Skin Colors- part 2

For those of you interested in the Milwaukee Certification class on July 15th or the Chicago certification class on July 16th, I still have a few spaces, so I'm opening them to the general public. I MUST have your completed applications by July 11th however. Please e-mail me for an application and info sheet. For those of you already scheduled for the Certification classes in July I will be sending out your supply list in the next couple days, so be looking for it.

Today we'll discuss ways of coloring once you've picked your favorite skin colors (see yesterday's post). These are only a few simple techniques, and by no means the only way to color. I drew this picture yesterday so I could show you what I mean. I photocopied it onto color laser copier paper, though Manga Illustration paper would be better for this (I just didn't have any loaded into my copier at the time).

2 color skin
This first picture is the most basic. I picked a middle/light skin color, E01 and a slightly darker shadow, E11. I left my highlights white, added the midtones with an even layer of E01. I let the E01 dry, then I layered in the E11. This gives the illusion of using 3 colors, but I'm only working with 2.

Shadows? I drew the picture with one side slightly darker than the other, giving a hint of where the shadows should be.

3 Color Skin
Compare this one to the first one. I started with E000 and completely colored any skin areas, then I added the exact same shadows as the first. She seems much darker skinned, simply because there are no white areas. When you are coloring, you may want to leave your brightest highlights white just so you get more dynamic coloring. The trick to even coloring on the E000 is to color in circles keeping all your edges wet. Then you get very smooth, rich color even though it is so pale.

Wet Coloring, 3 color skin
The first two examples have very crisp lines between each level of color. the simplest way to keep your edges smooth is by coloring each section individually. In this case, I did the face first. I colored it using the same colors as the second picture, however, while the base color was still wet on my paper I added my darker colors. This simply and softly blended all 3 colors together. To get my deepest shadows back I would have to let it dry, then add the E11 again.


Blended, 2 color skin
For this last example I used my two darker colors only. I colored evenly with the E01, then added shadows with the E11. Then, starting in the lightest spot on the face, with your colorless blender push all the tone out to the edges of the image. Do this by really juicing the light spot and gradually, evenly expand your blender spot until it goes almost to the edge of your picture (See last week's posts). Do not color all the way up to the line. There is a lot of blender on your paper and if you color up to the line then the color will push out beyond the image. The trick is to carefully follow the contours of the facial features. Then, if you want it even stronger colors, go back in and add another layer of E11.

Here is the finished, colored picture. I started with the wet colored picture, but I wanted even darker shadows so I added in some E04 and added a bit of pink to her cheeks with R20. I used the B41 blended out for my shadow areas, and as a base color for her eyes, and the small flower. I wanted her to be a dark blonde, so I chose YR31 and layered on Y28 (this is also a good combo if you want something to look like gold). For her sweater, I dabbed on colorless blender to add texture.