Learn how to mix dark skin tones

One of my final demonstrations at the Earnley Concourse was this watercolour portrait of Leo (see below).

The course was about painting the portraits of sitters from widely different ethnic groups – Indian, Oriental, Thai and Afro-Caribbean, the latter being Leo.

Leo, watercolour 22 x 15in (56 x 38cm)

I’ve only used paints from Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketchers’ Pocket Box of 12 colours for this portrait.

ORDER YOUR SET HERE

A careful drawing of the subject needs to be made to ensure the likeness is correct.

In my annotated drawing (Figure 7, below) you will see how working from the eyes we can plan the dimensions and place the features.

Ask yourself a number of questions as you draw (see ‘Key’ at the bottom of the diagram), but remember I have explained Leo’s dimensions and proportions, and they are not to be used as a template for all portraits.

Key to drawing an accurate likeness:

Red lines – Q. Are the eyes more than half way from the top of the head to the chin line? A. If Leo had not worn his hair closely cropped they would probably have been on the half way mark.

Green lines – Q. How far apart are his eyes? A. One eye-width apart.

Orange and blue lines – Q. How wide are his mouth and nose in relation to his eyes?

Pink lines – Q. How wide is his nose in relation to length? A. In this case the same.

Purple lines – Q. What do the tops and bottoms of his ears line up to? A. Note that on the right, because of the turn of his head, the ear passes behind the cheek at a slightly higher place than the left.

Brown lines – Q. What is the halfway mark between the underside of his nose to the point of the chin? A. The underside of the lower lip.

Skin tones

Leo was sat in front of a darkish grey background so put this in first using a mix of cadmium red hue and ultramarine (Figure 4A). If you paint the portrait first, against the white of the paper, you would be judging all the tones against the white. If you then place the dark background you would be likely to find that you’d painted the portrait too palely.

Note how there is a golden light on parts of Leo’s face, but I recommend that you look through your eyelashes to find the darkest areas of the face and map these in with a half-dark tone of a cadmium red hue and ultramarine mix (Figure 4B).

Next dilute the mix to a paler tone and map in the half-lights (Figure 4C) and the shadow of the cropped hair, leaving the lighter areas as white paper. When this is dry, mix a blend of yellow ochre and burnt sienna (Figure 5) and work over the darker painted areas of the face and neck. Then take it out into parts of the, at present, unpainted areas of the forehead, nose, neck and cheek.

Now use yellow ochre with a hint of cadmium red added to place in the highlighted areas (Figure 6), avoiding the highlights above the left eyebrow, the tip of the nose and upper and lower lips.

Blend a little viridian hue into the yellow ochre and cadmium red mix and wash this into the neck area to push the head forward. Add a touch of permanent alizarin crimson to the lower lip then darken the eyebrows, eyes, mouth and nose with blends of burnt umber and ultramarine.

Click here to read Tony Paul's advice on mixing pale skin tones

This feature is taken from the July 2013 issue of Leisure Painter. Enjoy endless inspiration with access to past and present issues of both magazines, plus exclusive video demos, tutorials and more, with our Studio Membership! Discover how you can join today.