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navateSKIN: a tutorial - Part 1

Published: 2009-11-21 15:24:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 573096; Favourites: 16780; Downloads: 18296
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Description UPDATE 7/31/2011: I've uploaded a slightly revised version. Content is still the same.
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This tutorial is very extensive and will be published in (at least) four parts.

IN THIS SECTION:
Skin basics: A simple but in-depth look that expands beyond the usual shadow-midtone-highlight formula, and how to use each tonal range most effectively.

SECTION II: Skin tones. how to apply the basic formula to light, medium, dark, and fantasy skin tones.

COMING SOON:
SECTION III: Background color and ambient light. How surrounding colors affect skin.
SECTION IV: Building a skin tone, blending and texturing. The technical section showing how to paint skin start to finish.
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This tutorial uses mostly digital work as examples, but the theory behind it should apply to ALL mediums. But of course it goes without saying that this is hardly the end-all-be-all of skin painting tutorials. Just my way of thinking about it.

I tried to make this accessible for artists of all skill levels. Intermediate artists will probably benefit the most. Beginners will probably find some of the principles discussed difficult to put into practice. But don’t be frustrated! The only “secret” to being a good painter is practice. And hopefully even advanced painters will be able to glean something useful.

Also-- this should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: the ONLY WAY to learn how to paint/draw anything well, let alone realistically, is to STUDY COLOR THEORY AND FORM. All the stuff I blather on about in this tutorial is meaningless unless you take the initiative to learn the fundamentals of color and figure drawing.
Color theory resources can be found HERE .

Please, any questions, concerns, criticisms, etc: comment below.

Thanks so much for the DD!


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Comments: 734

tcgomes [2021-03-03 12:09:17 +0000 UTC]

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NyPie13 [2021-02-23 21:07:13 +0000 UTC]

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TEG48 [2020-05-17 04:36:44 +0000 UTC]

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Adanel [2020-03-08 16:50:15 +0000 UTC]

This looks very useful and well explained!!! Thank you so much for posting this!

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lutfiuzun [2019-01-22 14:46:47 +0000 UTC]

nice thx

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Metalraptor [2018-02-05 22:29:43 +0000 UTC]

Excellent tutorial. ^_^

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lsfg [2017-09-18 08:54:01 +0000 UTC]

thank you, great work!

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Tabanca83 [2017-07-19 15:43:48 +0000 UTC]

Great Tutorial and very very helpful!

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DubaiBunniesUAE [2017-06-05 02:49:04 +0000 UTC]

Love it!

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bubblegum1120 [2017-01-06 11:07:59 +0000 UTC]

It was really good! TYSM 

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schattenimspiegel [2016-06-22 17:39:17 +0000 UTC]

I love you're tutorials

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wwwPaiThancom [2016-04-05 16:06:37 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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Leelah-sama [2016-03-20 18:04:07 +0000 UTC]

but desaturarted shadows are SO EYE CATCHING

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OnyxPen [2016-03-19 13:22:20 +0000 UTC]

WOW!!! What software did you use? Would this tutorial work with Sketchbook Pro Mobile?

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arenirart [2016-02-01 10:56:53 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for the great tutorial! 

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LuckyFy [2016-01-27 19:39:42 +0000 UTC]

This is definitly going to be usefull.
Thanks for the tutorial ! C:

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Stahlgeist2154 [2016-01-24 00:39:30 +0000 UTC]

Awesome - great reference material! Thank you.

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MezzanotteMarionette [2016-01-15 22:37:57 +0000 UTC]

I'm really wondering about the use of brushes and how it is you blend. I just got photoshop 13 and I'm not sure what the settings are for blending colors easier like actual paint.

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navate In reply to MezzanotteMarionette [2016-01-27 04:09:48 +0000 UTC]

I don't use any special settings.  My main brushes are a hard round brush with jagged edges to block in color, then a spackled brush (a brush made up of dots or dashes so it creates a painterly stroke).  All I do is work on 50%-ish opacity to blend, using a cross hatching motion.  No tricks.  Same way I blend graphite or real paint.

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MezzanotteMarionette In reply to navate [2016-01-31 05:12:25 +0000 UTC]

makes sense! I'll keep this in mind!

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B-LightY-Jung [2015-11-30 15:01:14 +0000 UTC]

Wow what a tutorial! Thank you so very much for this session I really learned a lot about applying the colour to skin! I am going to experiment with what you have taught here (alongside the second tutorial) and then apply it to my work! If you could I would like to credit you in the picture I'm doing and if you could also give me some feedback and critique, then that would be appreciated! ^_^

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Black--Forest [2015-11-18 21:14:08 +0000 UTC]

Oh, thanks a lot for this tutorial, i tried it and it looked really odd first, but with adding the warmth it became suddenly really nice I would not have had the idea or the overall technique without this ^^ <3

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Sol-Caninus [2015-11-08 18:39:32 +0000 UTC]

Found this via Google Search and traced it back to you here for Part 2.  Good stuff. Thanks for contributing. (BTW - I have cats, too!)

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lostpapers [2015-11-07 18:05:22 +0000 UTC]

I'm currently trying to paint a skin with fairly natural look, but I'm still at loss with warmthed zones and "orange" coloring from sub scattering. It's not easy to understand which color to use on which part of a face.

Those tutorials are a blessing for my quest as I'll finally be able to understand which zones to color correctly. Thanks

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Aerite [2015-10-27 21:04:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! <3 This is extremely helpful. I'll try my best to learn more about colour theory.

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dragons-and-castles [2015-10-06 19:04:24 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for making this! This has been truly helpful!

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3DMave [2015-09-02 17:50:50 +0000 UTC]

Very Good!!

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biotic-archangel [2015-07-07 15:34:50 +0000 UTC]

i've got lots of problems with making skin look realistic enough, and this is really detailed and helpful, thanks!!

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miguel-narayan [2015-06-22 17:44:10 +0000 UTC]

This is old and I was skeptical to try at first, I was never good at this but... this works like magic! thanks a lot for the tutorial! you're the woman!!

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qureeious [2015-05-25 11:53:50 +0000 UTC]

Would it be okay if I posted this on kakaostory with credit? This is so helpful and I would love to share this with others thank you~

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alexandriatrimble [2015-04-23 03:08:34 +0000 UTC]

Just wanted to comment that this is an extremely helpful and in-depth series of tutorials! Definitely the best, clearest one I've come across. Really helped me see how many colors are needed to create a nice skin tone. Credited here, just a practice study based on your supplement chart:
alexandriatrimble.deviantart.c…

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bluemooze [2015-04-08 14:59:28 +0000 UTC]

This is fantastic!  Thanks

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waterystar [2015-03-18 02:55:22 +0000 UTC]

Great in-depth tutorial that's presented well.

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HotCappucine [2015-02-12 11:51:24 +0000 UTC]

It's very helpful, thanks for sharing! ^___^

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RileyJCooper [2015-01-24 01:24:16 +0000 UTC]

I really love your detailed explanations. They make things clear without oversimplifying.

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Spasticat [2014-12-14 19:45:50 +0000 UTC]

Super helpful, thank you very much for this!

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Swirler7 [2014-12-07 21:41:29 +0000 UTC]

This is awesome!

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without-ink [2014-09-23 01:32:54 +0000 UTC]

ohhh myyyy gooossshhh, this is gorgeous!!!!!!
<3333 definitely favouriting this for a rainy day!!! c:

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OrtalShriki [2014-08-31 17:14:48 +0000 UTC]

Amazing tut Thank you so much.

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PureKitten [2014-08-13 21:28:11 +0000 UTC]

that seems pretty helpful, thank you.

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Hopfield [2014-08-08 18:50:42 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much for this, it's so clearly written and easy to follow.  I really struggle with colour and am happiest with just a graphite pencil, but you've inspired me to have another go at learning to use colour, thank you!

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Glowsydoodles [2014-07-31 17:27:57 +0000 UTC]

sorry, I know this is a super stupid question, but do I need a graphic tablet to do these digital paintings? Do you use a tablet and if so, what is it?

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quasihedron [2014-07-31 09:29:08 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for sharing!
Well done!

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pippyboy [2014-07-21 11:36:42 +0000 UTC]

thank you for sharing

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Da-4th [2014-06-26 02:40:35 +0000 UTC]

Wow! This can really come in handy.

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GroPhosforid [2014-06-16 12:39:14 +0000 UTC]

Thx bro! :3 Great tutorial! And very very helpful! 

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triangulor [2014-06-16 07:06:10 +0000 UTC]

This is really helpful thank you

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Siva1986 [2014-04-08 11:23:56 +0000 UTC]

wow

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AlecAKAChunks [2014-04-06 21:53:56 +0000 UTC]

You're a genius, I love you. A true artist is you wise one.

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wesai [2014-04-06 11:27:23 +0000 UTC]

Very nice.

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