# Painting realistic flesh



## septimuspretori (Jan 26, 2011)

I will be working on some female figure models for my g/f and I was wondering if you fellas might know where I could find some good tutorials on painting realistic female skin. I have no experience since I usually build monsters or creepy characters. 
Thanks
Ben


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## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

Check out the Model Mania DVD's by David Fisher, the publisher of Amazing Figure Modeler.


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## Tanis-uk (Jan 8, 2011)

yep thats what I was going to say.


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## IanWilkinson (Apr 23, 2010)

Can we get this in the UK?.. or is it only NTSC??...


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Andrea Miniatures has a great book on painting female figures. It covers various scales and techniques including airbrushing.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

fleshtones are tricky.
i usually start with a dark base coat, like burnt sienna (a very orange brown) for healthy characters, or other colors for strange characters. these colors usually look very different when the fleshtone is applied. 
when i mix fleshtones i usually start out with a mixture of orange and white. i will then adjust the tone by adding small amounts of other colors until it the way i want it to. 
the fleshtone is then airbrushed or drybrushed over the darker basecoat.


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## Chinxy (May 23, 2003)

Ben,
Just thought I'd add this tip being this happened Thursday night!

Well last night I took the Colossal Beast over to a friends house (he also does models - mostly tanks) and he LOVED this one! Then he got me to go into a 20 minute talk on how I airbrushed the skin to look that way! He was amazed on how I had different layers of color skin. Told him I started out with raw sienna with a little white mixed. Then mixed white heavy. Then Taupe. Then finished the high area's with light portrait pink to give the razed area seen.
Then went in on how to get the bone on the face to look ghostly as he described it. Dried brushed a little purple and very light black (just a touch) on it!
So being that he is a very hard critic and a lot of you guys like it, I think this one turned out really good! Very happy with him. Love these two airbrushes. I'll take it next week to my IPMS! Now those guys are hard. See what they think!
Hope this can help! Just try different colors and work them. That's how you learn and you will!

Chinxy!


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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

septimuspretori said:


> I will be working on some female figure models for my g/f and I was wondering if you fellas might know where I could find some good tutorials on painting realistic female skin. I have no experience since I usually build monsters or creepy characters.
> Thanks
> Ben


Ben Hopefully this will help you out as pulled it from another board.











*Airbrushing Skin and Stone* I am going to demonstrate airbrushing techniques for getting realistic skin tones, and how to get a realistic stone effect with an airbrush. I would like to start by thanking artist David Fisher for his videos, which are great teaching aids. From which the skin tone techniques, that I am demonstrating, were learned from. I also want beginners to know that these techniques are not as difficult as they may appear so do not let it intimidate you. Go ahead and give it a try. 









First you are going to need some equipment to get started. You will need your choice of airbrushes fuse whatever type or brand that you are comfortable with). An air source is also needed, whether it is canned air an air tank, or a compressor. Your choice of paints and thinners. (For this article I will be using Liquitex acrylic paints.) Plus something to mix your colors in, and to mix them with. At this point you should be set to go. 
I am going to demonstrate creating a stone affect on _Industrial Resin Craft's Wolfman gargoyle_ figure. Creating a stone affect is rather easy and I find it a lot of fun. Because there is no right or wrong way it should look, so you can let your imagination run wild. 








I am going to attempt to create a layered sandstone effect on this kit. I started with the primed figure and base coated the entire kit with a burnt sienna (red brown) color. I had to put on several light coats to achieve a good even base color. After the base color has had time to dry I mixed a light sandstone color with raw sienna (yellow brown), white, and a little burnt umber Chocolate brown). Once the color was mixed to the shade I liked, l thinned it with water and airbrush thinner to achieve a milky consistency. *NOTE:* _Make sure that the color is mixed and thinned evenly, because if you have any small clumps of paint it could clog the airbrush and cause inconsistent spraying._














With this color I started painting a ringed layer pattern on the Wolfman. It did not make a difference what the pattern was, because no two stones look the same. This color, being light, will have to go on in several coats. Next I mixed this master color with a little more burnt umber to create a darker color. With this color I started by darkening the edges where the colors meet. I also started adding darker areas to the ringed layered pattern. My next step was to mix a straight burnt umber, and using my fine line tip on my airbrush I started adding irregular line patterns to the figure. This gives the appearance of veins running through the stone. Once I achieved a pattern that I was satisfied with I allowed it to dry thoroughly and gave it a couple coats of matte sealant. 
To bring out the texture in the stone I applied a glaze to the figure. A glaze was not applied with the airbrush. This can be done with a paint brush or soft cloth. To mix the glaze, I used liquitex gel medium and mixed burnt umber with a little black to it. (I want a very dark brown glaze.) Next I thinned it down with a little water and airbrush thinnec (not too much because I still wanted it a little thick). I Applied the glaze with a brush working small areas. I then wiped the excess off with a clean dry cloth. This brought out the recessed areas of the figure. To finish I allowed it to dry and then sealed it with a couple coats of matte finish. It is now ready for display. 








*Creating Realistic Flesh Tones* 







Next I am going to tell you how to create a realistic flesh tone. For this demonstration I used _John Dennett's Miss Tokyo '94_ bust. First I primed the bust. Next I mixed my master flesh color. To do this I mixed equal amounts of burnt sienna (red brown), raw sienna (yellow brown), and white until I got a shade that I was happy with. I then thinned it down with water and airbrush thinner, as I did with the first kit. (To the consistency of milk.) Next I sprayed the master color on all of the flesh areas of the figure. This color went on in multiple layers to achieve proper coverage. Next I took part of the master color (setting the rest aside for later) and added a little white to it so that I could add highlights. To do so I sprayed along the top of the cheeks, the chin, shoulders, collar bone, the breasts, and along the ribs and abdomen. This gave very nice highlights. But I was not done yet. Next I used the color I had for highlights and added a little red to it, making a rosy flesh tone. With this color I sprayed a little on the cheeks, shoulders, and under the breasts. To finish the flesh tone, I wanted to bring all the colors together and tone down the separations a little. So I used my master flesh tone and covered the entire figure (from a distance of about 10 to 12 inches) with a light mist. Now the skin was finished. Detailing came later after the kit was dried and sealed. 

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

Also here is a article that David Fisher did on a female kit see link here http://www.foxfirestudio.com/tutorial.htm


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

what KIND/brandname of airbrush thinner please


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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

Jafo said:


> wheres the pics?


Click the link where it says foxfirestudio and you will see pics


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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

Jafo said:


> what KIND/brandname of airbrush thinner please


Im new to the airbrush field so that answer would be best answered by someone more experinced than me


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## septimuspretori (Jan 26, 2011)

Thanks for the help, guys! Although I am a brush painter and not an air brusher there's still plenty here I can use...especially concerning what colors to layer...again, thank you so much!
Ben


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## btbrush (Sep 20, 2010)

Hiya Ben,
You've started on a great part of this hobby, female figures. As for thinning, kinda depends on what paints you're using. For acrylics, I prefer Liquitex and thin with a 50/50 mix of windshield washing fluid ( bought a gallon at Lowes for a couple bucks) and distilled water. Airbrush-I use a Badger 150 and an Iwata Eclipse. Let's see pics.
Bruce


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