Skin tones are complicated!!!
Every personās skin is unique, and the colors and tones change a lot depending on lighting. There has, thankfully, been a lot of talk about whitewashing in media, so I see a lot of posts saying, āthis is how you paint dark skin.ā But there is no one way to paint dark skin ā or any skin! So letās look at how complex skin is.
Skin is very thin, and the cells that contain melanin are quite close to the surface. Because skin is so thin, it is somewhat translucent, meaning light doesnāt just reflect off of it, but also penetrates it. This means that bright light scatters just a little bit under the skin, often causing slight color variations, like a reddish edge to sharp shadows caused by light illuminating the blood under the skin.
As you can see, in all of the photos below, the colors range from almost black to stark white. Then you have to consider that human eyes donāt see things exactly the same way that cameras do, no matter how advanced the camera is. Eyes see an even greater range and subtlety and tones because our pupils adjust to the lighting depending on what weāre looking at. Iām not a photographer, but I understand that cameras have to take the whole scene into account when determining how much light to let into the lens. Thus, shadows often look darker than what the eye would see, and highlights look too bright.
For this reason, I do not recommend using the eyedropper tool on photos if you are working digitally. I think that learning to see colors on your own helps you to understand how they change under different conditions. That might just be the old fart in me talking, though. ;) That said, Iāve done my best with these photos of Temuera Morrison to explain some of the complexity of what the eye sees.
[three photos of Temuera Morrison]
These are all indoor lighting. Left is cool indoors, middle is likely a camera flash, right is warm window light. Note that the color samples from the left image are generally cooler and more washed out than those from the other two. Also note that, in people with facial hair, the skin around the jaw is less saturated than the skin elsewhere on the face and ears (ears are usually more red than face skin). The sharpness of the highlights and shadows depends heavily on how close/diffuse the light source is. Generally, closer/brighter light sources (like flashlights, direct sunlight) make sharper shadows, while more distant/dimmer light sources (like candles, sunlight on a cloudy day) leave softer highlights and shadows.
[three photos of Temuera Morrison]
These are both outdoor, natural lighting. Left is probably sunset, right is near midday. Note the warm colors from sunset, and cooler, less saturated colors at midday. Also note the subtle, slightly blue highlights on the left side of the face in both images. The sharpness of the highlights in the right image is due to both the direct sunlight and sweat on the skin, which makes it more reflective. Skin oils do this as well.
Iām not the greatest artist, but I have a lot of experience with this subject, so I hope these tips help both artists and non-artists understand why you canāt just slap down 5 color swatches and say, āuse these to paint a face.ā
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