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navateSKIN: a tutorial - Part 1

Published: 2009-11-21 15:24:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 579435; Favourites: 16740; Downloads: 18309
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Description UPDATE 7/31/2011: I've uploaded a slightly revised version. Content is still the same.
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This tutorial is very extensive and will be published in (at least) four parts.

IN THIS SECTION:
Skin basics: A simple but in-depth look that expands beyond the usual shadow-midtone-highlight formula, and how to use each tonal range most effectively.

SECTION II: Skin tones. how to apply the basic formula to light, medium, dark, and fantasy skin tones.

COMING SOON:
SECTION III: Background color and ambient light. How surrounding colors affect skin.
SECTION IV: Building a skin tone, blending and texturing. The technical section showing how to paint skin start to finish.
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This tutorial uses mostly digital work as examples, but the theory behind it should apply to ALL mediums. But of course it goes without saying that this is hardly the end-all-be-all of skin painting tutorials. Just my way of thinking about it.

I tried to make this accessible for artists of all skill levels. Intermediate artists will probably benefit the most. Beginners will probably find some of the principles discussed difficult to put into practice. But don’t be frustrated! The only “secret” to being a good painter is practice. And hopefully even advanced painters will be able to glean something useful.

Also-- this should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: the ONLY WAY to learn how to paint/draw anything well, let alone realistically, is to STUDY COLOR THEORY AND FORM. All the stuff I blather on about in this tutorial is meaningless unless you take the initiative to learn the fundamentals of color and figure drawing.
Color theory resources can be found HERE .

Please, any questions, concerns, criticisms, etc: comment below.

Thanks so much for the DD!


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Comments: 734

digitalvagrant In reply to ??? [2009-11-22 05:16:00 +0000 UTC]

Well I really appreciate it! I've never been good with color; I've always done grayscale, and even just traditional pencil drawings. I've tried using tutorials to learn digital painting, but yours is by far the best. I hope to pick up my tablet pen again soon and try some new techniques I've learned here!

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navate In reply to digitalvagrant [2009-11-22 18:07:08 +0000 UTC]

Yes, please do try. I never used to be good at color either. But the only way to get better is to practice and learn.

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Elitha In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 18:13:30 +0000 UTC]

Wow, thank you so much for the tutorial!! I think it's fantastic, and I look forward to the following parts

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navate In reply to Elitha [2009-11-21 21:12:26 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

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Sue-Draws In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 17:58:37 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much. I've always been envious of the way you do skin. Hopefully I can learn to get a little better, haha.

Wonderful work, and thanks again.

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navate In reply to Sue-Draws [2009-11-21 21:12:10 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much You absolutely will get better, just practice. With art there is usually a big lag between learning something, and being able to actually DO it. So don't give up!

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BarefootedBaroness In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 17:27:20 +0000 UTC]

see,i myself know about the color and such since i paint in real life,but my main problem is knowing what brushes to use and how to blend different colors.a lot of the time ill paint a base,but when i go to start an additional color it looks really harsh with the edges of the brush showing and it doesnt look natural.any suggestions?

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navate In reply to BarefootedBaroness [2009-11-21 18:07:23 +0000 UTC]

Hi! I think brushes are a really personal choice that depend a lot on style, but when I work traditionally I use Filbert brushes to blend. A Filbert is a flat brush with a rounded edge. They are great for making smooth blends. Still, it may take a bit of practice. Use a light hand and don't glob on the paint all at once to prevent harsh edges.

The last section of this tutorial, section 4, will go over techniques for building up skin tones and blending. Hopefully that will help as well!

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BarefootedBaroness In reply to navate [2009-11-21 22:06:25 +0000 UTC]

alright sweet thanks!

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AgniConnor In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 17:09:46 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much for the tutorial. It's very informative and easy to follow. I've leant a thing or two.

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navate In reply to AgniConnor [2009-11-21 18:07:37 +0000 UTC]

Awesome! Thanks for reading

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keight In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 16:59:46 +0000 UTC]

Thanks Lauren. I think you may have explained this in a way that helps me apply it digitally. Traditionally, I can manage it much better, because I am constantly adjusting the skin tones as I apply color.

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navate In reply to keight [2009-11-21 18:12:06 +0000 UTC]

Whee, great to hear Kate.

And I hear you! I mastered skin traditionally much sooner than I did with digital. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have tubes of paint, versus color sliders... the tubes force me use more color and also make picking shadow tones etc much easier since all of the dark colors are already so rich. Lots of times I'll have some unrelated color on my palette and just throw it in for the hell of it, and it looks great. You don't have that sort of thing with digital. It's so easy to trap yourself in a limited palette.

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keight In reply to navate [2009-11-21 20:02:20 +0000 UTC]

It is so much easier to see with wet paint. I have always, especially with my graphics work, made sure that every color I laid down had a bit of every other hue it was related to in the piece mixed in. Paintings resonate that way. If the piece in progress doesn't there's something wrong.

Happy Thanksgiving, to you and yours.

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navate In reply to keight [2009-11-21 21:14:56 +0000 UTC]

Yes they do! Section 3 is going go over that stuff. Echoing colors, mmmm! It's what makes paintings delicious. And so true about the WIPs. It's got to fall into place and sing before you fuss with the details.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too!

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Chenthooran In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 16:18:47 +0000 UTC]

cool tutorial, nicely presented too but ahem yes i was wondering if you had any recommendations for good sources on colour theory

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navate In reply to Chenthooran [2009-11-21 18:39:50 +0000 UTC]

Hello! Here are some good starter tutorials:

Phil Straub : Color Theory Simplified [link]

fredflickstone @ Conceptart.org : Color Theory tutorials 1 & 2 [link]

Henning Ludvigsen : Color Theory [link]

Socar Myles : A Practical Guide to Color [link]

Eugene Arenhaus : The Color Gray [link]

You should also look on amazon.com etc for some good in-depth books if you can… actually, I have a book called The Art of Perspective by Phil Metzger and it covers a lot of stuff about color and light in it; really great book. (More for environments though.) Sorry I am not familiar with any specific color theory books.

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Chenthooran In reply to navate [2009-11-22 15:12:40 +0000 UTC]

cool, some of these are new, didn't know epilogue had guides. i'll look up that metzger book, been wanting to get into enviros anyway
and np and thanks and hey

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navate In reply to Chenthooran [2009-11-22 18:05:46 +0000 UTC]

Yes, they do! They used to be more prominently featured years ago. I had some trouble locating them with the current layout.

The Metzger book is excellent btw. It's a perspective book but cover the color aspect of things too. Very concise and helpful!

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Chenthooran In reply to navate [2009-11-23 01:37:53 +0000 UTC]

fine i guess my previous thanks was a little paltry, thankyou very much indeed with some stuff on top

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AngelaSasser In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 16:17:13 +0000 UTC]

This is a very well thought out tutorial. Very good tips about the different highlights. It's a problem I notice alot in my own work and others. There's so much subtlety to skin tones in general that sometimes it's hard to notice something so relatively simple. I'm really looking forward to the next sections, particularly on coloring varied tones.

Keep it up

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navate In reply to AngelaSasser [2009-11-21 18:43:16 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

Yes, skin is soooo subtle it's unreal. Sometimes, if you have a more expressionistic style, you can get away with not blending as much and leaving more raw color, but for a realistic style the devil really lies in the details. If you think about skin as an organ it makes much more sense... it is slightly transparent and lies on top of bone, muscle, fat, blood vessels. And of these things affect it from underneath as much as light does.

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garg654 In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 16:08:47 +0000 UTC]

Awesome and incredibly helpful! Can't wait for the others. Thanks!

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navate In reply to garg654 [2009-11-21 18:43:47 +0000 UTC]

Welcome, glad you find it useful!

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SylvieDB In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 15:44:20 +0000 UTC]

very very interesting i'll learn lots of this !

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navate In reply to SylvieDB [2009-11-21 18:43:31 +0000 UTC]

Great to hear!

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kittrose In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 15:31:50 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for sharing this. I look forward for the other sections...

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navate In reply to kittrose [2009-11-21 18:43:23 +0000 UTC]

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Lyraina In reply to kittrose [2009-11-21 15:48:45 +0000 UTC]

Me too! It is very interesting.

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fable2190 In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 15:31:06 +0000 UTC]

this was extremely helpful, thank you

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navate In reply to fable2190 [2009-11-21 18:43:53 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome

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skatkat1 In reply to ??? [2009-11-21 15:28:04 +0000 UTC]

oh your too kind!...thanx for sharing and god bless you...

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navate In reply to skatkat1 [2009-11-21 18:43:58 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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