CREATING SKIN TONES WITH

OIL PAINT

FOCUS ON ACCURACY AND REALISM

MATERIALS

• OIL PAINT IN CADMIUM YELLOW,

CADMIUM RED, ULTRAMARINE BLUE,

BURNT UMBER AND TITANIUM WHITE

• PAINT BRUSHES
• PAPER OR CANVAS SUITABLE FOR OILS
• SOLVENT SUCH AS TURPENTINE
• MEDIUM SUCH AS LINSEED OIL
• POT/JAR FOR WASHING BRUSH
• PAPER TOWELS OR RAGS
• MIXING PALETTES OR ACETATE SHEETS
• PALETTE KNIVES

Why use oils for accuracy?

• The earliest known oil paintings date back to the 7th Century. Acrylic is much more recent and was only developed in the 20th Century.

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• Traditionally oils are made of natural pigment and organic oil, making colours natural, earthy and realistic. This differs from acrylics which are essentially made of plastics (it’s in the name!).

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• Oils have a higher ratio of pigment, meaning colours are generally richer and more vibrant.

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• Acrylics can darken slightly when drying, meaning the colour you originally mixed may not be exactly the colour you end up with on the canvas.

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• Oils dry much more slowly than acrylics, so there is more opportunity for blending and creating a result that is true to life.

MEDIUMS & SOLVENTS

SOLVENTS

• Used to clean painting equipment.
• Used to thin paint out for underpainting and first layers of paint.
• Speeds up drying time.

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MEDIUMS

• Used to adapt consistency, drying time and finish of painting.
• Can be fast or slow drying.
• Most traditional - linseed oil which slows drying time.

WHEN LAYERING PAINT…

1. Fat over lean

FAT = high oil content LEAN = mixed with paint thinner

Generally the fatter the paint, the slower the drying time.

To ensure the painting dries from the lowest layer up, slowly increase the oil content in the paint mixture in each consecutive layer of paint. Keep lower layers thinner (mixed with solvent) and only apply thicker, more oily paint in the uppermost layers.

1. Slow over fast

Cracking known as ‘craquelure’ can appear on the surface of the painting if fast drying layers are applied to top layers, whilst slow drying layers are moving and shifting below.

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1. Dark to light

Start with darkest areas first and build up to lighter tones, adding highlights at the very end.

UNDERPAINT|NG

Famously used by Flemish masters in their oil paintings, known as the ‘umber underlayer’.

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Purpose?

• Provides a base layer
• Covers stark white areas of canvas
• Brings vibrancy and depth

to colours painted on top

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Options?

• Acrylic layer
• Thin oil layer mixed with solvent

ZORN PALETTE

1. Yellow ochre
2. Vermillion or cadmium red
3. Ivory black
4. Titanium white

ZORN PALETTE

1. Yellow ochre
2. Vermillion or cadmium red
3. Ivory black
4. Titanium white

USING PRIMARY COLOURS & COLOUR THEORY

Instead of using a black paint, we will mix ultramarine blue and burnt umber to create darker tones.

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This method can be used for all skin types!

• Observing 2 reference photos, create a colour palette for each one, consisting of at least 10 colours each, ranging from dark to light.

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• Use cadmium red, cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue with varying proportions of white and brown to create your tones.

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TIPS TO GIVE THE PUPILS

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• Mix a ‘mother colour’ and take small sections of it, adding white, or other colours to these to create different shades.
• Hold palette knife over picture to check accuracy.
• Mix 2 parts yellow to 1 part blue and 1 part red initially.
• Careful if using black - it can deaden colours if used too liberally and cause them to become murky.
• Also careful when using white - it can cause colours to become ashy and unnatural if not balanced correctly.
• If doing this at home for practice, try using a black and white reference photo as well as a coloured one, to help train their eyes for achieving accuracy in value.