How To Make Skin Color With Watercolor - HowToMixWatercolors.com

How To Make Skin Color With Watercolor
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Learn how to make skin color with watercolor. Find out which colors to mix in order to match skin tones.

You can match skin tones!

At first, mixing watercolors for skin tones may seem difficult, but with some practice and guidance, you can be mixing skin tones like a pro!

Observe the lighting

To keep your portrait interesting and accurate, observe the lighting on the person that you are making a painting of. Look for both shadow and highlights that will make your portrait more compelling. Shadows will be cooler (leaning towards green, blue and magenta) while highlights will be warmer (leaning towards reds, orange and yellow). In addition to shadows and highlights, skin tones can reflect the colors from other elements around the subject – so look closely at the person and the surroundings. For example, a brightly colored shirt may reflect into the shadow areas of your subject.

Mixing your colors to match the skin tones

Begin by mixing a lot of the color that is the most widespread. You can use this as your starting color for both your highlights and shadows. If the colors are too dark, add more water. If they are too dark, add more paint. When mixing, use plenty of scrap paper to test your color mixes. Remember that watercolors will look slightly lighter when they dry.

In this example, we are recommending a mix of yellow ochre, a medium mix of sepia and a slightly lighter color of opera rose to use as the most widespread color (Reference point # 1). You can see the recommended mixes for the highlights (Reference point # 2, 3 and 4) and shadows (Reference point # 5, 6, and 7) below. The eye color is also noted (Reference point # 8) as well as the lips (Reference point # 9 and 10).

Don’t worry if you do not have the same colors in your palette

We used 24 recommended colors found in a typical artist's palette. Don't worry if you have different colors in your palette. You can use our Match a Color page to upload your reference photo to get color mix suggestions using the colors that are in your watercolor palette.

Darker complexions

For darker complexions, you'll use the same process. Identify the prevailing color and observe the lighting for both shadows and highlights. You'll turn towards darker colors such as burnt umber, raw umber and indian red in your mixes.

Color Mixes

Image Location #	Mix Color	Paints Used For Mix

1		Alizarin Crimson Hue Yellow Ochre Raw Umber Start with Alizarin Crimson Hue with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color. Add Yellow Ochre. Add Raw Umber with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color.



2		Cadmium Red Deep Hue Alizarin Crimson Hue Raw Umber Start with Cadmium Red Deep Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Alizarin Crimson Hue with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color. Add Raw Umber with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



3		Cadmium Red Deep Hue Alizarin Crimson Hue Start with Cadmium Red Deep Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Alizarin Crimson Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



4		Cadmium Red Deep Hue Alizarin Crimson Hue Raw Umber Start with Cadmium Red Deep Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Alizarin Crimson Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Raw Umber with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



5		Cadmium Red Deep Hue Raw Umber Burnt Umber Start with Cadmium Red Deep Hue. Add Raw Umber. Add Burnt Umber.



6		Alizarin Crimson Hue Yellow Ochre Raw Umber Start with Alizarin Crimson Hue with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Yellow Ochre with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Raw Umber.



7		Alizarin Crimson Hue Lamp Black Raw Umber Start with Alizarin Crimson Hue. Add Lamp Black. Add Raw Umber.



8		Cadmium Red Deep Hue Intense Blue Ultramarine Start with Cadmium Red Deep Hue with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Intense Blue. Add Ultramarine.



9		Indian Red Cadmium Red Pale Hue Purple Lake Start with Indian Red with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color. Add Cadmium Red Pale Hue. Add Purple Lake with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color.



10		Alizarin Crimson Hue Cadmium Red Pale Hue Purple Lake Start with Alizarin Crimson Hue with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Cadmium Red Pale Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Purple Lake with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color.



11		Indian Red Cadmium Orange Hue Yellow Ochre Start with Indian Red with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Cadmium Orange Hue. Add Yellow Ochre with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color.



12		Cadmium Orange Hue Yellow Ochre Burnt Umber Start with Cadmium Orange Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Yellow Ochre with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Burnt Umber with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



13		Cadmium Red Pale Hue Cadmium Orange Hue Burnt Umber Start with Cadmium Red Pale Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Cadmium Orange Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Burnt Umber with a some clean water to create a medium color.



14		Cadmium Red Deep Hue Cadmium Red Pale Hue Cerulean Blue Hue Start with Cadmium Red Deep Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Cadmium Red Pale Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Cerulean Blue Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



15		Burnt Umber Use Burnt Umber.



16		Cadmium Red Pale Hue Yellow Ochre Raw Umber Start with Cadmium Red Pale Hue with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color. Add Yellow Ochre. Add Raw Umber.

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