hi guys; been doing more figures and want to know: what size brushes are best for eyes (1/35 scale)? have a couple brushes that work well for the "whites" of the eyes but the irises are giving me trouble (have tried really fine, sharp toothpicks); thanks for any ideas and help

I recommend using quality brushes for painting small details. Even with number 1 you can paint eyes and irises. Smaller brushes tend to dry faster.
These are my two main detail brushes for figures-Raphael 8404 and Winsor&Newton 7, both size 1. As you can see they hold very nice tip and the paint flows better.



Regards,

Although kolinsky sable brushes are the best option for figure painting in general, in the case of round shapes a good-quality synthetic brush is a preferable alternative IMHO. The reason is a tapping motion with a kolinsky brush tend to produce lines, while the stiffer nylon (or other fiber) bristles result in dots instead. The tip of synthetic brushes wears and loses shape more rapidly compared to quality sable brushes, so keep one in perfect conditions for small details like these.



Hope it helps

Watch these and you can see what they are using.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tv_YAsqcE4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GFtHPFVxAc4

Thanks for the feedback and ideas guys; really appreciate it; very helpful stuff

Or, you can forget paint brushes and use Archer Fine transfers instead. Archer makes waterslide decals of pupils in various sizes and colours.
HTH-
Geoff Steer

Is a bit personal, I use 0 or 1 but for paint eyes , but i use Miniatures or Spotters brushes that have short hair compare the normal, they hold less paint but have the toughest tip and I find them more controllable, as mentioned the important is the tip not the size, Kolinsky sable brush are the best, in addition to the W&N series 7 or series 7 miniatures and Raphael there are also Rosemary&Co which as a quality/price are exceptional, costomer service excellent and fast shipment , for figures the 33 series is great and the 323 kolinsky spotters ,are all expensive this brushes but if you take care of them they can last for years


https://www.rosemaryandco.com/index.php?route=common/home


for my figurines i use oils and i own these sizes, 3/0-2/0-0-1-2 both normal and miniature/spotters.

https://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-spotters

https://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-pointed

Rosemary also has a set of brushes for figurines...

https://www.rosemaryandco.com/gift-sets/workbench-warrior-set

More great ideas; didn't think of Archer; will also definitely be shopping for some new brushes; thanks

I use a very fine artists' making pen with a tip .5 mm or smaller to make a tiny dot. You can find black, brown, blue ink markers. Trim by painting the eyelids when the ink has dried.

Thank you; never thought of that; will check it out

I also use artist marking pens as well.They help me keep my sanity in getting the eyeball centered with 1/35 figures.

I read here a lot of comments about round dots. The pupils don't appear as round dots. Look in the mirror. The figs that have round dots look like they are wildly crazy scared people !. I have found the old master Shep Paine had the easiest method,which is to paint the whites first (off white is better) then do a stripe of the pupil color from top to bottom. Finish off by painting the upper and lower lids. Stay away from dots ! I use acrylics with a drying retarder and a nicely thinned paint with a 000 brush.
This is an easy method of avoiding the pop-eyed look.
I would also highly recommend an optivisor. I used to struggle for years trying to see that tiny stuff and it just isn't mortally possible.
J

To avoid the "pop-eyed" look when using an artists' pen to make a dot (same when using Archer's iris decals), I did say to trim the eyelids - meaning to cover the tops, and sometimes bottoms, of the iris dot. Usually only about half of the entire iris is visible between the eyelids.

Sounds good; Xmas is coming and now I have a couple more items for my wishlist; thanks guys

I've been trying out my recently purchased Raphael Kolinsky brushes — not painting eyes just yet, but all I can say is WOW! Many thanks for the advice!

Cheers!🍺
—mike

Amen!
My Shep Paine book is 35 years old and I still adhere to his genius. May he Rest In Peace. In fact, Shep even advocates for not even using whites, just skin color, whites of the eyes don’t show when the average Joe is squinting in 1/35.