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Position:Home>Visual Arts> Shading flesh tones?Question: Shading flesh tones!? How do you shade flesh tones!? For example, if I have already mixed my base flesh tone, how do I darken it to suggest shadows!? Do I mix in the complementary color (Usually blue) or just add some black paint!? It often appears unnatural when I try to shade!.
THANKS!Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: First off, I never mix one flesh tone!. Skin is a wonderful mix of hues, including blues and greens from the veins and tissues underlying the skin, and then there are the wonderful reflective colors from the surroundings!. And shadows depend on the temperature of the overall piece!. If I am working from life I usually find myself using some mars violet, and very often adding red tones for the shadows!. Lighter skin can often reflect aquas and pinks and very dark skin often reflects violets and periwinkles!. Pay attention to the color of clothing for those reflected colors!. To just use a darker shade of brown will make your flesh tones pasty!. Here are a few examples of masters choices for how to depict fleshtones!. If in doubt, always turn to the masters! http://aaschorsch!.com/images/AH/06_Rococ!.!.!. http://www!.zona-pellucida!.com/Images/ank!.!.!. http://www!.museothyssen!.org/thyssen/expo!.!.!. http://images!.employmentcrossing!.com/mar!.!.!. Even study Chuck Close's colors!. !. !. made easier to see by his technique! http://www!.mediabistro!.com/unbeige/origi!.!.!. Notice how none of them has used very much actual "flesh tone" paint!. !. !. !.the skin is a living organ, and has red in it from the arteries and blue from the veins, and to leave these colors out, to me at least, is to paint dead skin! I encourage you to give color a try !. !. !. you have nothing to lose and much to gain from doing so! I usually start with the shadows and add the mid-tones and highlights, because in oils it is easier to lighten values than to paint dark over them, in my opinion!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I usually apply my mixed flesh tone on first, i then set aside a small portion of this and darken it up a bit and use it for my shadeing!. I then use a fan brush to blend it in or out depending on the effect i am looking for or trying to get!. Once this sets but is not quite dry i will come back and use the glazing technique to give the painting a really good dramatic feel and look!. My art can be checked out at hellosanantonio!.com under artist name GUERRO1!.Www@QuestionHome@Com for some tints and tones, use the colours already in the painting, so if there a trees near shading, use those greens, if flesh tone base is basic, use dark colors that blend with base yellow, orange, red, brown, sienna, black / gray can be used if needed for contrast of other dark items beside each other, more so for shadow side, !.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Try a little of a deep blue!. I find Ultramarine Blue to be a good choice!. If that takes the color too blue or not dark enough, try adding some Alizarine Crimson as well!. Shadows often have a blue or violet tone!. If they are a simple dark brown, they can give a flat, dead look to the portrait!.Www@QuestionHome@Com it all depends on the shade a bit of raw umber gives a flesh tone some nice shadow so does the crimson gebrand ,black is not a good color to mix it makes the tones grayish same for highlights i don't use white so much Venice yellow is betterWww@QuestionHome@Com |