Hey guys, been busy with the P-38 but will be buying this piece for a family friend since she is deep with N.A. and that whole scene. Was really wondering if anyone would know a good base and highlight / shades or "glazes / washes" for his skin. I know its brown but I think a brown base would make it to heavy. Any suggestions are welcome, I just dont want to have a bad start with the skin being non N.A. like.

"Brown" is a broad description*, so lets narrow it down a bit.

I am far from doing any 'ethnic' skin tones, I suspect that the colours of burnt umber and yellow ochre would make a good base start.

I am aware of a mix for these kind of tones, and even tackled my own mix for a pale Asian complexion; combination of Burnt umber, ochre and white. Mix in various ratios (not to hand right now) and almost any skin tone can be achieved.

The great frustration is that unless you're pretty accurate and note the ratios, touch ups later will mean re discovering the right ratios...which is why I am so thorough in noting my mixes.

What brand of paint are you using? If possible, see if you can find a colour swatch of the paints, that will help guide you in getting some paints that are already pretty close, only needing a bit of 'tweaking' to get right....

* like Green; inside an airframe, its primer, almost yellow, outside, well, if its army air corps, its khaki, if its Japanese Navy, its almost emerald.....

cheers

Vallejo.. I think I will paint down a tan yellow then do burnt umber glazes around the light spots.. I have done this recently and I like working from light to dark because it is faster and easier IMO. I see some red in there, this face is going to be a step forward in my figure painting

"Red" in reference to Native Americans originally referred to their fondness of red paint and red decoration; there is NO red in Native American skin tones anymore than there is red in any skin tone. There is some of course--the "blush" of cheeks, lips, inside the ears, etc. But the basic skin tones are no different than painting a caucasian save for a deeper "sun tan" effect. I say this to deter the use of a lot of red in the skin mixes. Tan is more accurate.

Steve,
dumb question time:
so the darker 'earth' tones such as umber and ochre are heading in the right direction? To make some 'tan tones, correct?
Concepts for highlights, shadows etc follow the usual method for faces in general; cheekbones, nose, then under the jaw, so forth.

And guessing from the post, you may have some horror stories to share?

Open to input, always.

cheers

Corey, Jamie and William,

Great thread and contributions. It's the reason I joined Pf , to pick up as much info as poss.
Will follow closely.

Cheers Ken

Ah yes steve, I know of the warpaint but I was referring the blush I guess. Just trying to do this mental planning and steps because I want this to look very good. The hair and clothes will be somewhat of a breeze, but busts are all about the face in most cases. Tan to brown seems the most fit, can even darken the tan with some glazes also.

Hello Corey,

Here's a picture of my mixing palette for American Indian skin tones in oils.



The base coat is Vallejo Acrylic 'sand'. You can also use 'Flesh' of course!

Hope you'd find it useful.

Cheers,
Quang

Hi Corey,

I think it was already posted somewhere here and since you are using acrylics, this you will find interesting for sure http://www.coolminiornot.com/go.php/go/articlephp/aid/310? many many ideas there for all kind of skintones.

Happy painting
Denes

Hi Corey, previous threads:
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13525
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18663

Einion

Thanks Einon and others, sorry I didnt see those.. but they are 04' and 06', what did you expect?