What pencil can you use to color your skin? How to Get Realistic Skin Tone

In this lesson I will show you how to create a palette of human skin colors, so that you can then use it in a drawing. I create colors for a white man, there is no specific reason for this except that these are the colors I am most familiar with. This technique also works well for creating other skin tones.

We're going to start by creating a skin color palette, but let me first show you the reference photo I'm going to use for the painting. It's impossible to create a palette that works well in all lighting, so lighting needs to be looked at on the models first. Color, direction, strength (intensity) of light and environmental light all paint our skin with vibrant, changing colors.

On a sunny day with blue skies, your skin will have yellow (warm) highlights and blue (cool) shadows. And in winter, your skin will have cold and pale colors... All these are changes made by light. Of course there are pigment changes too, but they vary from person to person and are not so much related to lighting.

Reference photo (photographer unknown) and finished drawing.

pic 1 pic 2

I found this photo online a while ago and kept it, thinking that I would need it later...
Now I think this is the best photo for this tutorial. Her body is well lit on the left, while the right side is completely in shadow. This gives us a good opportunity to study the skin in maximum light and shade. The photo was decolorized by the photographer, so we have to guess the colors ourselves...

Step 1: Palette.

We'll start by creating a palette for her skin. To create a palette, I simply open a new document about 500*500 pixels in size and draw small patches of the colors I'm going to use. But one flat color looks bad and makes it difficult to imagine color in dark and light areas.
If you have little experience in drawing skin, I recommend that you look at some photos of skin. In fact, it's not that difficult.

Try to find images that are both lit and dark, preferably with neutral lighting (an evenly lit room or cloudy weather outside). Use the Color Picker Tool - move the cursor from light to dark areas of the skin and watch how the color changes. Notice how the marker on the color ring and the marker in the color triangle move.
If the image is compressed, the markers will likely move very unevenly due to the noise created by the compression. I've found that skin colors for the most part fall in a range like this:

pic 3 pic 4

HSV changes from light to dark

*Color is located in yellow and red area
*Saturation changes in a non-linear way

What does this mean in relation to painting? First of all, this means that you can't just pick white for the highlights, medium skin color, and black as the shadow color and use Painter to get the colors in between. Famous and talented artists never use black (in its pure form). There is always some light in the darkness.

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Two Gradients and Photoshop Gradient Editor with 3 Color Gradient

In the image above, I used Photoshop's Gradient Editor to generate a 3-color gradient (left). I chose light skin tone, medium skin tone, and black, leaving Photoshop to figure out the colors in between. The gradient on the right is made of more than 15 colors.
The difference is that the light and dark tones are more saturated in the gradient on the right than on the left. I think the left gradient has too much gray mixed in and it doesn't produce the rich, red shadow areas you often see on skin. Yet, once again, this is not a hard and fast rule that you should blindly follow.

Fig 7 Fig 8

3 color gradient curve; 15 color gradient curve.

Some examples of palettes I've created:

Figure 9

This is the palette that was used in this tutorial, there are other options below.

Fig 10 Fig 12 Fig 13

Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17

Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21

Now you can create your own palette

Step 2: Sketch.

Save the reference image to your computer and open it in Painter. Create a new document with the same resolution as the original image (327*390). Open both documents at the same time, place them side by side and try to make a rough sketch of the woman's outline (Pens Tool - 1-Pixel).

Figure 22

Very quick sketch.

After you have completed the first quick sketch, select the Canvas menu item and change the image size to 1000*1193 pixels. At this resolution you can finish your sketch.

Fig 23 Fig 24

Left: more details added, right: completed sketch.

Step 3: Add color.

Save your sketch and start filling it with colors from your palette. I used the Pens – Flat color brush. I started on the left side of the body (her right). I didn't use any bright colors in my palette, so the left side of her body is too dark at this stage. I don't use the 3 brightest colors until the rest of the body is finished and smoothed out.

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Left: Filled the highlights with midtones, Right: Added other midtones.

Fig 27 Fig 28

Figure 29

I start smoothing using Blenders – Just add water tool.

Step 4: Body work.

After smoothing I added some darker colors from my palette.
I personally think the hardest part of this painting is the edge where the skin meets the shadow. A soft, blurry edge creates the impression of a rounded shape, while a contrasting edge creates a sharp edge.
You also need to be careful not to mix black into the midtones. This will produce a gray gradient similar to the 3-color Photoshop gradient you saw earlier in this tutorial. To avoid this, use at least 3 dark tones in the palette where the skin goes into shadow.

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Left: Some shadow areas are enriched with a browner tone;
Right: smoothing.

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Left: left chest improved, forearm worked; middle and right: working on the arm.

Step 5: Head.

Increase the size of your document to 2500*2983 pixels in order to draw the face. If your computer is too slow at this resolution, you can cut out the head, paste it into another document, and then enlarge it.

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The head is roughly sketched.

Figure 36

Lip colors are not taken from the palette.

Fig 37 Fig 38

Left: more details; right: more shadows, also adding highlights, using the 3 brightest colors from our palette.

Figure 39

We work on the neck.

Fig 40 Fig 41

Left: add hair with a very dark color; right: hair processing completed.

Step 6: Final Details.

Figure 42

We paint the most brightly lit areas with 3 light colors in the palette.

To enhance the skin tone, I added a dark blue color to the right side of the skin. I also increased the contrast a bit.
There are some problems with the anatomy... Her forearm is too short, her neck looks weird, her head is too small, etc...
But! Skin colors are good! (is not it?;)).
Finished drawing.

Figure 43

Personally, I love these colors the most. Warm browns, rich reds and oranges and fresh pinks. Although the picture may have been a bit exaggerated, these colors are considered by most people to be skin tones.

However, more important than color is the combination of light and shadow in a painting. By working out the distribution of brightness, you can depict the skin in almost any imaginable color it might have. Blue, for example. I completely ignored it in this tutorial, but it usually shows up in areas with thin skin. For example, under the eyes, inner part of the forearm, top of the foot, chest, etc….

How to color your hair with markers

Step 1

First, take your sketch ready and clean. When using markers, make sure you use ink that won't smudge with water!! You don't want your markers to cause the ink to run and ruin all your work. You also don't want your marker strokes to get "ruined" by the ink on them. For this tutorial I'm going to use copic markers, I find they are the easiest to use as they have a brush tip which allows for soft blending of colors. However, any markers will do, whatever you feel comfortable working with. When working with copics, always test them on paper to make sure they don't bleed too much. Make sure you have natural white light in your work area as yellow light can distort colors! Anyway, let's start the lesson!

Step 2

Here, I chose the first color (Copic color: Water BG15) and painted in the direction of the arrows. I usually start at the roots and edges. To get the highlights on the right side of her hair, I drag the marker down, stop and you can see it leaves a jagged edge, then start at the bottom and work my way up to get a nice highlight line. It may take a little practice, but once you get to know your copic, it will get easier and easier each time. I also left the highlight in the middle of the curls to show that they have volume.

Step 3

I applied a slightly darker shade (Copic color: Teal Blue B18) and this shade will cover part of the first color, the painting process is the same as step above, just make sure to leave the base color, especially in the highlight area. You will see the shading appear!

Step 4

Until next time!

Original: http://www.mangarevolution.com/tutorial_di...?tutorial_id=72

How to color eyes with markers

Step 1

There are many tutorials on how to draw eyes, but few on how to color them. So I decided to show you how to color different eyes with markers. However, you can use a similar technique for digital painting as well ^ _ ^
The first eye, here, is a fairly ordinary eye shape, and I decided to paint it with golden shades. First I used the base color, pale yellow, for the iris. Then I wedge in a shade of darker yellow and begin to get the shape. Then I use yellow ochre, and finally sepia brown to show off the shape more. TIP: If something happens and you accidentally run over the edges, you can always use a small brush and some white acrylic paint to fix it! Also, you can add more sparkles to the eyes by using white acrylic paint to make them more sparkling! I usually fix my painting after I've completely finished it.

Step 2

Evil eyes. Unfortunately my scanner doesn't pick up red, so bear with it. First make a layer of bright yellow, you will see this at the base of the eye and it will make the eye appear to be on fire. Then do a layer of light orange, and here I started putting in a darker orange shade. After this, blend the dark orange towards the top of the eye with some red. Finally, using gray, shade up to the top of the eye. Gray is your choice whether you want a bright red or a darker, more sinister look with gray.

Step 3

Quite realistic. First make a layer of pale blue. Then use dark blue or water color and use it to define the shape of the pupil. Now time for the sexy part! Shade the base of the iris with a darker blue color. This trick gives the eye a sense of depth - a great idea for you to use. Finally, I made another layer darker, and added small lines in the iris to achieve a sense of reality! By playing with this you can get many different effects in the same style.

Step 4

Big eye! Okay, this eye style is very different from the others, in this one the majority of the eye is dark and there is only a small speck of color at the base. I first started with caramel brown, then took a dark sepia color and decided on the shape. I didn't leave too much caramel brown. Then I slowly, hierarchically paint with brown colors, and finally finish with dark gray or black at the top. I really love these eyes, I think they are cute but kind of mysterious, they have a lot of depth.

Step 5

Now, with the skills you have, you can draw any eye, and you can also apply this tutorial to gems and jewelry! It's very effective! Just leave a white rim around one edge of the gemstone for a realistic and sunny look!

Until next time!

Original: http://www.mangarevolution.com/tutorial_di...?tutorial_id=71

How to draw skin with markers

Step 1

In this tutorial I decided not to use copic markers for the skin, so you can see that even cheap markers can get the job done. First of all, get a sketch ready for coloring. Remember, use waterproof ink for tracing! Now make a flat layer of the base skin tone, just leave white areas along some of the lines and some areas on the face.

Step 2

Then, with the same color, make a second layer in the shadow area, under the eyes, under some of the hair and edges, under the chin and on her hand. I know these steps are a little unsympathetic, but we will add details ^ _ ^

Step 3

This is where the fun comes in! adding blush! Using a pinkish/wonderful color, start painting her cheeks and other areas. This gives her a little personality, and more depth to the character. You can also add it to your lips! Don't use too much of this color.

Step 4

In the final step, just add some gray, here I added on her back, under her chin and under her hair to give depth to the painting. I also made her lips a little redder and that's how you drew it! Not as difficult as it first seems eh? If you think you've painted over too much white, or you want to add a little sparkle after, use a brush and white acrylic paint!

Original: http://www.mangarevolution.com/tutorial_di...?tutorial_id=73

What You'll Be Creating

Leather is a very durable and beautiful material and has been widely used since the beginning of mankind. In this tutorial I will show you how to draw a beautiful shiny leather dress and an old leather belt. You can use this technique, which is described here, to create other objects, such as a leather jacket or a piece of leather armor.

What you will need

• Pencil HB
• Pencil 2B
• Pencil 3B
• Pencil 8B
• Ballpoint pen (or better yet, an empty ballpoint pen!)
• Shading
• Nag eraser
• Pencil sharpener
• 3 sheets of paper

1. Draw a Shiny Leather Dress

Step 1

Using a pencil HB, carefully draw a sketch of the body. You can use the mannequin drawing as a guide.

Step 2

Add details to the body: chest and stomach.

Step 3

Draw guide lines along the body to define the 3D shape of the dress, and also outline the tight-fitting dress.

Step 4

Draw “waves” in places where there are folds and stretches in the material. You can learn more about drawing folds in this tutorial:

Step 5

Angle the pencil to shade the side of the dress, saving separate areas for the “highlight paths” in the middle.

Step 6

Draw a dark seam along the entire dress - this will be a striking detail that breaks the smoothness of the material.

Step 7

Also shade the front of the dress. Maintain a bright highlight path on the seam side.

Step 8

Using a feather brush, carefully blend the shading, adding a soft edge to the shine as you go. Once the blender is coated with graphite, you can use it to “add” a soft tone between the folds.

Step 9

By using 3B pencil, shade the side of the dress. Be careful with the folds! Maintain a thin border between the shadow and the outline to create an area of ​​reflective light.

Step 10

Blend using a blender.

Step 11

Shade and blend the rest of the side, keeping the tones lightly around the highlight.

Step 12

Darken the seam to correct the shade with the current contrast.

Step 13

Darken the front of the dress, leaving areas for reflective highlights. Without them, the dress will lose its 3D shape.

Step 14

Using a pencil 8B, add the final shading. Press down harder on your pencil, but don't ignore the shading that's already there.

Step 15

Take a nag to “draw” the highlights. Don't overdo it with white highlights or your skin will look like latex!

Step 16

Finish the drawing by pressing even harder on the pencil. 8B, as well as filling in any unnecessary white spots created by the paper texture.

2. Draw an Old Leather Belt

Step 1

Using a pencil HB, draw a sketch of a belt with a buckle.

Step 2

Draw the other end of the belt, threaded through the buckle.

Step 3

Add the "clamp" and holes.

Step 4

Take another sheet of paper, then place it on top of the drawing. Make sure you can see at least the outline of the sketch underneath - if you can't, then use a thinner piece of paper or overlap both sheets of paper on the window. Take a ballpoint pen and then draw long horizontal "X" strokes all over the belt to imitate the texture of leather. If you have an empty ballpoint pen, you can “draw” directly on the drawing with it. Press harder to make sure you make marks.

Step 5

Take your pencil again HB, tilt it and then shade the belt. You will see texture appearing as you go.

Step 6

Draw lines along the strap for the seams.

Step 7

Using a pencil 3B, trace the contours of the seams.

Step 8

Carefully shade the seams. The pencil must be sharpened!

Step 9

Using a pencil 2B, shade the belt again, this time around the seams. Also darken the holes. Give each part of the belt a darkened edge.

Step 10

Gently darken the side edge of the belt, giving it a lighter shade.

Step 11

Take a pencil 3B To paint the belt in more detail: create shadows under the collar and buckle, and also highlight individual wrinkles on the skin.

Step 12

Using a pencil 8B, add dark accents. Don't overdo this step!

Step 13

Finish the design by adding a metal buckle. You can learn how to draw metal from this tutorial:

Great Job!

Now you know how to draw new shiny skin and old worn skin. If you liked this tutorial and want to learn more about drawing different materials with pencils, check out our other tutorials in this series:

It would seem, why is it so difficult to draw skin? A couple of wrinkles, some shadows, paint - and you're done! Wait, how to color it?!

You need to paint the face with special care; moreover, this is often the smallest detail of the drawing. But in this article, I'll look at ways to achieve skin color in three of the most widely used techniques.

I'll probably start with the simplest technique - drawing with a pencil.

Hardly anyone has ever seen a skin-colored pencil. If you have, then you are lucky. I will tell you about color combinations to achieve skin color. Usually, for these purposes, I take pink as a base and add yellow, orange or brown on top in the right proportions (most often yellow in a 1:1 ratio). You can also take yellow as a base and add red or brown. The combinations depend on the desired result. To express shadows, tan and blush, you can use basic combinations by simply thickening the colors.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that if you have applied too much of one color, you should not “mask” it with a thick layer of another. It’s better to carefully (!) wipe the pencil with an eraser. But, even if a thick, rich color is needed, there is no need to first apply a thick layer of one color, then a thick layer of another. It is better to apply thin layers of each color (it turns out something like a layer cake: pink-yellow-red-pink-yellow-red...) until the desired thickness is achieved.

Next I'll look at painting with gouache.

There is nothing complicated here. It is enough to dilute the desired color in the palette and apply it to the drawing.

Common colors used to obtain skin color are red, white, yellow and brown (2:1:1:1). However, ocher (2:1:2) is often used instead of yellow and brown. To achieve the desired color, tan or blush, parts of a particular color are increased or decreased. It should also be noted that it is not advisable to use pink instead of a red-white combination.

To achieve a pale complexion, do not apply a thin layer of paint so that the paper shows through. You just need to add more white or yellow paint.

You can also add small amounts of blue and green colors (both when drawing with gouache and when coloring with pencil), however, this should only be done if you know exactly what you want and what you should get (for example, a sickly look or a shadow).

And finally, watercolor.

Watercolor is the most capricious of paints. Therefore, I would advise you to look for the color you need in the sets. If you combine colors, you will end up with either a daub in the drawing or a daub in the paints. However, if you practice enough, take good paper, paints and a brush, you can get the desired color, again by applying the base and adding the desired colors.

By the way, if you have watercolor pencils at your disposal, the task becomes much easier. In this case, you need to color the drawing as with ordinary pencils (in no case less carefully) and brush over the drawing with a damp brush.

Well, that's basically all.

Every aspiring artist or portrait photographer should learn how to create realistic skin tones. As you gain experience, you will be able to develop your own color mixing technique that is convenient for you. In general, the ability to correctly select and mix colors is a real art, since each person has their own unique skin tone. Once you learn how to create realistic skin tones, you can experiment with surreal shades and looks.

Steps

Create a lighter skin tone

You will need to try mixing several colors. To get light skin, prepare the following colors:

Mix these colors. The most convenient way to mix paints is on a special palette. If you don't have one, any other work surface will do. For example, you can use a piece of thick cardboard. Apply a drop of each color of paint to your palette.

Mix paints in equal quantities. Using a brush, mix equal amounts of red, yellow and blue paint. Be sure to rinse your brush in a bowl of water before dipping it into a different color of paint. By mixing three primary colors you will create a base.

Compare shades. You should have the skin tone you want to copy in front of your eyes. Compare the resulting base with the shade you are trying to achieve. If you are copying from a photograph, then consider its lighting.

Lighten the shade. If you want to achieve a lighter shade, add yellow and white paint. Yellow paint will give you a warmer shade, while white paint will give you a lighter shade. Add paint a little at a time and mix the colors thoroughly before adding more.

Add red. If you already have a fairly light tone, but have not achieved a realistic shade, you can add a little red. Consider how red changes your skin tone. Sometimes there needs to be more red in your skin tone.

• You don't want to add too much red paint unless you're going for a shade that will match sunburned skin.

1. Adjust the shade. Again compare the shade you get with the one you want to achieve. Try to correct it further. If the shade is very different from the desired one, it is better to mix the paints again. If it turns out too light, add a little red and blue.

   • You can create several shade options and then choose the most suitable one for your painting.

Creating a Medium Skin Tone

1. Choose paints in the colors you need. To achieve a medium skin tone, you will need to mix more colors. Prepare paints of the following colors:

   • red;
   • yellow;
   • blue;
   • white;
   • burnt umber;
   • natural sienna.

2. Mix these colors. The most convenient way to mix paints is on a special palette. If there is no palette, then any other working surface will do, for example, a piece of thick cardboard. Apply a drop of each color of paint to your palette.

   Mix red and yellow. Mixing equal amounts of red and yellow paint will give you orange. Rinse your brush in a bowl of water before dipping it into a different color of paint.

   Add blue color. Gradually and little by little add blue paint to the base. If you want to achieve a darker shade, you can try adding a little black paint.

   Compare shades. You should have the skin tone you want to copy in front of your eyes. Compare the resulting base with the shade you are trying to achieve. If you are copying from a photograph, consider the lighting.

   Add red. If you need to add red, add it a little at a time. It’s better to add paint gradually so that you don’t have to redo the base later.

   Create a darker olive shade. Mix equal amounts of burnt umber and natural sienna. You will end up with a dark, concentrated mixture. Gradually add the required amount of this mixture to the base. This mixture can be used instead of blue. To create a more olive shade, add a little yellow mixed with green.

   Try mixing until you get the perfect one. Mix colors until you have at least five shades that you are happy with. From them you can choose the ideal option.

   Now you can start drawing. Use one or more options for the painting that most closely resemble a realistic skin tone.

Creating dark skin tones

Choose paints in the colors you need. You will have to experiment a bit to achieve the most realistic shade. Prepare paints of the following colors:

• burnt umber;
• natural sienna;
• yellow;
• red;
• purple.

1. Mix colors. The most convenient way to mix paints is on a special palette. If there is no palette, then any other work surface will do. For example, you can use a piece of thick cardboard. Apply a drop of each color of paint to your palette.

   Make the base. Mix equal amounts of burnt umber and natural sienna. Also mix equal amounts of red and yellow paint. Then gradually add the red and yellow mixture to the first mixture.