How to Create Realistic Flesh Tones

One thing that causes all beginning painters to pause is the prospect of mixing her own flesh tone. A flesh tone is simply a skin color and with so many different shades of people, there is quite a variety of colors you may have to come up with to make a good skin color. Luckily, you can prepare all skin tones using the same colors.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Paint
• Paint brush
• Pallet
• Paper or canvas

1. Start with a dollop of white paint, about the size of a nickel.
2. Add a little bit of red paint to make a pink. You might want to add red paint in less than one-sixth the amount of white paint.
3. Mix in a little yellow paint and your pink will turn a peach color.
4. Place a small amount of green paint into the mix and you'll have a light skin color.
5. Make the color a darker, browner color by adding red and green paints little by little. Make the skin more yellow by just adding a little yellow.
6. Lighten the skin tone by adding more white paint. Darken the color by adding more of each color.

Tips & Warnings

• Before you try to apply your paint to a portrait use a spare canvas or sheet of paper to practice mixing various shades of skin colors. You can make a skin color gradient. On one end, have your lightest tone. Keep mixing and applying the colors until you have your darkest skin color.

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