Painting rosey red cheeks

[Wayneb]

Hello guys,
I'm trying to figure out how go about getting a cold or winter look on a couple of busts I'm going to start.I'm some what of a beginner using acrylics but I also have oil paints.Don't want to get it too pinkish,just subtle coloring on the cheeks and maybe the nose.
Also should this be done before or after the face is shaded and highlighted.Any advise or tips would be greatly appreciated.....................................Wayne

 

[Gary D]

Hi Wayne. I've always used oils over acrylics. When I put some colour into the cheeks I use Venetian Red. I add a few dots (each about the size of the tip of a toothpick) to both cheeks and using a stippling motion, spread the VR around until I'm satisfied. Start out with a couple of dots and you will find it's easier to add more later than trying to take some away. I put the VR on after the flesh tones are dry - about a week or so. Don't forget to add a dab on his nose. That really gives the impression of cold. Here is my version...



Hope that helps.

gary

 

[gothicgeek]

Wayne ... I use Games Workshop Blood Red really well thinned with some flow enhancer added to break the surface tension.

This is added before shading and highlighting so that it is softened somewhat by the glazes over it. You can add extra layers of red if you need to strengthen the effect at any point in the paint.

Keep it thin and use many layers

And as Gary said don't forget the nose....

HTH

 

[housecarl]

Just to add more to the confusion. I use Vallejo wood grain (transparent), but Mark's method is probably the same. Don't forget the nose, and ear lobes.
Carl.

 

[Einion]

Also should this be done before or after the face is shaded and highlighted.

This bit first, I usually glaze the red mixture I'm using on top of the fully-shaded skin.

I'm some what of a beginner using acrylics but I also have oil paints.

It's possible to do the effect equally well in either medium but since you have oils I would recommend you use them for this kind of thing (over either a completely dry oil paintjob or the face done in acrylics).

Oil paints are much better suited to glazing because of their slow drying and the medium is much more forgiving if you make a mistake since you can easily wipe the colour off the surface with a spirit-dampened brush and then start again. If you do something similar with acrylics you're generally going to need to repaint that area to a degree.

Don't want to get it too pinkish...

Don't use pink then

You can sometimes get away with using neat red for this sort of effect on the cheeks - don't forget the chin, nose and ears as well, which are often affected too - but occasionally you'll want to tone it down somewhat, so you'll need to add in a little mixing complement (and then a touch of white, since the mix will go darker) or alternatively mix in a little grey of around the same value as the red.

Any advise or tips would be greatly appreciated...

With oils you can put a dot of the paint onto the surface and then just work it in with a clean brush, using a gentle back-and-forth action and/or by stippling towards the edges, which can neatly give a fade from a red 'hotspot' out to the normal skin colour.

If you go with the acrylics you would generally apply the paint very thinly in successive layers to build up to the final colour. This is easy enough on smaller-scale pieces but it's quite challenging at larger sizes.

Oh and don't forget to paint the underlying skin paler than you would normally.

Einion

 

[megroot]

Wayne.
I advise for a cold look some thinny spots of violet and blue. A cold look comes trough less blood to the skin. You get then a cyanosis and the skin is turning into a blue-violet.
Where there is a red color, the body is pumping more blood trough the skin as a reaction on the cold temperature.
Therefore: blue-violet and red.

marc

 

[Einion]

At the risk of making this too complicated, certain colours are illusory and in the same way that Mars Violet paints are actually not violet at all, when skin looks blueish or violet-tinged it's usually just greyer.

If anyone wants to look at this firsthand find a picture online showing cyanotic lips and examine it in any image-editing software - what you'll probably perceive as a sort of dull violet colour is often red or even scarlet in hue.

Einion

 

[Meehan34]

"Oil paints are much better suited to glazing because of their slow drying and the medium is much more forgiving if you make a mistake since you can easily wipe the colour off the surface with a spirit-dampened brush and then start again. If you do something similar with acrylics you're generally going to need to repaint that area to a degree."

Good point to follow if you are just a beginner with acrylics. As you become more familiar with acrylics and how to use them, you will find them to be much more controllable than oil colors.

 

[Wayneb]

Thanks for help guys.........Very much appreciated.....Wayne