What is your favorite color (or color mix) to use for flesh tones on portraits?

Question

I have been trying out a premixed "flesh tint" but I find that it has too much red in it.

I also like to use just plain lemon yellow tinted with white, but that can give off a green glow.

What are your favorites? Which pure colors or mixes?

And which colors do you like to use for shadow. I like lamp black, but was thinking of playing with some raw or burnt umber.

Answer 1

I admit that I use the flesh tint, but I add to it. Yellow in various shades, or blues added in do wonders for subtle changes in tone. Experiment with shades of tan or brown to get a more natural flesh appearance; you might also try gray tones, depending on the palette of the piece you are working on.

In general, I like a flesh tone evened out with a little white, but this is more suited to my particular style of work, rather than a realistic appearing skin tone. The great thing about art is that it is so flexible: you basically can do whatever you want.

Answer 2

I am not a figure painter but Windsor orange is a very versatile color. You might want to consider using lead white (flake white) instead of Titanium or one of the others. This white is much better for tinting without losing the intensity of the color. I use a lot of lemon yellow, too, and Cadmium yellows also.

For shadows, I don't have a single color and wouldn't really recommend it. I work out a dark neutral that is cooler towards blue, purple, or green. Shadows always have color and light in them, just a different kind than the object being lit.

I also don't use any blacks. My closest color is Payne's grey, which is close to a dark grey-blue. It doesn't get the other colors muddy when mixed. Blacks are good for getting earthy greens by just mixing it with yellows (no blue needed).

Answer 3

Everybody has a different formula. As an airbrush artist this is what I use. I generally start with a medium brown and add white. Once it is at a tone similar to what I'm painting, I'll add red, pink or whatever the picture calls for. Also when shadowing flesh tones, use a transparent gray, blue, or purple, otherwise you will wind up with a muddy looking skin. This is from an airbrushers standpoint.

Answer 4

I have spent YEARS trying to master this. For what it is worth here is my basic palette. Titanium white, ivory black, raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, burnt sienna, golden ochre, Cad. red light, alizarin crimson, french ultra blue, sap green, caput mortem. For Caucasians I do an underpainting in burnt umber with some turpentine. With the underpainting still wet I mix usually white, ochre and some cad red light for the basic skintone, slap it on and then work in more white for light tones and more Cad. red, burnt umber, caput mortem and blue for shadows and halftones. I blend it right on the canvas. If the person is tan or "toasty" in skin tones I use more burnt sienna. For Af. Americans, I do an under painting in one of the umbers with some black or French Ultra blue which makes a nice black then work the lighter tones in with burnt sienna and white for reddish skintones or ochre and umbers for more chocolatey skintones. Alizarin crimson and sap green will produce a rainbow of beautiful browns. Refections on the skin from the clothing must be figured as well whether the subject is wearing white, red, green, etc. When this is all thouroughly dry I brush a thin coat of medium over the whole face and add the highlights - the lightest colors on the skin and the hair.

Answer 5

Flesh tones , never use that flesh tint it is so generic.
What I use is cadium red light, or vermillion+yellow ochre+titanium White. For highlights I will add some purple mixed with lots of titanium white. For shadows I will use a mixture of any blue and alizarin crimson depend what kind of effect I want. Also I try to avoid umbers for shadows because they look so flat.

Answer 6

the flesh tone with various colors added. I like to add a brown or
yellow to it. or even vermillion or watermelon. with a touch of white or orange or brown. sometimes I add a hint of red with the brown it gives it that reddish brown skin appearance. In all honesty though the best thing i found was trail and error mix a little and experiment till you find the desire colored/ like for a golden tan like skin type i use a hint of golden bronze with the flesh, a hint of brown and a hint of yellow comes out real nice. Almost exactly as a nice golden tan. When I first started painting I use to paint myself nude and that was the color of my skin but I couldn't ever get the right color so that is how I came up with this color. I experimented until I'd put the paint against my skin and it finally matched so well that I knew it was a good skin color.

Answer 7

BLONDE PAINTER

This blonde decides one day that she is sick and tired of all these
blonde jokes and how all blondes are perceived as stupid.

So, she decides to show her husband that blondes really are smart.

While her husband is off at work, she decides that she is going to
paint
a couple of rooms in the house.

The next day, right after her husband leaves for work, she gets down
to
the task at hand.

Her husband arrives home at 5:30 and smells the distinctive smell of
paint. He walks into the living room and finds his wife lying on the
floor in a pool of sweat. He notices that she is wearing a heavy
parka
and a leather jacket at the same time. He goes over and asks her if
she
is OK.

She replies yes. He asks what she is doing and she replies that she
wanted to prove to him that not all blonde women are dumb, and she
wanted to do it, by painting the house.

He then asks her why she has a parka over her leather jacket. She
replied that she was reading the directions on the paint can and it said...

You'll love this .

Yep... I know you will . .







'FOR BEST RESULTS, PUT ON TWO COATS'