Dark Fleshtone Matt

A dark flesh tone as a starting point

Flesh shades form a group of their own in every palette, and this one stands at its dark end. It is used in two ways: as a full-fledged skin tone on figures of dark complexion and as a shadow coat beneath lighter flesh tones, on which the highlighting is then built. The version for an airbrush comes pre-thinned from the factory, so it is poured straight into the cup.

What experience is assumed

Skin is the most demanding surface of all for a painter, because the eye recognizes every inaccuracy at once. Anyone painting a first figure will do better to start on armor or on a cloak and leave the flesh tone for later. Anyone who already knows how a transition is built in three tones will appreciate that spraying lays down an utterly smooth coat with no brush strokes, on which further work goes far more pleasantly than on an area painted with a brush. The bottle on its own, however, forms only one link in the chain; work on skin also calls for a lighter tone on the high points and a glaze into the folds.

What to keep in mind when spraying

The procedure goes from shadow to light, that is, first the dark tone over the whole area and only then the lighter coats with a narrowed cone from above. The distance of the nozzle is kept smaller than on large areas, as these are small assemblies, but the pressure is better reduced so that the material does not spatter out to the sides. The face is always sprayed last of the main areas, so that no overspray from the preceding colors falls onto it. The hands and the neck are best dealt with at the same time, or unpleasant differences in color will arise.