Tutored Life Drawing Blog Week 33: Skin Tone & Colour (Patreon)

Rendering skin tone and colour in drawings and paintings can be challenge as skin can vary in multiple ways under a variety of conditions. Assumptions about what skin should look like also leads to problems, both with managing local values and the observed colour of skin.

Many different things contribute to observed skin tones and colours, including the amount of melanin present, location on the body, and lighting. This lesson will look at how these elements affect observed skin tone, and how to better portray skin tone in tonal and colour media.

Image above: 'Isobel'

Observing Skin Tone

One of the most significant variables affecting skin tone and colour across the whole body is pigmentation, which is primarily the result of melanin. The amount of melanin present in the skin varies depending on genetics, and in many people, sun exposure. Skin colour varies widely and continuously between light skin and dark skin. The 'warmth' of skin colour can vary too, due to variations in melanin present. (Warmth in colour refers to how much an individual colour tends towards the reds, oranges or yellows of the colour spectrum relative to its surroundings.)

More pigmentation makes the local tone of skin darker, but shadow patterns and highlights still persist.

Whilst darker skin will have a darker local tonal value, it will still show clear shadow and light patterns. Even the darkest human skin is not pure black, so light will be reflected. Skin tends to be lighter than hair as well – though there are lots of exceptions to this, such as very blond hair, hair with reduced pigmentation due to ageing, or dyed hair. This is useful for tonal comparison when drawing darker skin tones.

Skin tone and colour is not uniform across the body. For people with darker skin, melanin is not uniformly distributed – there can be subtle variations in colour, or more drastic ones, such as the reduced melanin present in skin on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Sun exposure also tends to increase melanin, resulting in tan lines. Melanin also plays a role in adding pigment to areas of differently coloured skin, such as the lips, areolae and genitals, or more random features such as certain birthmarks. This might be in combination with other factors.

The nipple and areola tend to have a different skin tone from the surrounding skin.

There are also a number of other things that affect skin colour across the body. The presence of blood vessels, fat and connective tissues result in localised variations, which are especially noticeable in lighter skin. Capillaries under thin skin will create redder tones and are often evident around the face, hands and genitals. Shaved hair may also affect skin tone, tending towards a slightly darker, blueish variation. This is especially common when facial hair is shaved.

Lots of other features change observed skin tone and colour as well. Different kinds of scars may lighten, darken or redden skin in or around them. Tattoos will also, by design, change skin pigmentation – most tattoos darken the skin.

As the local tonal value of the tattoo is darker than the skin, it will appear darker in both light and shadow areas.

Portraying Skin in Tonal Values

Showing variation in skin colour in tonal drawing can be a challenge, as the skin has a lot of subtle changes, and many art materials have a limited tonal range compared to what is observed.

When a tonal values are observed, they are a result of both the local value – how innately dark or light something is – and how it is illuminated, resulting in a light and shadow pattern. Local tonal values limit the tonal values created by light and shadow to a certain range compared to the surroundings. For more on tone, see Lesson 8 – Tonal Values.

Darker and lighter skin have specific common challenges. It is easy make the entirety of dark skin a bit too dark, losing the lightness of the highlights and the overall contrast. With lighter skin, a common issue is to make the shadows too dark, pushing the contrast too far.

Tonal portrait sketches. Lighter skin occupies a range of lighter tones. Darker skin has similarly light highlights, but has darker mid tones and shadows. Both portraits have black hair of a similar tone, which is darker than most shadow areas.

When identifying the dark and light tones of the skin you are drawing, try to compare them to other tones around the figure or face. Hair is a good starting point, as it tends to be darker than the skin. Compare the tones – are the shadows of the skin lighter than the light areas of the hair or not?

Due to the presence of oils, skin is somewhat reflective in certain areas, particularly around the face. This results in highlights that are especially light. These highlights will contrast strongly on darker skin, but not so much on light skin.

Changes in skin colour around the body can also result in small changes in local values. This can be easy to observe and portray, such as around the lips or nipples, where there is often a very defined change in skin colour that is easy to portray in tone.

The presence of capillaries often make the nose appear redder than surrounding skin. As the local tonal value of red is a bit darker, this can be tonally indicated with a slightly darker tone.

However, smaller changes, such as localised variations in melanin, tan lines, or redder skin (such as around the face or hands) may be less contrasted, or have diffuse boundaries. Take care not to ignore these, especially in longer efforts, as keen observation can result in a more convincing result. If these are ignored, the local tonal value of the skin will appear too consistent and may have a 'plastic' look. Typically, redder skin has a slightly darker local value, though this effect is often less visible where there is more melanin in the skin.

Portraying Skin in Colour

The subtle changes in skin and expectations about what skin is 'meant' to look like can make learning to mix observed skin tones challenging.

Skin is not a preset colour, and changes from person-to-person, and under different lighting conditions. In reality, the colour of skin often lies within a broad range of warm greys and browns, though this depends on the light colour.

When viewed on the colour wheel, skin often falls into a range of grey-browns. However, if viewed under strongly coloured light or other situations, this could drastically change.

There are lots of different approaches to colour mixing, and representing skin colours in our work on the whole. This approach starts by mixing an orange that roughly matches how red the skin is from a yellow and red. This will likely be far too saturated, so from here, another colour is added to dull the mixture. This is might be done with a blue or green, as they are across the colour wheel from orange. (Black can be used, but has a tendency to 'deaden' colour if mixed with white later, so take care.)

A possible mixing progression for skin tones. Dry media, such as pencil crayons or pastels, are a little different, though the idea of aiming for warm neutrals still applies. Out of context, skin colours may look a little grey. This example uses gouache, but works fine in most other wet media.

This should result in a fairly dark and warm neutral colour. For darker skin, consider adding some more blue or brown pigment if needed. From this mixture, localised skin tones can be mixed. Even when adding white or black to lighten or darken skin tones, it is likely that the colour will need to be adjusted a little.

Lights and darks mixed from a neutral skin tone. The warm whites have a little added yellow or orange, whilst the cool whites have a little added blue and/or brown. The shadows are mixed with a black made from brown and blue, and sometimes a little red. These swatches were mixed with gouache.

For instance, white is quite cooling, and may need adjusting with the addition of a little yellow or brown. In situations where the light source is very cool (such as fluorescent light), blue or purple might be needed instead.

Whilst black can be used to mix shadows, chromatic blacks can be more forgiving. A chromatic black is mixed from colour pigments, often opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as a blue plus brown, or red plus green. In many situations, shadows tend to be a bit redder as well, but not always.

In this section, only broad colour names have been used. Experiment with different pigments when mixing skin tones – the key idea is the relative position on the colour wheel. Because skin isn't usually very saturated, a wide range of different paint combinations will be effective.

Optical mixing and layering are also effective techniques for mixing colour and creating variation in skin tone. This image was made using felt pens, but this works with a variety of media.

This is just a short starting point to mixing colour for skin, and is certainly not a strict set of rules! Skin tones are open to exaggeration and reinterpretation, and can be achieved with a variety of approaches. The neutral nature of skin tones opens up a lot of options for exaggeration and using non-observed colour, which can be especially effective if attention is paid to observed tone, or just certain elements, such as the tonal range and contrast – and other properties, such as texture.

Skin and Colour – Application in Artworks

John Frederick Lewis - Study for 'The Pipe Bearer' (Source: New York MET)

This watercolour sketch is a preparatory study, but it captures the variety of colours present in skin that are carried over to the final painting. When artists talk about finding 'green' or 'blue' within the skin colour, they are often referring to relative comparisons, where the skin colour appears slightly bluer or greener than the average colour. In reality these skin colours are usually still warm neutrals, or at the most, grey, they are just not as red or orange as their surroundings. This results in a blue or green-ish appearance. Some artists may exagerate this difference to enhance colour contrast.

In this study, if the areas that tend towards green or blue are looked at in isolation, they are actually just closer to grey than the more orange-leaning skin tones. The contrast between the two colours makes than appear comparatively blue or green, but in reality they are just a warm grey. This inclusion of greys also makes the skin appear more colourful, as the variety adds visual interest, and the contrast makes the warm skin colours appear richer.

Camille Pissarro - Bather in the Woods (Source: New York MET)

This painting is an example of how strongly skin is influenced by the colour of light coming from its surroundings. On its own, skin tends towards a variety of warm, greyish colours. Here the yellowish colour of the skin on the lit side of the figure implies sunlight, whilst the surroundings reflect green light from the foliage into the shadows. In isolation, most of the colours making up the figure here are dull yellows, save some extreme shadows such as those on the arms – green light doesn't turn the skin a bright green (unless there is a lot of it!) but nudges it closer.

Key Points to Remember About Skin Tone

• Skin tone and colour are influenced by melanin, and the presence of blood vessels and other structures under the skin.
• Compare the tonal values of skin to their surroundings – are the shadows darker than the hair? How much tonal difference is between a mid tone and the highlight?
• The colour of skin tends to sit in a range of warm, neutral greys and browns. There are very few saturated colours here, and the variety we see stems from comparisons between small variations.
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Over to You – Observing and Mixing Skin Tone

Recommended Materials: Tonal media (such as graphite, charcoal) and/or painting media (such as gouache, oils)

Further Reading: Lesson 8 – Tonal Values 

Exercise 1: Swatch Studies

This exercise works best for paint media such as gouache or oils. If matching tone or mixing colour is a challenge for you, this is a good way to practise.

Find and print out a reference, or take a magazine or newspaper, and cut out some random swatches from the skin of any figures – it may also help to cut out some hair or clothing swatches for comparison purposes. Glue these down to another sheet of paper. Next to these, mix and match the colour of the swatch.

This is especially good practise with skin colours, as it helps you appreciate the range of greys skin occupies, and how the contrasts between light and shadow work. This exercise can also be used to practise tonal values, using a black and white reference.

Skin swatches taken from images of people in magazines, matched in gouache paint. Note that gouache dries lighter for dark colours, limiting the tonal range it can achieve.

Exercise 2: Skin Tone & Colour Studies

Small scale studies are a good way to practise simplifying skin tone into larger 'average' blocks, and get a grasp of overall tonal or colour shapes. This exercise can be done in either tone or colour. In these studies, work smaller than you typically would, so features and details do not play a major role. Portrait studies are easiest to manage, but this works for full figures, or individual body parts – hands are a good subject for studying skin tone.

Small (7cm) portrait colour study, painted in gouache.

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Further links

>> Watch the Week 33: Skin Tone & Colour main lesson HERE (Student & Life Tiers)  
>> Watch the Week 33: Skin Tone & Colour demo HERE (Student & Life Tiers)  
>> Practice your drawings with our photo set HERE (Student & Life Tiers)

Find links to the whole Tutored Life Drawing Course HERE