Fleshtones

Skin from the lightest to the darkest

Skin tones are usually the first thing a viewer notices on a figure, and at the same time what gives away haste the fastest. These eight shades therefore offer a continuous scale from very pale through a warm middle to dark skin. Nothing has to be mixed blind and all the transitions keep one color character. The difference between a rushed and a considered face is visible from a meter away.

How the scale is built

The pale tone serves as the highest light, the cadmium and the dense flesh value make up the middle, and the dark shade closes the lower end of the range. Sienna and a brownish color add warmth to the shadows, where pure flesh would look chalky. Two glazes, a flesh one and a black one, take care of drawing in the eye sockets, the wrinkles and the lines of the neck.

A procedure that has proved itself

• Start with the middle tone and only then build the lights and the shadows; the opposite order usually turns out worse.
• Dose the glaze carefully; the excess is blotted away at once with a dry brush.
• Shift the lips and the nose into a warmer shade, otherwise the face stays flat.
• Keep the highest light only on the forehead and the bridge of the nose; applied all over it bleaches the face.
• Finish the eyes only once the skin is done; otherwise corrections around them show.

The scale is not limited to fantasy. It covers historical figures and vehicle crews just as well, and on those the transition between a tanned face and lighter skin on the hands is useful too. In larger scales it pays to add a drop of blue to the shadows, because skin cools in half-shade.