Goth flesh tone

oistene

oistene

Active member
Hi y'all,

I am going to paint a mini with very pale flesh, and I have a little trouble getting the correct flesh tone. It is quite well done here: http://stonecoldlead.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=176484059

This is the exact same mini that I am going to paint. I want it to look like someone that stays out of the sun, maybe wears a bit of makeup, but it should still look like skin. Any good tips on how to accomplish this? Try to keep it simple for me, I'm of intermediate level at best. :)
 
MAXXxxx

MAXXxxx

Well-known member
what I'd do: base it with a light fleshtone, then shade with a grey-purple, highlight with a light-grey-blue.
I'll be more cold and sickly than on that image, but could work.The only part where I'm unsure is the grey-purple part, but I wouldn't use a warm darker skin.
if you need color names: elf flesh, heavy greypurple, spacewolf grey (or ghostgrey) is what I thought about (all were from the VGC line).

on the pic my guess is: elf flesh (or similar light fleshtone), highlighted toward ivory, then white. But the best would be to ask the painter directly either on the blog or in mail.
 
R

Ritual

New member
If it is a Goth look you want to achieve, ie a typical Goth subculture look rather than undead, then I wouldn't use too "unnatural" colours. The goths that look good simply use regular makeup, only the lightest colour versions and lots of it. Some use white powder as a final touch on cheekbones and forehead. So, I'd use rather normal looking paints, but place highlights over larger areas than I'd normally do, and possibly go a bit further with them. Then I'd use the other kind of makeup to really sell the goth look... dramatic eyeshadow, very distinct and stylised eyeliner, black or very dark red lipstick.

Yes, I admit to being a goth for about 20 years or so... :bashful:
 
BloodFather of Kharnath

BloodFather of Kharnath

Active member
Base with Rakarth flesh or dheneb stone. Shade with purples/dark reds, highlight with base+ivory. Mix purple with black and (sloppy as you want to) apply to eyes. Then with some precision fill in the eyeballs with an off white, leaving the dark ring around the eyes. Mix base+dark red for lips. As Ritual said, make you HLs in areas larger then normal. Here is the most important part: FOLLOW UP WITH PICs. Everyone needs help but hardly anyone ever follows up with pics of how it worked. This is important because down the line someone m need help with the same thing and your experiments will be a great reference of a gothic skin tone. At a minimum, let us know how it went.
 
oistene

oistene

Active member
Okay, I'll admit that I find this hard. Back in the day, I only did faces with flesh wash and drybrushing, and I understand now that drybrushing won't get me everywhere. So I've stepped up my game, and practise, practise, practise - already by thinning my paint and using less, I see improvement. But still a long way to go.

Anyway. I went into the artic and dug out a few old minis. They were already primed (probably twenty years ago), and perfect for running tests. I did one in the colors Max suggested, and one the BFoK suggested (I haven't disregarded your advice, Ritual, I try for the bigger highlights and will experiment on makeup later).

Here's Max' colors on the left, BFoK on the right, base and wash only; then with some highlights.

It's a bit sloppy work, first and foremost I want to test the colors and practise my technique. Any feedback at this point, before I move on to the real deal? All feedback beyond 'you suck' is appreciated. :)
 
oistene

oistene

Active member
iPad really doesn't want to cooperate with the forum... I have no idea why the second one was upside down. Maybe I should try to use a computer.

View attachment 30603

And get a better camera. Can you make it out now?
 
Amazon warrior

Amazon warrior

New member
I don't think the blue tablecloth is helping. :s But I would say that the one with the purple shading doesn't look human. It'd be a great set of colours to use on an alien being, though! The other one does look like human skin colours, though I'd guess that either your basecoat or your shading is a bit dark for your goal of "very pale skin".
 
oistene

oistene

Active member
I agree... Both shades are too dark. Any input on what I am doing wrong? Should I dilute them more? Use less ink? A light color?
 
Amazon warrior

Amazon warrior

New member
If it were me, I'd probably look at the recipes people use for elf skin - they're usually painted pretty pale. And then follow Ritual's advice about the broader highlights/make-up. So I'd think you want a paler flesh colour to begin with, and a lighter touch with your washes/inks. Probably dilute them down a bit more and make sure your brush isn't going to "flood" the mini when you apply it. When using "unfamiliar" colours like purple or green on skin, it can take a bit of practice to get a feel for the line between "just enough" and "It Came From Outer Space!" Though feel free to ignore me, I'm hopelessly out of practice myself! XD :p

ETA: I did this lady a loooooong time ago, and if memory serves I tried to use a very subtle touch of green in the shadows. And I started from quite a light base, though what it was I couldn't tell you now! But when I painted her, I'd just discovered P3 paints and didn't have access to anything much else.

Face close up:
face_up_zpse2f5f541.jpg


(I hate Photobucket...)
 
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MAXXxxx

MAXXxxx

Well-known member
Well both the image(bit brighter than I wanted) and the painting(eyes) is far from best, but this is what I've been thinking of (painted now in a few minutes):

View attachment 30624 View attachment 30625

I'll tell only the diff to my version:
- paint was too strong (in the shadows)
- you used purple instead of the suggested grey with purplish hue.
- somewhere the flesh color (elf flesh) gone missing
- same for the highlight with the blueish-light grey.


On the face in the image I used the colors suggested (but went with ghost-grey instead of spacewolf grey as the SW one wasn't that much lighter)


edit: tried to take a pic without the flash of the camera (right pic).
Here it's visible that it's a bit too dark, so a few glazes with the highlight would be needed to get it to the pale-enough level.
 
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oistene

oistene

Active member
Great! This helps a lot, and I'll also try to find some video tutorials.

(In my defence, BFoK suggested purple ;) but I used it wrong and made it TOO purple)
 
chaos spawn

chaos spawn

Member
I would use a more pink-fleshtone as basic, shades are strongly dilluted red and for lighter areas use a very pale skintone (pale skin fron valejo should work fine). You can even mix some white into it or make the brightest highlights white. Looks like this: http://www.coolminiornot.com/339091

Or you start with a light grey (almost white!) as base colour, dilluted red for shades and then use pale skin /pale skin with some white mixed into it for highlights. That's the way I did it on my Minotaurs: http://www.coolminiornot.com/339203
 
Amazon warrior

Amazon warrior

New member
Ritual said:
Or back in the days, when I still had hair... :disapointed:
Click to expand...
What, you look not very well painted and covered with the accumulated fluff and dust of seven years and three countries? *hugs* I hope it doesn't affect your chances with the ladies! ;)

(I had forgotten just how unkind a close-up shot can be to one's painting level! :eyeroll:)
 
R

Ritual

New member
Amazon warrior said:
What, you look not very well painted and covered with the accumulated fluff and dust of seven years and three countries? *hugs* I hope it doesn't affect your chances with the ladies! ;)
Click to expand...
I actually used to be meticulously well painted, at least in the beginning of an evening out. :laugh:
 
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