painting Flesh Tones

[dannyk01]

Alright, I'm currectly trying to get a "better" colour flesh tones that may seem a bit more realistic (for acrylics). I have been using Vallejo's Medium Flesh but i think that they seem to be a little bit yellow. I have had a couple people tell me they seem to be a bit too yellow aswell so this is why im asking this question.

I think I might eventually buy Andreas' fleshtone set. Is it worth my while or would there be a base colour that can do the job?

Daniel

 

[magister militum]

Add a dot of blue to the mix and it will cool the color down a bit.

 

[dannyk01]

cool thanks, i will try it

 

[dinovision79]

Hi Danny,

try a search here on pF, there are a few tips, also, you can find mixes here http://www.coloradominiatures.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=5.

Hope this helps
Denes

 

[Einion]

Daniel, I was going to suggest that you look for articles online for painting skintones in Vallejos as there are sure to be a number of guides you can try for yourself, see what you like the look of. That one on the Colorado Miniatures site is a good one in that there are a bunch of them all together on one page.

Here's the one by Jaume Ortiz here on pF, with step-by-step pics:
http://www.planetfigure.com/articles/jaume_face_eng.pdf

While I'm sure the Andrea fleshtone set will work okay it might be best not to get tied into using a set of paints like this - too easy to have boring skin on your figures that always looks the same.

Add a dot of blue to the mix and it will cool the color down a bit.

If the colour is a little yellow won't that tend to make it green?

Einion

 

[magister militum]

If the colour is a little yellow won't that tend to make it green?

I always add a dot of blue or green to my flesh mixes to cool them down. I add very little (a dot). This changes the color only slightly. If you look at fine art paintings you will notice colors in the flesh tones that you normally wouldn't think would go well. Greens and blues for cool tones, reds and oranges for warm tones. Then again I have only recently started larger models 54mm+. Before I was painting 28-32mm.

 

[ShuMin]

Hello, Daniel!
I have my reception for getting realistic "skin": 1 or 2 lot of Raw Sienna (if you want have the yellow tone) or Medium Yellow, plus 0,5 or 1 of Red Ochre (you can use Carmine or Scarlet Red), then White over 8 or 10 (may be more). If you want have more palish skin, you can added more White and 0,5 some Blue or Green (if you want).

With respect, ShuMin.

 

[dannyk01]

Thank you everybody for your tips and i will give eveything a go. Im still trying to develope my way of painting figures and i thinki i have learnt the basics of shadows and highlights. I want to be able to push my painting that little further now with being able to paint better sking tone

Daniel

 

[Einion]

I always add a dot of blue or green to my flesh mixes to cool them down.

Generally so do I, but from the opening post:

I have been using Vallejo's Medium Flesh but i think that they seem to be a little bit yellow.

Einion

 

[darkeye]

try this mate!

a book i have on Classical pianting says you only need 4 colours; magenta, green, cyan blue and yellow, which mixed in varying amounts can make any flesh tone or shadows/highlights you want.
truth is that real shadows are not Reddish/brown/orange ect. they are 'Greys' so as pointed out , the addition of blue to orange is a good one, so is yellow and purple which if mixed correctly will give a Tan/khaki colour, red/green is a good Grey too, as is pink/green ect . you get the idea now i think. so experiment and 'dirty' your colours.
the colour sets are fine but give a comic book look imo. the best skin effects look 'real' but are made from anything but what you might imagine.
as for skin in acrylics; i now rekon oils are the best medium for a top coat. the depth of colour and pigment plus finish are better in my opinion mate.
one other tip is.. avoid what i refer to as the 'School of Skull White' where folks just add white to a colour. it leaves a chalky finish. best to have some colours mixed up that are lighter because the contain less white. Believe it or not, lime green can lighten a flesh tone mate! specially if it contains an Orangey/brown tone.

hope some of this was of help ---- tim

 

[Drebil]

Tim,

for me it was a good help. Only a few questions: oils should be transparent, or opaque?
for magenta what artist oil correct? as for the green and yellow?

Peter

 

[Einion]

a book i have on Classical pianting says you only need 4 colours; magenta, green, cyan blue and yellow, which mixed in varying amounts can make any flesh tone or shadows/highlights you want.

Which book was this? The green seems an odd addition to me, given the excellent greens already possible from cyan and yellow primaries.

What paints does it recommend for these colours?

truth is that real shadows are not Reddish/brown/orange ect.

Actually they are generally red-orange or scarlet, just not as we'd normally think of 'em - being a hue description here, not a colour description.

Same basic issue as coffee with milk in it, which we don't tend to think of as orange although it is

Einion

 

[darkeye]

here ya go!

debil -- i tend to think of them as a Transparancy because like inks, most folks use them over an acrylic which are most certainly opaque

Enion- the book is called Colour Theory and its by Jose M. Parramon and printed by Watson Guptill. ISBN is 0-8230-0755-3. bought it years ago so may not be around. i would say its an amazing book in that it opened my mind from the brown through to white style i had many moons ago and it discusses each Tone one by one, showing how each can be highlighted and shadowed, Mr Parramon refers to mqany shades as 'greys' not least if there has been an addition of White.
flicking through it again as i type, i am looking at a picture of some Bannanas. they look 'yellow' but are mix of unusual tones!
there's even a section called 'How to paint the colour of Shadows' in which he states; "in theory, all shadows are blue'.
as for shadows on skin, in my view and in many paintings, the shadows appear to be Greys based no unusual mixes which contain either blue or green, i have done one myself before where i mixed a pale green and a redish brown to produce a very nice Tanned skin tone. check out the book any way, very enjoyable read! regards ----- tim

 

[schley]

Hi Guys the book colour theory is still available through Amazon.co.uk

 

[Einion]

Enion- the book is called Colour Theory and its by Jose M. Parramon...

Ah, yeah that one. I've flicked through it a few times over the years.

The "in theory, all shadows are blue" part is one of the things that raised eyebrows with me at the time and now that I know more it's definite that this should be taken as the author's opinion rather than a statement of fact.

... i have done one myself before where i mixed a pale green and a redish brown to produce a very nice Tanned skin tone.

That's an interesting mix of a type that's interesting to look at diagrammatically on a colour wheel to see why a given colour results.

Mixes of violet and green are a similar thing, where they can produce dull blues (somewhat like Prussian Blue) which is initially surprising but easy to understand when you map it out.

Einion

 

[dannyk01]

hey again, i have been trying different methods and doing a fair bit of experimenting lately. With the highlights I have figured that highlighting with a pale yellow as and upper highlight seems to work better. I might try that style of how you you use those other colours. i have not had much experience with oils yet (other than washes on tanks) and painting a couple things with brown. I heave also realized with the shadows that sometimes they can seem to be a greyish but it really depends on how the light and sun and so on hits the face.

Meeting with Tonydawe last week for a couple hours did help me a bit on doing a few things and yet again if your reading this i want to thanks you (just in case if i forgot to on the night). Anyway, i need to get more practice in and i hope to show a few pictures in the near future

Daniel

 

[Einion]

I heave also realized with the shadows that sometimes they can seem to be a greyish but it really depends on how the light and sun and so on hits the face.

If you missed it, have a look at this thread from a short while ago:
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27804

Looking at skin painted realistically it's often easier to see the colours for what they are.

Einion

 

[jviguers]

Andrea Flesh Paint Set

I just tried the set and it's awesome!