(This is a repost of an article I created for Wamp. Check out their tutorial section for the original as well as other great articles.)
Painting skin on your models can be tricky and, at times, quite
frustrating. But once you get a handle on it, it's actually a lot of
fun and gives you plenty of room to experiment. My goal in this
tutorial is to share my general approach to painting skin and give you a
number of mixes and corresponding figure examples. When it comes to
paints there are a lot of good choices (GW, Vallejo, P3, etc). However
for this tutorial I'm mostly using Reaper Master Series. I like these
because (a) they are squeeze bottle and thus easier for using on my
wet palette (b) come slightly thinner than Vallejo and thus I have an
easier time blending with them and (c) they have a ton of skin tone
paints which form the core of my mixes. These aren't the only options
but I think they are a great place to start.
Before I get into painting skin I just want to say a little bit about highlighting and shading for those new to the hobby. Because the models we paint are at such a small scale light doesn't look the same as it does on a human sized one. Instead we have to use shading as we paint to trick the eye and make the figure "look right." We typically use a technique called 'zenithal lighting.' This basically means we imagine there is a light source directly above the figure and paint shadows and highlights accordingly. This will enhance the shadows created by the actual light and really help the look of the finished figure. In historical figure painting circles this technique is sometimes referred to as the stop sign rule. Think of the shape of a stop sign (an octagon) with a light above it. The top surface is hit by direct light so it is the brightest while the bottom surface gets no light and is the darkest. The side surfaces are hit by indirect light so they will be your mid tone. The upper two slanting surfaces are hit light that is not quite as direct so they are less bright than the top, but still light (so halfway between the brightest color and your mid tone). The lower two slanting surfaces get a little indirect light, but not much so they are halfway between your mid tone and your darkest color.
Before I get into painting skin I just want to say a little bit about highlighting and shading for those new to the hobby. Because the models we paint are at such a small scale light doesn't look the same as it does on a human sized one. Instead we have to use shading as we paint to trick the eye and make the figure "look right." We typically use a technique called 'zenithal lighting.' This basically means we imagine there is a light source directly above the figure and paint shadows and highlights accordingly. This will enhance the shadows created by the actual light and really help the look of the finished figure. In historical figure painting circles this technique is sometimes referred to as the stop sign rule. Think of the shape of a stop sign (an octagon) with a light above it. The top surface is hit by direct light so it is the brightest while the bottom surface gets no light and is the darkest. The side surfaces are hit by indirect light so they will be your mid tone. The upper two slanting surfaces are hit light that is not quite as direct so they are less bright than the top, but still light (so halfway between the brightest color and your mid tone). The lower two slanting surfaces get a little indirect light, but not much so they are halfway between your mid tone and your darkest color.
The trick of course is applying the same idea to the mini which is a
much more complicated shape. Keep the approach in mind, imagine the
light source above your figure, and with practice knowing where to
place highlights and shadows will become second nature.
Okay, on to painting skin....
Reaper has a number of skin triads. Each of these has a type of skin mid tone (ex: Fair Skin, Tanned Skin, Rosy Skin, Dark Skin, etc) along with the corresponding highlight and shadow. While these are a good place to start, I find getting really nice looking results takes a little more work. This first mix is a combination of rosy and fair skin tones. It's good for female figures, elves, or any character where you want a light skin tone. The colors I use are Chestnut Brown (09071) and Rosy Shadow (09067) for the darkest shadows. From there I worked up to Rosy Skin (09068) then to Fair Skin (09047) to Fair Highlights (09048) and finally a touch of Pure White (09039).
Okay, on to painting skin....
Reaper has a number of skin triads. Each of these has a type of skin mid tone (ex: Fair Skin, Tanned Skin, Rosy Skin, Dark Skin, etc) along with the corresponding highlight and shadow. While these are a good place to start, I find getting really nice looking results takes a little more work. This first mix is a combination of rosy and fair skin tones. It's good for female figures, elves, or any character where you want a light skin tone. The colors I use are Chestnut Brown (09071) and Rosy Shadow (09067) for the darkest shadows. From there I worked up to Rosy Skin (09068) then to Fair Skin (09047) to Fair Highlights (09048) and finally a touch of Pure White (09039).
I find the rosy skin gives the shadows a more lifelike look. To get
some deeper shadows a little bit of a reddish brown is mixed in.
Similarly, a touch of white to the fair highlight can help those
topmost highlights pop out. As I move from one color to the next I
work in a number of intermediate shadows. For example I might start
with pure rosy shadow, then 3 parts rosy shadow to one part rosy skin, 1
part rosy shadow to 1 part rosy skin, 1 part rosy shadow to 3 parts
rosy skin, and finally pure rosy skin. This is just an example. For
smooth transitions you may want to use 5-10 intermediate stages. For
other colors perhaps less. Fair skin and fair highlight are quite
close, so I don't need many intermediate steps between those two. The
number of layers or intermediate steps depends on the results you're
going for, how much time you want to put into the figure, and how far
apart the two colors are.
To see how this mix works in practice, here are a few figures where I used it:
White Speaker:
To see how this mix works in practice, here are a few figures where I used it:
White Speaker:
Bruiser Gus:
(There are some slight variations in color due to my camera and light
setup. Bruiser Gus was photographed using the 'good' setup so this is
the closest to what the mix looks like in person)
Clone of Dirz:
As you place your shadows and highlights, it's important to vary the
range you're using. By this I mean not every shadow should be equally
dark or highlight equally light. The darkest shadows should be used
to pick out major anatomical details. More muted shadows are used to
define other details. So use less severe shadow tones for the muscles
in the arms and legs to bring out their tone/definition. Save the
darkest shadows for the arm pits and other areas that are getting very
little light. This helps the major features stand out. Take a look at
the arms on Bruiser Gus and the legs of the White Speaker. Compare the
shadows and highlights to other parts of these figures.
When dealing with large mostly flat areas the stop sign rule says they should be painted the same shade... however this typically looks dull and boring. Instead a slight gradient will look much better. For an example, look to the back of the white speakers leg, focus on the upper leg. The skin tone is lightest right under the buttock and gets slightly darker down towards the knee. The same thing is done on her abs. Although mostly flat a slight gradient is used to add more visual appeal.
When painting the body it doesn't hurt to turn to anatomical references. In most cases you can let the sculpture lead you as your apply shadows and highlights, but sometimes fine details aren't included and instead need to be added solely through the painting. As an example, look once again at the back of the white speakers leg. The rear of the knee detail is not molded on so instead we add it with paint, imply the shape with highlights and shadows. Creases in the forehead can be done the same way. Often these fine features won't be sculpted on so instead you can add them with your paint brush.
For a more masculine skin tone I might use the following paints, taking advantage of Reaper's bronzed skin mixes:
Mahogany Brown (09070), Chestnut Brown (09071), Bronzed Shadow (09259), Bronzed Skin (09260), and Bronzed Highlights (09261).
When dealing with large mostly flat areas the stop sign rule says they should be painted the same shade... however this typically looks dull and boring. Instead a slight gradient will look much better. For an example, look to the back of the white speakers leg, focus on the upper leg. The skin tone is lightest right under the buttock and gets slightly darker down towards the knee. The same thing is done on her abs. Although mostly flat a slight gradient is used to add more visual appeal.
When painting the body it doesn't hurt to turn to anatomical references. In most cases you can let the sculpture lead you as your apply shadows and highlights, but sometimes fine details aren't included and instead need to be added solely through the painting. As an example, look once again at the back of the white speakers leg. The rear of the knee detail is not molded on so instead we add it with paint, imply the shape with highlights and shadows. Creases in the forehead can be done the same way. Often these fine features won't be sculpted on so instead you can add them with your paint brush.
For a more masculine skin tone I might use the following paints, taking advantage of Reaper's bronzed skin mixes:
Mahogany Brown (09070), Chestnut Brown (09071), Bronzed Shadow (09259), Bronzed Skin (09260), and Bronzed Highlights (09261).
I wanted to create some deeper shadows so I added the Mahogany Brown
(09070) to the lower end of the paint spectrum. As before I could have
added white mixed with the bronzed highlight... but I wanted this to
have a darker look so I left it out. As you work on your highlights, if
you feel they need a little more visual pop you can add in a little
white. It just depends on the look you're going for.
Here is how this skin mix looks on a figure:
Here is how this skin mix looks on a figure:
Another mix for male skin is:
Chestnut Brown (09071), Tanned Shadow (09043), Tanned Skin (09044), Tanned Highlights (09045), and Fair Skin (09047)
Chestnut Brown (09071), Tanned Shadow (09043), Tanned Skin (09044), Tanned Highlights (09045), and Fair Skin (09047)
Here is this mix on a figure:
So the key things are to take away from this tutorial are:
- Use zenithal lighting / follow the stop sign rule
- Vary the intensity of your shadows and highlights to emphasize major details over minor ones
- Experiment with different skin mixes, the three given here are only to help you get started
Here we've focused on traditional skin. Adding a warm color to the shadows and upping the highlight has been the basic approach in each case. If you're painting an undead or sickly looking character you might want to change that approach. For a vampire I might try mixing in a blue or a purple to the shadows, use a fair skin mix, and maybe add a grey to the highlights instead of white. Try out different combinations and see what works for you!
- Use zenithal lighting / follow the stop sign rule
- Vary the intensity of your shadows and highlights to emphasize major details over minor ones
- Experiment with different skin mixes, the three given here are only to help you get started
Here we've focused on traditional skin. Adding a warm color to the shadows and upping the highlight has been the basic approach in each case. If you're painting an undead or sickly looking character you might want to change that approach. For a vampire I might try mixing in a blue or a purple to the shadows, use a fair skin mix, and maybe add a grey to the highlights instead of white. Try out different combinations and see what works for you!
Great reference! Can't tell you how many times I have reread this! Thanks Man!
ReplyDeleteBack again!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Although I'm not sure how helpful this will be with your skeletal giant project.
DeleteGreat article, thnk you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hope you find it helpul
DeleteReally incredible work here. The shading is so smooth. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeletecan you post an article regarding ethnic skin tones?
Thanks