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navateSKIN: a tutorial - Part 1

Published: 2009-11-21 15:24:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 578780; Favourites: 16743; Downloads: 18309
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Description UPDATE 7/31/2011: I've uploaded a slightly revised version. Content is still the same.
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This tutorial is very extensive and will be published in (at least) four parts.

IN THIS SECTION:
Skin basics: A simple but in-depth look that expands beyond the usual shadow-midtone-highlight formula, and how to use each tonal range most effectively.

SECTION II: Skin tones. how to apply the basic formula to light, medium, dark, and fantasy skin tones.

COMING SOON:
SECTION III: Background color and ambient light. How surrounding colors affect skin.
SECTION IV: Building a skin tone, blending and texturing. The technical section showing how to paint skin start to finish.
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This tutorial uses mostly digital work as examples, but the theory behind it should apply to ALL mediums. But of course it goes without saying that this is hardly the end-all-be-all of skin painting tutorials. Just my way of thinking about it.

I tried to make this accessible for artists of all skill levels. Intermediate artists will probably benefit the most. Beginners will probably find some of the principles discussed difficult to put into practice. But don’t be frustrated! The only “secret” to being a good painter is practice. And hopefully even advanced painters will be able to glean something useful.

Also-- this should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: the ONLY WAY to learn how to paint/draw anything well, let alone realistically, is to STUDY COLOR THEORY AND FORM. All the stuff I blather on about in this tutorial is meaningless unless you take the initiative to learn the fundamentals of color and figure drawing.
Color theory resources can be found HERE .

Please, any questions, concerns, criticisms, etc: comment below.

Thanks so much for the DD!


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Comments: 734

BlueKungFu In reply to ??? [2010-04-19 21:17:01 +0000 UTC]

No problem and thanks again for the great tutorial

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

xlycia In reply to ??? [2010-03-22 19:45:03 +0000 UTC]

Excellent tutorial, I can tell you've spent quite a lot of time on this. Kudos!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to xlycia [2010-04-19 14:35:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Bajgraf In reply to ??? [2010-03-18 16:17:34 +0000 UTC]

very nice tutorial

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to Bajgraf [2010-03-21 14:16:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

BlueKungFu In reply to ??? [2010-03-18 15:09:54 +0000 UTC]

Hey thank you so much for posting, I'm practicing already

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to BlueKungFu [2010-03-21 14:16:51 +0000 UTC]

Awesome

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BlueKungFu In reply to navate [2010-03-21 14:19:08 +0000 UTC]

It's an awesome tutorial, Thank you once again, it's really helped me out. I've just downloaded a trial of Painter 11, as I've been using Photoshop, and that's really help too...so much better at blending

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Twilight-zion In reply to ??? [2010-03-15 20:49:16 +0000 UTC]

I'm ing this because now I can improve my digital artwork more! Thanks for the upload!

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navate In reply to Twilight-zion [2010-03-21 14:16:32 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

LeafOfSteel In reply to ??? [2010-03-08 21:55:55 +0000 UTC]

Great tutorial. Thank you!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to LeafOfSteel [2010-03-21 14:18:21 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

DrivenLikeTheSnow In reply to ??? [2010-03-05 16:27:33 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for the tutorial, it's very helpful! I have so much trouble with skin and I think this tutorial has cleared it up! Thank you so much!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to DrivenLikeTheSnow [2010-03-21 14:18:30 +0000 UTC]

Very glad to help!

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FlyingMonkeyofOz In reply to ??? [2010-02-28 21:30:55 +0000 UTC]

Such a great, detailed and beautiful tutorial! It's lovely that you've uploaded this here! Thanks very much for sharing this! ^^

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to FlyingMonkeyofOz [2010-03-03 18:26:28 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ferrousbrain In reply to ??? [2010-02-26 17:16:07 +0000 UTC]

thank you for sharing this tutorial, it'll help me much

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to ferrousbrain [2010-03-03 18:26:34 +0000 UTC]

Most welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

airahnn In reply to ??? [2010-02-26 06:10:10 +0000 UTC]

I will read this diligently, word for word, and practice- because its the best way to honor your well thought out tutorial. Thank you so much !

I faved both parts of your series and I can't wait to try the techniques out.

Truly a tutorial which is a notch above the average skin tutorial.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to airahnn [2010-03-03 18:27:19 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much, I hope it helps!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

gahlaktus117 In reply to ??? [2010-02-22 20:05:24 +0000 UTC]

You sir are a legend,a well deserved daily deviation. honestly this is going to help a lot thank you very much

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to gahlaktus117 [2010-03-03 18:27:03 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

psychoteddi In reply to ??? [2010-02-19 11:34:51 +0000 UTC]

wow, thanks fot the tut ^^
it's really helpful
you're unbelievably good.. it's going to take a while (a hell lot of time) till i can draw like you xD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to psychoteddi [2010-02-19 19:19:32 +0000 UTC]

Glad you found it useful Just practice.

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Nightscales In reply to ??? [2010-02-17 11:11:11 +0000 UTC]

Very good tutorial. I'll definitely learn from this :3 Thanks!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to Nightscales [2010-02-19 19:20:58 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

MrkMarian In reply to ??? [2010-02-15 11:10:34 +0000 UTC]

This tutorial helped me a lot, that I want to share with the outcome [link]
Thanks!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to MrkMarian [2010-03-05 00:43:13 +0000 UTC]

Awesome, awesome job. Thank you!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Earim In reply to ??? [2010-02-09 23:12:39 +0000 UTC]

Great tutorial you made there, thanks a lot

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to Earim [2010-02-19 19:44:13 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Lysso909 In reply to ??? [2010-02-03 00:18:29 +0000 UTC]

Love it! Very useful!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to Lysso909 [2010-02-09 04:21:50 +0000 UTC]

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Aelwen In reply to ??? [2010-01-22 23:28:56 +0000 UTC]

I love this tutorial, you are very talented. I understand the colours but not the painting technique, may I ask what sort of brush you use? Or, how you make the skin look like it has been painted?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to Aelwen [2010-01-23 01:02:58 +0000 UTC]

Brushes and technique will be discussed in Part 4. Please be patient.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Aelwen In reply to navate [2010-01-23 03:35:57 +0000 UTC]

Of course, thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

GerdElise In reply to ??? [2010-01-20 11:14:42 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much for this! You mention the exact thing here that have been bothering me; namely that the shadows look wrong somehow and it makes the skin look flat. I've always been afraid of using too much saturation in shadows, I will now experiment Thanks again for a very helpful tutorial.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to GerdElise [2010-01-20 17:47:17 +0000 UTC]

Glad to help Keep practicing; your bad habits will self-correct over time if you pay attention to what you are doing.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Inuyatim In reply to ??? [2010-01-18 01:30:24 +0000 UTC]

Is that true that only premium members can create Journal skin?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to Inuyatim [2010-01-18 05:06:12 +0000 UTC]

How should I know? This is a painting tutorial. Read before you comment.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

claudiamm37 In reply to ??? [2010-01-16 20:12:07 +0000 UTC]

glad I came across this...I'll definitely use it in the future! Your work is undeniably remarkable!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to claudiamm37 [2010-01-18 05:06:21 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

JaeBlaze06 In reply to ??? [2010-01-09 22:27:48 +0000 UTC]

Very useful! Thanks for this informative tutorial!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to JaeBlaze06 [2010-01-10 17:49:42 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

joie In reply to ??? [2010-01-09 06:19:48 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for this. Skin is something I really struggle with, and this is very helpful.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to joie [2010-01-10 17:49:53 +0000 UTC]

Glad to help!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Ylaz In reply to ??? [2010-01-06 02:01:19 +0000 UTC]

thx for have taking the time to answer me. I really appreciate.

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Ylaz In reply to ??? [2010-01-05 15:18:21 +0000 UTC]

SOrry to bother i have one little question. im not familiar with painting. the question is as the face is not a flat surface how do we do to make it three dimensional while painting do we use the smudge tool to create a 3d form. (sorry my english is not perfect). thanks.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to Ylaz [2010-01-05 16:52:15 +0000 UTC]

Hi! You do not need the smudge tool. I never use it. It is better to blend colors with the brush.

To create a 3D form, you need to use values. In art, "value" is how light or dark a color is. Think of a pencil drawing. When you shade with a pencil, the darker parts look like shadows. This is the most basic way to make something look 3D. In painting, it is more complicated because of color, but it is the same idea. The darkness and lightness of different colors work together to create a 3D form.

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TerraRhapsody In reply to ??? [2010-01-04 20:23:40 +0000 UTC]

This deviation has been featured in my journal. Please let me know if you would like it removed! Find it here--> [link]
Happy new year!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

navate In reply to TerraRhapsody [2010-01-04 22:24:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0


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