| The topic of this article was sparked by the plea of a | | | | highlights. (I always use paper facial tissues, since a |
| reader: 'How on earth do I mix flesh colours?' I make | | | | rag can too easily 'muddy' the colours.) Pay close |
| you a promise: Unless commissioned to illustrate a | | | | attention to the direction of the light, as this is what |
| medical textbook, you will never be called upon to | | | | defines the shape of what you are painting.While this |
| paint human flesh.Now, unless you are a vegan, or | | | | layer 'sets up' a little, you can make the mixtures |
| have never been in a kitchen, you already know the | | | | that closely match the main colours of your subject's |
| colours of flesh. You have seen the gray/white | | | | skin. In a Caucasian person, these will consist of |
| through pink to blood red of fish, fowl and red meats | | | | White with Burnt Sienna, that mix with a little Yellow |
| - all stripped of their skin. But even in a Life class, | | | | Ochre, the same with a very little Cobalt Blue, and |
| your models will be wearing their skins.So, it is skin - | | | | with a bit of Cadmium Red. When these are all laid |
| not flesh - you will be painting. Does that make it | | | | out on your palette, you can begin building the head |
| sound less daunting? Well, be warned. A limp fillet of | | | | or figure in quick strokes that follow the direction of |
| raw flesh, lying flat and featureless on a chopping | | | | its curves.What gives your subject 'life' is the |
| board, is a doddle to paint. Skin, however, covers a | | | | accurate placing of highlights, so these need careful |
| shape with myriad curves and hollows. It reflects light | | | | observation. Do be aware that, with the exception of |
| where the underlying structure bulges into a forehead | | | | that tiny flash in the eye - where the convex cornea |
| or juts into a nose.Further, that light may be cool or | | | | catches the light - highlights are never pure White. |
| warm, depending on its source. In the depressions of | | | | They are warm or cool, and so need a finely judged |
| an eye socket or the inside of an elbow, delicate | | | | addition of the appropriate pigment. Control your |
| shadows reveal the shapes. On top of all that, the | | | | eagerness and allow the painting at least two days |
| 'local' tone of your subjects' skin will vary immensely. | | | | before you add the glazes. This way, you will have |
| And there is more: You will need to be aware of | | | | lively shadows that rest lightly on your painted figure, |
| those areas where the blood flows close to the | | | | as they do in real life.The second method is one that |
| surface, casting a rosy glow over the ears, nose, | | | | took me some years to work out and perfect. It is |
| neck and so on.Enough of the frighteners. Here is the | | | | the 'secret' of the luminous skin quality so often |
| basic fact that will keep you on track: All of us are | | | | remarked on in my paintings, but applies only to oil |
| coloured in some variation of orange-brown.To us | | | | painting. As so often in oil painting, it demands |
| painters, that means Burnt Sienna. From the | | | | patience during the necessary waiting periods while |
| translucent 'white' of a Nicole Kidman, through the | | | | each step dries. So it is a good idea to have at least |
| 'yellow' of a Chinese, to the 'black' of a Melanesian, it | | | | three paintings always in progress.As before, make |
| is only a matter of adding White to lighten or Cobalt | | | | your modelled sketch, but let it dry thoroughly. Then, |
| Blue to darken the basic Burnt Sienna. (I prefer | | | | (assuming the subject is Caucasian) cover the entire |
| Cobalt Blue in these mixtures because it is cooler and | | | | head or figure with an underpainting mixed from |
| more opaque than Ultramarine. I never use Thalo Blue | | | | Yellow Ochre, Cobalt Blue and Alizarin Crimson, |
| because I find it too strong for any skin tone I have | | | | modified with White. Adjust this mixture until it |
| ever seen.)And there are two methods of tackling | | | | matches the undertones of your subject's skin over |
| the challenge of painting people.The first is alla prima, | | | | bony areas, checking it against such places as her/his |
| the direct laying down of paint in one application, | | | | wrist, jaw, temples. Lay it thinly, so that the |
| without using glazing or scumbling techniques. It is | | | | structure of your initial drawing shows faintly through. |
| chosen by a majority of painters because it seems | | | | It will look horrible! But do not be faint-hearted. Put |
| simpler. But when a painter is inexperienced in | | | | the work in the racks where you will not see it until |
| rendering the figure, this method can all too often | | | | at least three days have passed and it is dry to the |
| lead to a 'muddy' result as the shadow colours are | | | | touch.Now the magic begins...Make your 'local' colour |
| blended - or over-blended - into the wet paint.So, if | | | | mixes as we discussed above, without adding any |
| you choose this method and are not supremely | | | | medium. Moisten your brushes with medium, then |
| confident of your brushwork, I strongly recommend | | | | wipe them dry. (Please do not stint yourself on |
| laying your shading on the nearly dry figure with | | | | brushes. Unlike watercolours, oil paint does not wash |
| glazes. A glaze is simply a small amount of | | | | out of even sable brushes. You must use a fresh |
| transparent pigment carried in a glazing medium. | | | | brush for each mixture if you want clean colour on |
| Some examples of transparent pigment are Viridian | | | | the canvas, and this is vital when you are working |
| Green, Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson, Raw Sienna and | | | | with the subtle tones of skin.)Work the brush into |
| so on. Glaze mediums have entire recipe books to | | | | the colour mix so that it is evenly loaded. Then |
| themselves but a reliable alternative is Windsor & | | | | stroke it, gently as if you were caressing a new born |
| Newton Liquin, modified with distilled turps. | | | | baby, across the underpainting. This is called |
| Experiment until you find the mix that suits your | | | | scumbling. One of its secrets is to hold the brush |
| style. The thing to remember is not to dilute the | | | | lightly as if it were made of thin glass, with fingers |
| medium so much that it becomes too weak to | | | | beneath the handle and thumb just resting on |
| achieve a good adherence.I have mentioned | | | | top.The thinnest of layers build up slowly, allowing |
| (nagged!) before that good figure painting relies on | | | | that underpainting to insinuate its presence almost |
| good figure drawing, so I will assume you have done | | | | imperceptibly, as you work towards the dense, |
| your homework and have checked and rechecked | | | | brightest highlights. Let each scumbled layer dry |
| proportions as you made the sketch for your | | | | before applying the next. If you find you have laid |
| painting. You will have done this in a thin mix of Raw | | | | the colour too thickly at any point, just take a |
| Umber and turps, very easy to adjust as you go | | | | painting knife and scrape it away before trying again. |
| along. Now you can take a step that will be an | | | | This is the beauty of giving each layer time to dry, |
| invaluable help in keeping the three dimensional quality | | | | so that the underlying colours shine through.The |
| of your subject.With a thin mix of Burnt Sienna - do | | | | technique calls for exquisite restraint, but it will |
| not worry that it looks like a so-called 'Red' Indian at | | | | achieve a result you can get in no other way: The |
| this point - loosely model the structure of your | | | | illusion of living skin laid over living flesh. |
| subject, shading the hollows and wiping out the main | | | | |