Traditional/Academic Flesh Palette Works Well
 

Following a posting from a forum topic, can't remember where, I decided to try an experiement with an academic or traditional style flesh palette of Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre, Titanium White, and Ivory Black. Bought new tubes of all from Old Holland. And, threw in a tube of Venetian Red for additional blood tones.

Reddish Skin Palette:
I mixed equal amounts of YO and RO. This made a good value 3 base for a redder skin palette. Mixed the value 3 with ivory black to create two darker values 2 and 1. Mixed the value 3 base with titanium white to get values 4-9.

Yellowish/Orangish Skin Palette:
Mixed 2 parts YO to 1 part RO. This again made a good value 3 base for a yellower or oranger skin palette. Followed the same above for the other values.

Followed the same procedure with the straight Venetian Red above to get nine values of a redder tone to tint areas where more blood is needed.

The remarkable thing was how good a variance of tones I got and how clean the colors looked. I created a sample board and will try the palette on a future project.

I think they will work very well over a verdaccio undertone.

Hmmm...
 

Well I thought this might have sparked some discussion. Ah well... :)

Hi Michael -

Just finished two verdaccio underpaintings using the 9-value mixtures of MB + COG that you recommended in another post. It was a great exercise; building tonal accuracy in the intitial step makes a lot of sense to me.

Anyway, I'm going to try the academic mixtures you suggest in this post to carry the exercises further. I'll post attachments when I get to that stage.

I expected the underpainting to dry faster than it has because of the flake white, but I'm pleased that I've been able to work wet-on-wet on the more problematic one for three days and counting...

Discussion on the forum seems to go in spurts; it's definitely NOT that no one is interested in the topic you posted.

Or maybe not many beginners are using the academic approach.

Verdaccio undertone
 

:? Hi, Michael. I am a new portrait painter, and I am very interested in the skin tones you recommended in your flesh tone palette. Please tell me about the verdaccio undertone that is mentioned in the reply from another participant. And what do the abbreviations MB and COG mean?

Do you ever use blue in your flesh palette?

Thank you.

Hello Betty - welcome to the Forum!

The Verdaccio undertone referred to is a gray-green mixture made with Chromium Oxide Green, Mars Black, and Lead White.

I typically mix equal parts of COG to Mars Black to get a value 2 (Munsell scale) - this is my base pile from which I mix all others. I then darken some of it with MB to create value 1, and lighten the rest with flake white to create values 3-9.

You can also experiment with Yellow Ochre, Mars Black, Red Ochre, and Lead White to create a variant. You would mix the YO and the MB to create a green, and use the RO to knock it down in intensity.

Here are the approximate values:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/imag...ccioValues.jpg

Here is an example of a completed verdaccio:

http://www.fineportraitsinoil.com/Cu...0Verdaccio.jpg

The imposition of the cool undertones next to the warm flesh tones creates a real vibrancy in the flesh that works well. I don't usually use any blue as the verdaccio adds the proper cool tone.

Hope that helps! :)

Verdaccio
 

Dear Michael:

What a lovely green this verdaccio is! Thank you for your prompt reply and for your expert help. I can't wait to get to the paints.

Michael,

I just looked at your website and was wondering which, if any, of the posted portraits you had used the Tradional/Academic flesh palette? Your work is beautiful and I like the rich, vibrant colors you use.

Renee Price

Hello Renee:

Per my first post, I have not yet had the chance to use this palette on a painting yet. I use a much more complex system of mixing flesh tones and was looking to simplify. I always do the verdaccio, but this flesh palette is new. I think this palette may work even better than my current one for realistic skin tones. Thanks for the comments about my work! :)

Michael, I have been using a modified version of that academic palette with good results. I am using mostly Doak's paints, because I like his colors and texture, and they don't dry out too fast. I'm using Sinopia (mars violet), Terra Rosa, Raw Sienna, Lead Tin Yellow, Burnt Umber, and Turkey Umber. I also use flake white, titanium white, and zinc white, in different mixtures.

Doaks Turkey Umber is similiar to your black and green mixture. It works wonderfully against his burnt umber for the warm and cool folds in white fabric. I would probably use ivory black for any bluish shadows. Another color that I find useful is unbleached titanium, because it's warm, it makes a good mixing white.

Hello Linda:

Glad to read your post! I am enjoying this flesh mix, but am finding that it needs graying significantly - especially in the lower values which are too orange-ish.