How To Mix Skin Tones - The Virtual Instructor

Mixing Skin Tones

Why is it that mixing skin tones is so darn difficult?  Mixing beautiful greens for grass is easy enough.  Mixing realistic blues for skies and water is easy enough, but skin tones – that’s a different story.  So, why are they are hard to mix and how can we make it easier on us all?

The truth of the matter is that skin tones are complex colors.  Simply mixing two colors with equal parts is not going to get the job done.  It will take several colors to get the color “right”.   The complexity deepens when you consider that a range of values and color temperatures can exist on one face.  And let’s not forget that no two skin tones are exactly the same.  It’s easy to want to reach for that pre-made “flesh tone” at this point, but resist the temptation!

Let’s step back for a moment and simplify things a bit.  But before we do, let me make this disclaimer – Portrait artists approach painting in different ways, so the way of mixing I present here may not be best for you, it’s simply how I approach mixing skin tones.

Establishing Your Base Tone

The first color that should be mixed will establish a base tone for the face.  This color should be the general tone of the subject and will be the foundation on which we build the values and temperatures in the portrait.  While all skin tones are different, a blend of the colors red, yellow, brown, and white will result in a suitable foundation color.  Some skin tones will require more red, while others will require more white and so on.  But for most subjects, a mixture of these four colors works nicely.

A little saying that I use to help my students remember the colors used for base skin tone mixing is… “Red, yellow, brown, and white – that’s how to mix your skin tones right.”

Getting the Values Right

Just like with painting or drawing any other subject, light will react on the surface of the face.  The light will affect the values and color temperatures that should be found in your painting or drawing.   We can create these values and temperatures by adjusting the base tone that we created.