How To Paint 🤎DARK🖤skin tones! #paintingtechniques, by Daphne Frizzle 🎨 on YouTube. 1 min 7 s.
- Video length
- 1 min 7 s
- Time to do it
- 15 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Squeeze out burnt umber as your base dark brown. Add a small amount of raw sienna to warm it up and stop it looking flat or grey.
Mix in a little yellow ochre to bring the brown toward a natural skin tone. Keep the mix darker than you think you need, since white lightens fast.
Add a tiny dot of red for warmth in the cheeks and mid tones. Mix it in fully so the color stays even.
For cooler shadow areas, add a very small amount of blue or a cool brown. Use less than you expect, as blue quickly turns skin grey.
Test the mix on a scrap of canvas or paper next to your reference. Let it dry a little, because acrylics dry slightly darker.
Lighten for highlights by adding white in small amounts. Keep a separate pile of the base mix so you can return to it.
Paint a small swatch strip from shadow to highlight. Check that the steps blend smoothly from dark to light.
Adjust each swatch with a touch of red, yellow or blue until it matches your reference, then paint the portrait.
Tips and common mistakes
Mix more paint than you need, because matching a dried acrylic color later is hard.
Keep your darkest shadow mix separate and avoid adding white to it.
Acrylics dry fast, so mist the palette or use a stay-wet palette to keep mixes workable.
Study a photo reference in daylight rather than warm indoor light for truer color.
Questions
Which colors do I need to start?
Burnt umber, raw sienna, yellow ochre, a red, white and a little blue cover most dark skin tones. You can swap in similar earth browns you already own.
Why does my mix look grey or ashy?
Too much blue or white cools and dulls the brown. Add warm earth colors like raw sienna or a touch of red to bring life back.
Can I use these mixes for oil paint?
The same color logic works, but oils blend and dry much slower. Adjust amounts gradually and expect colors to stay wet for days.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
