the direction they are both looking though (cross eyed, lazy eye). You use white/light reflection spots in the iris’s, put the white spots in the same area of each iris and it’ll cover up and correct more than you’d think. (In general put the white spots where they would be if the lighting was coming from straight on and slightly above the direction her face is pointing, more on this later) If you put those white spots in different areas of each pupil your screwed, even if the pupils are each facing correct they won’t look it. I start with a big white spot and work my way down, checking my work often with the naked eye.
The nose is probably the most important part believe it or not. Its not about how it looks, it’s usually the best indicator to let you know if the model is looking up, sideways, down etc. In the example close up picture she’s looking at you from a slight angle (and no it’s not the best nose when viewed up close but when viewed with the naked eye it looks perfectly fine. If I remember right I made the line at the bottom tip of her nose way to big and dark and I had to burnish it slightly, gave it that muddy blurry look in a close up). A trick I almost always use is a very definitive line for parts of the nose. Where the line is, is determined by the direction her face is pointed and the angle you are viewing it at. In the close up I used a dark line for the far edge with a slight round for the far nostril, your mind automatically gives you orientation from that line. In the face in the bottom left of the close up I used a line just for the tip and her nostrils. Obviously that dark line is not realistic but its a quick and easy way to solidify a tiny faces direction. On a small scale viewed with the naked eye it does not look so out of place. Place the eyes and mouth right, get the face shape right but goof up the nose and what do you get? A goofy looking face that’s what
Lips. Big lips on women is a thing these days but on a small scale face they start looking pretty messed up pretty fast. If you insist on them start with smaller lips and work your way larger checking your work often with the naked eye.
Lighting direction. In general, even when the lighting direction is specific or even a little extreme I almost always shade the face as if the lighting is coming from the direction the face is pointing. It should look funny or off but rarely does IMO. I think it’s because we see so many professional pictures of models in ads, magazines etc. where the lighting on their body could be from any direction but the lighting on the face is more often than not perfect. Take the topless girl as an example. The lighting is pretty much coming from straight on and a little above the direction her body is facing. Notice that her face is turned slightly away from the lighting direction. Should that shading be on the near side bridge of her nose? Nope, not unless the lighting is coming from the right as we view it. Did you notice it before I pointed it out? Think it would look right if that area was as light as her upper cheek under her eye? Without that shading her nose would be lost, look flat, incomplete and unfinished when viewed on a small scale IMO.
EYES
-Dark/black iris’s are pretty much a must, make them light and they get lost on a small scale.
-Add a hint of a shadow under the eyes. The outside three quarters. Adds a hint of depth, gets rid of the “flat eye” look.
—Exaggerate the top eyelashes, big and bold. Makes the eyes stand out and adds a definite feminine quality.
-Eye shadow is a good go to, it should expand past the outside edge of the eyes.
-Use a white spot in the pupils to solidify the direction you want them looking or to fix “off eyes” that I talked about earlier.
-If the face is looking at you sideways and the pupil is in the very corner of the eye you NEED to leave a little of the sclera (white part) showing otherwise the pupil and the eyelashes will blend together and I can tell you from experience it definitely looks funny.
-Leaving a tiny sliver of white showing at the bottom of the iris’s helps give definition
MOUTH
-Shade lightly under the center of the bottom lip. Same effect as the shading under the eyes, adds a hint of depth. Note** Realism is usually a dark shadow under a plump, full bottom lip, on a small scale it does not convey well.
-A cupids bow top lip is always good. Make sure the center of the bow is in the right place centered under the nose though!
-Make the edges around the lips and the line between them pretty dark/definite but use a lighter shade inside of them to add depth. Light colored lips often get lost on a tiny face.
-Smile lines, cheek lines when you smile. Very difficult on a tiny face. If you figure out how to make them look right I’d love to hear how. On the larger face you can see some slight smile lines on the right side of her mouth. Now picture them darker, would look funny right?
NOSE
-Shade slightly at the top bridge of the nose between the eyes to add depth.
-Make a line or use dark shading to indicate the alar groove/s (nostrils).
-Philtrum…… ahhh shading the philtrum (the shallow groove between/under your nose and above your upper lip). I’ve found it almost impossible to get it to look right on a small scale. It always ends up looking like a hanging booger. The best I can do usually is shade one side of the upper lip darker or leave the philtrum area lighter or darker.
HAIRLINE/FOREHEAD
-Shade the edge of the hairline on the forehead, adds depth.
-Hair hanging down into the face will need a good outline or line defining it otherwise its lost.
CHIN/JAWLINE
-Usually only 2 options for the outline of this area, make a shadow on the neck under the chin (larger face) or use a visible line (smaller face).
-Shading the cheek bones is usually always good but can be tricky getting it right. You have to blend it well or its clown make up time
Alright, that’s all I have for now. Hope this helps if you ever find yourself wanting to make a tiny, pretty face
Ron Jr.
