Burnt umber is the base for darker skin tones. To that mixture I add cadmium red light and/or cadmium orange along with a some raw sienna. In the shadows, I often add ultramarine blue, perylene maroon, or ultramarine violet in the shadows.

Here is an example of a quick sketch that uses burnt umber, cadmium red light, raw sienna, and ultramarine blue. There may also be some perylene maroon in the shadows.

African American Skin Tone

Just about any combination of red, yellow, and blue will produce a flesh tone in watercolor. Each situation is different and no formula substitutes for your own observation. I will share what works for me.

For average caucasian skin, I use Winsor & Newton Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre (they’re quite similar), M. Graham Cadmium Red Light, and a blue, violet, or (rarely) green, The blue depends on the subject, the lighting, and the pigments I am using in the rest of the painting. Cerulean blue is probably the easiest to work with and works best for light-skinned subjects. Sometimes I use Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue and sometimes I use Holbein Mineral Violet.

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* Learn to draw the head before you worry about portraits. Get a skull — a plastic one from a medical supply house — and study the bones. Find a good anatomy reference. Also, get a copy of one Bridgman books.

* When you’re drawing the head, worry about getting the shape of the head right. Concentrate on big shapes — the cheek bone, the front and side planes of the forehead, and the eye socket. Make sure you make the cranial cavity big enough, and, if you have a 3/4 or profile view, make sure you don’t cut off the back of the head. If you get all that right, the features will usually take care of themselves.
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