Thursday, February 13, 2014

Pale Skin Tutorial


Every now and then I get asked for hints how to paint the pale skin like I do. I've tried my best in replying these requests by writing simple tutorials, but when thinking of it more, explaining how something is done is far less interesting and educating than actually showing it.

Now I won't be showing you 2 hour video about me painting miniature. That would be just plain dull thing to do. What I will do is present a short tutorial with step-by-step pictures how to paint the pale skin, similar to those Arco Evisorators that I've painted.

So here we go...


First of all, I prime my miniature almost always in grey. I find it being gentle to my eyes and makes it easier for me to perceive details.

For base colour I used mix of five colours: Codex Grey, Skull White, Tallarn Flesh, Khemri Brown.





Add more white to mixture and paint couple of highlight layers. Remember to keep the paint enough thin.


Shade everything with a wash made from a mixture of Asurmen Blue and Gryphonne Sepia. Asurmen Blue breaks the over-warm tone of the Gryphonne Sepia. This trick was introduced to me by Steve from Spyglass Asylum.



Now comes the interesting part. Add some depth to recesses by painting some brown-red ink in them. I'll get back to this later in this post.




Paint couple of thin layers with the basic colour made out of those 5 paints used in the first few steps, highlighting a bit with adding a drop of white in the mixture.


Add some blue grey in the mix and start shading the areas between the original skin colour and the deep red ink areas, blending these two radical colours together with the cold blue tone. Blue works also as a complimentary colour in shaded areas, making the skin more alive, so make a note in what sort of lighting the character could be standing in.

Now you can start seeing how the red and blue tones make the pale skin look like a translucent layer of thin skin; joint areas are red and deep, rich with blood, whereas large surfacing areas are pale, tight and low in blood. Makes sence in a way, doesn't it?




Keep working on with the skin by highlighting it, adding more white to the base colour as you go. Final strokes should be made with plain Skull white. Add some details with Scorched Brown, like moles etc.





There you go! As you can see, this receipt is quite basic and simple, but requires patience to pull out. You shouldn't mind using bold and strong strokes, as long as you keep your paints enough thin and running. Have fun experiencing different techniques and don't mind about smooth blends.

I hope you will find this tutorial helpful in your task painting the pale skin. Please drop a comment if you need further information regarding the steps.

Cheers!

- Kari

33 comments:

  1. Amazing work, sir! Thanks for the tutorial.

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  2. Splendid tutorial fella and awesome mini!

    Have you experienced the same as I with W&N inks - mine tend to lose their tone totally after some time. Even when they're not exposed to daylight. I used orange ink for my inq28- group's bases and I have repainted them 4 times, because the ink magically disappears after a while...

    But, as the package also says, black and white W&N inks are the only ones which doesn't lose their tone like ever, but even if I store my minis in a box, orange ink goes puff and is never seen again.Magic!

    Varnishing could solve this problem, ahem.

    Cheers!

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    1. I haven't had problems with W&N inks fading, per se, but then I varnish really thick.

      The problem that I DO have is that they tend to 'un-dry' when I apply a new coat over them, and then they run everywhere. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem?

      Spraying dullcote after applying the inks solves it, but I can't help but feel I might be doing something wrong to have this happen in the first place...

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    2. I also experience this every time. I try to mix these inks with acrylics so they stick better. It kinda gives you more freedom to make blendings weeks after but meh... it's pretty irritating to be honest.

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    3. Turska, I have not had such problems with W&N inks, but the ones that Mattias described I have faced. Funny things, these inks...

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    4. Good to know I'm not the only one. Do you just use a Matte varnish between coats? Or do you deal with it on the fly, or try to use it during blending?

      Thanks for the help!

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    5. In most cases I deal with it on the fly, blend the effect away etc.

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  3. Awesome tutorial Kari. Windsor and Newton inks completely changed the way I paint minis.
    I will definitely be trying out a grey primer...the thought had never occurred to me until now so cheers.

    Eve

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  4. This is an EXCELLENT tutorial! I love the way you do skin, and I can't wait to try it out!

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  5. WD inks are fugitive - ei fade in sunlight - especially blue which ive had a problem with with illustrations but never miniatures so varnishing must fix - however they do bleed thru layers of acrylic badly so i only ever use as final sparing layers - never brush or heavy varnish but build up in thin sprays or brush thin layers as these inks bleed into varnish layers - sounds just not worth it but the colours are so vibrant having an oil paint effect - they glow ....

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    Replies
    1. Nice. That is just the advice I was looking for. Thanks, JB!

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  6. oh, Oh... OOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!!!!

    Oh my god. I hope I will can have similar one on my femme Inquisitor retinue in the future... I REALLY LOVE IT.

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  7. Thank you so much for this! The result looks amazing and I hope I can achieve a similiar look! This skintone suits the dark warhammer universe so incredibly well...awesome!

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  8. Great tutorial. It took me a while to realise the base model is a bloodletter. Where is the head from?

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    Replies
    1. The head is from the Vampire Counts Corpse Cart kit. The all three heads that come with the kit are very neat.

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  9. Great tutorial mate - really easy to follow and a great effect at the end.

    Ta for sharing.

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  10. Thanks guys. You're most welcome! :)

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  11. I chime in with choir - great tutorial ( and great conversion as well!)

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  12. I'm going to give this grey basecoat thing a shot. Thanks for a most excellent tutorial.

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  13. Inspiring and absolutely terrific! Going to give this a try as soon as possible!

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    1. Kari, I've had a go at trying to replicate your wonderful pale skin formula. After doing so (and struggling by comparison), I can honestly say that I'm even more in awe of your Eviscerator than before! Well done again and many thanks indeed for your blog post!

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  14. superb tutorial Kari - I have always wondered how you mange to get such stunning skin tones - another great model too ;-)

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  15. Oh dear!
    Thank you! Now i know how i will be painting my chaos models.))

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  16. Lovely model Kari :)

    And a fantastic paintjob and guide - Thanks mate :)

    Cheers

    /Janushedemann

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  17. Thank you! And you are most welcome :)

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  18. Brilliant tutorial, Kari. Must try something similar with my Eldars.

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  19. I tried this out on some Tyranid Rippers, just to get the technique down. I fudged it a bit (some of the recent equivalents from Citadel don't match up), but the end result was great. A wonderful tutorial, one I'm passing out far and wide.

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  20. Can't wait to try this on my nids..perfect fleshy grungy colour for them! Thanks so much!

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