Learn how to mix a flesh tone paint using just a few basic colors.
By Jim Hingst
I would love it if you could buy a flesh tone paint that wasn’t hideous looking. Unfortunately, the pink premixed paint in a tube looks like no one’s coloration that I have ever seen. Part of the problem is that there is no one flesh tone. Human flesh varies from very light coloration to very dark. That means that if you want a specific flesh tone, you need to mix it. This requires some experimentation on your part, considerable time and patience.
Many
basic formulas for a base flesh tone paint are similar. The recipes are typically
some combination of yellow, red, white, blue and either Burnt Sienna or Raw Sienna. Below is one recipe that works for me:
Step
1: Begin with yellow and gradually add red to create an orange. The approximate ratio is 5 parts yellow to 1 part red. The red that I
use is either a Cadmium Red Light or Alizarin Crimson for darker skin tones.
For yellow I prefer either Yellow Ochre or Naples Yellow. Check the orange mixture
against the skin tone that you are painting. Adjust the color with either a
little red or a little yellow.
Step
2: To the orange mixture add white until the color closely approximates the
color of the flesh on the inside of your forearm or that of your subject. Then make the appropriate adjustments to the value and the hue. Throughout the mixing process, you should check the color in this manner.
Step
3: To make the mixture more natural looking, carefully add a little Ultramarine Blue.
Step
4: If the resulting mixture is too
brownish, gradually add yellow or white. Since titanium white alone may not
look natural, many artists use is a 50/50 mix of Titanium White and Buff White.
If you need to darken the mixture, you can add either raw sienna or burnt
sienna with a little Ultramarine Blue. Skin coloration varies greatly. To get
the flesh tone that you desire will require testing. The
resulting color is your base flesh tone.
Step
5: For shadows, gradually add blue or violet. An alternative is to add Payne’s
Grey, which you can either buy in a tube or you can make your own. To make Paynes’ Grey, gradually add Burnt Sienna to Ultramarine
Blue until you achieve the desired grey. To lighten the grey, mix in a little
Zinc White.
 |
| Acrylic painting on Synaps synthetic paper (in progress). |
NOTE: Do not add a pigmented black for the shadow areas or to
darken the base flesh tone. Black will just create a muddy looking color.
For
highlights, you can gradually add either white or yellow to the base mixture.
About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.
© 2015 Jim Hingst
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Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.
Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.
© 2015 Jim Hingst
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