Sally Lynn MacDonald

Palettini. Mixed-Media Art. A Colorful Life.

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You are here: Home / Color Spotlight / Color Study: African-American Skin Tones

Color Study: African-American Skin Tones

February 27, 2010 by admin 8 Comments

My friend Laetitia, who owns Scrappy Chic Boutique in Decatur, Georgia, sent me a note late last night that she was having trouble coloring skin tones.  In particular she said,

"my person looks jacked up. The caucasians look fine its the blacks that are a hot mess. Any tips you could offer??????".

So I decided to put together a color study.  This is something that I typically add to my sketchbook so that I can see at a glance how colors work together in the Copic Spectrum.

Working with the (E)arthtone colors, I started first with the Natural Blending Groups, and a combination of three colors for a simple blend. These are represented in the top row.  In this scenario, you have a midtone color (your favorite), with a highlight and a shade.  The Color Family (E) and the first number (Saturation or Amount of Gray) remain the same.  The last digit(s) are where the color is deepened from pale to bold intensity.

  • E11 / E13 / E15
  • E13 / E15 / E17
  • E25 / E27 / E29
  • E35 / E37 / E39

(click picture for a larger image)

 IMG_9871web

Then I started playing with shadows instead on the bottom row.  Here, I increased not only the intensity (last digit) but also a slight decrease in saturation, therefore increasing shadow (or gray) (first digit).

  • E15 / E37 / E59
  • E13 / E25 / E37

Of course skin tones come in so many varieties – and that is why I love the variety of Earthtone colors available to us.  It's also possible to work with the Red, Yellow-Red and Yellow colors depending on what you are trying to achieve.

And I also point students to a favorite post on Marianne Walker's blog, shows some variations across many shades in the Earthtone range.  http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/2008/07/skin-colors-part-1.html.

So hopefully this helps a little with color choices, Laetitia.

Also remember that if you have questions for me, a great place to send them so that everybody can benefit from the answer is: http://www.formspring.me/slmacdonald.  Submit a question and I will answer it to the best of my ability.  Every now and then I open up live sessions, which are announced on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/sallylynn.macdonald.   This is SO MUCH BETTER than sending me an e-mail.  Like many of you, my Inbox overfloweth.  So take a look and see if there are some questions / answers there that help; and submit some of your own!

OK.  I'm off to Laura's house to color with some new stamps and work on creating some new class concepts.  Just wait till you see the altered-scrappy-inky Copic/Tattered Angels/Prima class that is swimming up in the cerebellum at present.   LOL.

Happy Saturday!

P.S. Stamp image is from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps.

 Slm-flat

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Filed Under: Color Spotlight, Copic

Comments

  1. Carol says

    February 28, 2010 at 8:15 am

    This is great information. I always struggled with shading. Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  2. Claret Belle says

    February 28, 2010 at 10:23 pm

    Great information. I love these shades for Afro-American skin colors. I am looking forward to your class in Columbus.

    Reply
  3. Julie Crossley says

    March 1, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Thank you Sally, I was just wondering about darker skin tones.

    Reply
  4. Alexandra says

    March 2, 2010 at 9:08 am

    This is wonderful! Do you have something like this for Asian skin tones. Those are just throwing me!

    Reply
  5. Dee says

    October 14, 2010 at 3:33 pm

    Thanks for the help..the skin tones on my cards have been sad.

    Reply
  6. marlene says

    July 19, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    the blacks???!!!! wow! why bother give the respect to say caucasians instead of the whites? She could have said darker skintones, african, african american, brown skintones, etc… I dunno, I find it slightly offensive o be honest although i doubt it’s meant maliciously… but ignorant comments are ignorant comments just the same.

    Reply
  7. Sally Lynn MacDonald says

    July 20, 2011 at 9:51 am

    Since Laetitia was referring to her own skintone, I doubt you can call her ignorant for how she refers to her own coloring. Let’s stick to productive discussion about marker coloring and not your opinions on how people refer to themselves.

    Reply
  8. Trina says

    January 22, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    Thanks for showing that bottom row – those are colors I probably wouldn’t have tried without seeing the result first…

    Reply

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About Sally Lynn MacDonald

Profile photo of adminSally Lynn often mixes her love of creating and teaching art with her high-tech side – blending a love of handmade art with hybrid-digital media in what she playfully calls her ‘studio lab’. Every now and then her large-format printer is subjected to printing on a surface that definitely is not listed in the owners’ manual.

She is a maven for studio organization, using her abilities to use spreadsheets and databases to bring order from chaos. “It’s marvelous when the right and left brain actually work together in the studio!” Read More…

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