Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: Argonor on October 03, 2008, 10:51:10 AM
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Hi
I need some tutorials on painting 'black' skin.
Preferably from different 'black' coloured ethnic groups (Senegalese, for instance, are darker/more greyish(?) than for instance the tribes from South Africa)
And lots of Afro-Americans have very light skin, almost like creamed coffee....
What colours to use a basecoat, what colours to mix in for layering up/highlighting, etc...
I know that the prof uses a very dark (Plaka) brown, adding in white, but I think I've heard mentioned mixing in yellowish flesh colours and/or bone colours?
I'm very soon going to paint some Artizan pirates, one of them a former slave with a blunderbuss - and I also want to make my LotR Far Harad warriors 'black'-skinned...
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The one article that really altered and stepped up the way I paint skin tones was this one:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/310
Can't recommend it enough!
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The one article that really altered and stepped up the way I paint skin tones was this one:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/310
Can't recommend it enough!
That's a cool one - I had totally forgotten about it! Thanks!
What are the numbers he's referring to (which manufacturer - is it Vallejo?)?
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I find that GW Bronzed Flesh mixed into your base colour makes a good highlight for African flesh, as it has a quite brownish-yellow tint to begin with.
For your base, if you want lighter afro skin, I'd experiment with Scorched Brown or other lighter tones. I can't really help more, as I've only really done "proper" negro skin before myself, and that is a mix of Bestial Brown and Bronzed Flesh, with brown ink for shading.
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Yeah, I think his numbers do refer to Vallejo.
However, I just use the swatches as a general guide and find a close matching paint colour, or mix one up - after all, we're all ever-so-slightly different :)
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I find that GW Bronzed Flesh mixed into your base colour makes a good highlight for African flesh, as it has a quite brownish-yellow tint to begin with.
For your base, if you want lighter afro skin, I'd experiment with Scorched Brown or other lighter tones. I can't really help more, as I've only really done "proper" negro skin before myself, and that is a mix of Bestial Brown and Bronzed Flesh, with brown ink for shading.
Black Hat has a colour named 'Negro' that's very close to Scorched Brown... I have it and was thinking of mixing in something...
Just now I have the problem that i need Foundry Base Sand (mid-tone) in large quantities..... and I'll have to experiment, because craft acrylics do not come in that colour... ::)
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Foundry Dusky Flesh... first time I ever used it for flesh:
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roweller/otherstuff/IMG_0587.JPG)
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I'm actually using it for my LotR Haradrim, now... pondering about mixing in som Bronzed Flesh for highlights.
But a nice Afro-american, there!
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Foundry Dusky Flesh... first time I ever used it for flesh:
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roweller/otherstuff/IMG_0587.JPG)
He looks a bit like Jim Brown [ex-NFL player]. My "black" skin tones are always darker than this chap's as I can never seem to find a good lighter shade.
I must get the "dusky Flesh" set :)
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GW Scorched Earth, then Bestial brown followed by Bestial Brown with a lighter flesh mix highlight.
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GW Scorched Earth, then Bestial brown followed by Bestial Brown with a lighter flesh mix highlight.
I'm furiously writing all these ideas down for my Darkest Africa lead mountain.
I'm really posh, I have separate lead mountains for each period I play ;)
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Foundry Dusky Flesh
Yep, same here.
I'm finding the Foundry Triad system fairly good. On some colors you need to play with them a bit to get a good color separation. For example, I'm working on a mini and using their Storm Green Triad. The shade needs some darkening and the highlight needs a bit of brightening.
But overall, I'm pretty please with Foundry paints.
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I've gotten good African[1] skintones by painting first with regular (Caucasian) flesh tone, then doing at least one coat of straight Burnt Umber ink over it.
Best picture I have of the effect is here: http://flickr.com/photos/wirelizard/2569140673/sizes/o/in/set-72157604368227139/ - 2nd figure from the right, in a white sailor's hat, white shirt, holding a shovel. He got at least three coats of Burnt Umber ink, IIRC.
[1] Works for a south Indian (East Indian) skintone too, actually, if you do it lighter than for an African tone.
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Inks are another matter I don't see much of in the craft/hobbystores araund here... or maybe i have not been looking on the right shelves.
I have the old GW inks, and the new washes, and that's all I can play with.
But I'll be trying out some of the methods/colour combos mentioned :)
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I had some really good results painting this skin colour as follows:
1. Paint the flesh an earth brown colour (Vallejo US Drab works well here).
2. Prep a 20% wash of dark brown, such as Burnt Umber consisting of 50% Water and 50% Future Floor Polish mixed with Burnt Umber on a 4:1 basis. That's 2 parts of water, 2 parts of Future Floor Polish, and 1 part Burnt Umber. (The colour I used was Americana Bittersweet Chocolate craft paint, which is very close to burnt umber)
3. Wash once or twice to suit. I washed my figures with this wash twice and ended up with some very nice looking "Voodoo Warriors" from Old Glory. A single application of the wash darkens the figure enough to replicate Meso-American (Aztec/Mayan/Inca) skin tones very well.
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For good inks, hit a proper artist supply store, not a craft store like Michael's. There are several ranges of artist's acrylic inks out there. I think most of mine are from Windsor & Newton - but they're buried in a box somewhere at present, so I can't tell you for sure...
GW & Reaper also do ink in their hobby paint lines. GW's are very nice; I imagine Reaper's are too, as their paints are excellent. Reaper's are (surprise, surprise...) cheaper than GW's...