Skin tones and textures

T

Tony McMurray

Guest
I have an awful time with skin textures, skin tones and anything related to human flesh. Maybe someone can recommend the best way for me to learn this techniques? Maybe Dru's classroom in a box? I want to be able to paint wrinkles as well but just getting the skin pores and color right would be a huge step for me. As you can see in the photo, it's a disaster and Johnny Depp would probably punch me in the face lol
 

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I have an awful time with skin textures, skin tones and anything related to human flesh. Maybe someone can recommend the best way for me to learn this techniques? Maybe Dru's classroom in a box? I want to be able to paint wrinkles as well but just getting the skin pores and color right would be a huge step for me. As you can see in the photo, it's a disaster and Johnny Depp would probably punch me in the face lol

The information is out there. This forum has alot of data. Youtube has a bunch. But videos by Cory St.Clair and a few others will put you on the right path. Dru for sure. Depp has been accused of punching all kinds of people lately and I don't think it's because of portraits he don't like.
 
I don't think he would punch you in the face for that pic. Stab you in the neck maybe lol. Naaa it's not that bad at all. Watching some of the vids as mentioned and maybe doing a classroom in a box will sort you out. I use an underpainting for my pics and then the flesh tone, detail on top. It can be achieved by adding paint or erasing paint, just depends how you personally want to go about it. No matter I think you will get it sorted in the near future.

Lee
 
It’s much deeper than can be explained here really, I’ve been studying it for a few years and know I have a long way to go yet,

Get the base tone right first! Umber / sepia / sienna
 
I have seen several different styles like Rafa Fonseca from Columbia I believe, he lays down a lot of dark first and it looks like he's working backwards, his work is amazing. I have seen others go very light first then build up color, then use black very sparingly. Maybe I need to find my own style? I have tried both, going dark to light seems to be a nightmare as I use too much black. Going from a white canvas always makes me want to spray the main base coat of the skin on first then I have issues with depth. I suppose it will all come in time. I think my biggest problem is patience, I want to to all happen quickly.
 
I have seen several different styles like Rafa Fonseca from Columbia I believe, he lays down a lot of dark first and it looks like he's working backwards, his work is amazing. I have seen others go very light first then build up color, then use black very sparingly. Maybe I need to find my own style? I have tried both, going dark to light seems to be a nightmare as I use too much black. Going from a white canvas always makes me want to spray the main base coat of the skin on first then I have issues with depth. I suppose it will all come in time. I think my biggest problem is patience, I want to to all happen quickly.

Dark to light would be transparent paint
Light to dark is usually opaque paints, this prevents colour shifts :)
 
I have seen several different styles like Rafa Fonseca from Columbia I believe, he lays down a lot of dark first and it looks like he's working backwards, his work is amazing. I have seen others go very light first then build up color, then use black very sparingly. Maybe I need to find my own style? I have tried both, going dark to light seems to be a nightmare as I use too much black. Going from a white canvas always makes me want to spray the main base coat of the skin on first then I have issues with depth. I suppose it will all come in time. I think my biggest problem is patience, I want to to all happen quickly.

That's one of the biggest problems people new to airbrushing have is to want to see it happen fast,That's not the case as your seeing,Most of the paintings you see on here take at least 5 hours to do right and some may take 30 depending on size and how much detail there is in it!as you learn to do things they tend to get faster and better as you progress through the picture, It will all come together in the end!
 
That's one of the biggest problems people new to airbrushing have is to want to see it happen fast,That's not the case as your seeing,Most of the paintings you see on here take at least 5 hours to do right and some may take 30 depending on size and how much detail there is in it!as you learn to do things they tend to get faster and better as you progress through the picture, It will all come together in the end!

I have people sending messages looking for a secret sauce! Practice Practice is the only way, education is king for speed :)
 
A lot of times I struggle with just finding a subject to airbrush. It takes me back to art class in high school, I got so sick of drawing fruit every day lol
 
Just browsing and saw the comment re:finding reference pics. I'm sure everyone knows this but all I do is go into google search and write anything I want and end the search with "images". ie., beautiful women face images; war ship images, etc etc. There isn't anything you can't find! When you browse the results and put your cursor over an image, look for ones that are larger, in size, ie. 1080 x 1240. They will have more detail than something that says 240 x 480. I do a lot of searches re: movie drama images or famous actor images. etc.
Mark
 
Just browsing and saw the comment re:finding reference pics. I'm sure everyone knows this but all I do is go into google search and write anything I want and end the search with "images". ie., beautiful women face images; war ship images, etc etc. There isn't anything you can't find! When you browse the results and put your cursor over an image, look for ones that are larger, in size, ie. 1080 x 1240. They will have more detail than something that says 240 x 480. I do a lot of searches re: movie drama images or famous actor images. etc.
Mark
And to make it quicker, set the size of image you want in Google and it will only show you what you want! You can also get caught out when someone uploads a HD image of a something substandard!
 
I have an awful time with skin textures, skin tones and anything related to human flesh. Maybe someone can recommend the best way for me to learn this techniques? Maybe Dru's classroom in a box? I want to be able to paint wrinkles as well but just getting the skin pores and color right would be a huge step for me. As you can see in the photo, it's a disaster and Johnny Depp would probably punch me in the face lol

johny deep has no deep because there are no details. Paint the texture, not the person. Use eraser/blade. Do not paint from imagination when you copy. Practise grayscale, it's easier and faster.
 
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