Tutorial: how to paint skin tones in watercolor

Get a unique skin tone for your watercolor paintings

Nail skin tones with the help of Emma Thrussel, a talented British illustrator with a style somewhere between whimsical and childlike with a geometric flare. Emma mainly works in traditional mediums such as watercolors, colored pencils, papercraft, and gouache. She studied Art, Design and Animation at Ravensbourne university and has worked for the Museum of the Home, National Trust and Your Cat and Your Dog Magazines. Now she is going to teach you a technique that will give your illustrations a vivid and fascinating touch.

1. Mix the colors

Let's get started! Mix the skin tone colors with a watercolor palette. Get a lot of water in your brush.
Start with the lightest skin tone. Get as much pigment as possible so that you don't need to keep reapplying as you go along.
Use the same colors for the medium skin tone, but instead of leaving it as it is, make it a little warmer and darker.
For the medium skin tone, use the same color, a bit of pink and yellow. Use ocher and dark coal tones for darker and mix them.

2. Apply the first layers

For the first layer, the light wash, start with a lighter skin tone and add much water. The pigment must be light and not too heavy because it needs to be "buildable." It has to be watery.
Create a gradient effect across the face and then leave it to dry. Then do the same thing to the other face with the light wash. Put more pigment on one side. Finally, do the same with the dark skin tone with ochre. Do shadows on the skin tone to make it look more realistic and bring it alive. Leave it completely dry before you start layering with watercolors on top of it.

3. Add warm tones

When it completely dries, go in with warmer tones on the facial features. For more precision, you'll need a slightly more precise brush (about half the size of the previous brush). We'll make it somewhat warmer than the tones you already used. Start with the lighter skin tone first. Add a little more pink to get a blush effect and a bit more water to lighten that color. If you like, you can make it darker. You can always build on something and make it darker rather than take it away. With this brush, you've got a more controlled way to add a gradient. For the nose, use a flat color with no gradients. Let it dry.

4. Add warm tones

And now the final touch. Add some cooler tones for a more defined shadow. Use the same brush as in the previous point, mix a very light blue color, and add a little bit of purple. Add a lot of water. Mimic what the shadows may lay (ear, under the hats, and the chins). Drag it down. Beware to avoid accidentally wetting the underlayer and mix the two tones. Make nice and gentle brushstrokes. Add a bit of pigment for darker skin tones. Let it dry... and there you go!

5. Add cooler tones

Add some cooler tones for a more defined shadow. Use the same brush as in the previous point, mix a very light blue color, and add a little bit of purple. Add a lot of water. Mimic what the shadows may lay (ear, under the hats, and the chins). Drag it down. Beware to avoid accidentally wetting the underlayer and mix the two tones. Make nice and gentle brushstrokes. Add a bit of pigment for darker skin tones. Let it dry... and there you go!

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