How to mix skin colour paint
There is no single skin colour: every face mixes warm and cool notes. Start from these three tones, then push them lighter, darker or rosier for your model.
Light skin: the recipes
This mix The colour Way 1
very close · difference 1.9
- 9 parts Titanium white PW6
- 1 part Yellow ochre PY42
- a touch Cadmium red medium PR108
This mix The colour Way 2
very close · difference 2.2
- 9 parts Titanium white PW6
- 2 parts Hansa yellow light PY3
- a touch Quinacridone magenta PR122
The palette opens with this colour as the colour you want; the coach finds it with the tubes of your box.
Medium skin: the recipes
This mix The colour Way 1
same colour · difference 0.8
- 3 parts Titanium white PW6
- 3 parts Yellow ochre PY42
- a touch Quinacridone magenta PR122
This mix The colour Way 2
very close · difference 1.2
- 4 parts Titanium white PW6
- 3 parts Yellow ochre PY42
- 1 part Cadmium red medium PR108
This mix The colour Way 3
a visible difference · difference 5.9
- 2 parts Titanium white PW6
- 2 parts Hansa yellow light PY3
- a touch Quinacridone magenta PR122
The palette opens with this colour as the colour you want; the coach finds it with the tubes of your box.
Deep skin: the recipes
This mix The colour Way 1
same colour · difference 0.8
- 9 parts Burnt sienna PBr7
- 1 part Titanium white PW6
- 1 part Yellow ochre PY42
This mix The colour Way 2
same colour · difference 0.9
- 3 parts Yellow ochre PY42
- 1 part Burnt umber PBr7
- a touch Quinacridone magenta PR122
This mix The colour Way 3
very close · difference 2.6
- 6 parts Hansa yellow light PY3
- 3 parts Cadmium red medium PR108
- 1 part Ultramarine blue PB29
The palette opens with this colour as the colour you want; the coach finds it with the tubes of your box.
Lighter, darker, warmer, cooler, duller
What to add to way 1, as the coach on the palette would tell you:
- LighterAdd 8 parts Titanium white and a touch Hansa yellow lightWhite lightens but also cools and greys: a touch of yellow brings the warmth back.
- DarkerAdd ½ part Burnt umberDarken with a dark colour of the same family rather than black, which kills the colour.
- WarmerAlready there: no tube of this box takes it much further that way. Keep the mix as it is.Warmer means towards yellow and orange.
- CoolerAdd 8 parts Titanium white and ½ part Cadmium red mediumCooler means away from yellow and orange: towards pink, blue or green.
- DullerAdd a touch Ultramarine blueIts opposite colour dulls a colour while keeping it alive; black dulls and darkens at once.
A tip
Mix the middle tone first and keep a pile of it: make the lights and the shadows from it, and the face holds together.
To understand why
Close colours
Computed from a common box: Titanium white, Hansa yellow light, Cadmium yellow medium, Cadmium red medium, Quinacridone magenta, Ultramarine blue, Phthalo blue, Yellow ochre, Burnt sienna, Burnt umber and Ivory black. Parts are by volume; a touch is about a quarter of a part. Your screen shows the colours close, not exact.
Print a mixing chart of these tubes (PDF)
All the colour recipes