How To Make Your Own Skin Tones

[@corydolbashian8505]

This is so good! I love when a painter will mention "Why" they do something, not just "how" it's done

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks Cory. :)

[@Andreithelord]

Seconding this. The theory makes a skill so much easier to acquire than simple muscle memory. Even more so for precision techniques where placement or tone makes all the effect

[@Henry-lk5pm]

I’m a relative newbie to the world of mini painting, naturally I’ve watched about a 1000hrs of youtube vids on the topic; swinging wildly between “informed” and “confused” as to which techniques to practise first, which paints, how to mix them and what they should look like when applied correctly. Skin tones have recenty become the greatest challenge for me. I’m now of the opinion that EVERY new mini painter should watch this video first (especially before deciding to buy 25 different pots of “flesh colour” paint) and follow your instructions to practice mixing the various hues and highlights. I especially valued your “what to do when it goes wrong” approach. So helpful! I would love to see you apply that method of teaching in painting specific elements of a mini. For example; when too much metallic paint is applied to a weapon, when the base coat is too thick or too thin, when the base isn’t the hue you were expecting, when the highligh covers too much or too little of the mid-tone, etc. etc. Thanks again. Fantastic video!

[@dougsundseth6904]

If you're going to try to use straight primaries, it's a good idea to pick single pigment colors. If the color you're using is already a mix of colors, further mixing will tend towards mud. I'd recommend something like Cobalt Blue, Pyrrole Red (or Quinacridone Magenta for a truer primary), and a Hansa Yellow, along with true black and white. That said, I really prefer one of the earth-tone browns like Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna to start with, then change value and hue from there. It's both quicker and easier to match colors because the paint is drying or you didn't mix quite enough the first time.

[@KujoPainting]

This is a great comment, thanks for taking the time. I take it from your approach that you're more a classical artist than a miniature painter?

[@dougsundseth6904]

@@KujoPainting No, I've been a miniatures painter for decades (not that you could necessarily tell that from the quality of my work) and over the last couple of years started picking up information from classically trained artists. Recently I've mostly been using artists fluid acrylics rather than dedicated miniatures paints specifically because of the way that they mix. Some things about them are amazing; others are kind of annoying. It's kind of a work in progress. 8-)

[@stevegeefanplastic]

Hi Kujo, this is probably the clearest and easiest to understand tutorial about paint mixing (skintones) that I've seen on KZbin. well done and please keep them coming Kindest Regards.

[@KujoPainting]

Thank you very much!

[@SENTINELA-X1J]

Nota 6

[@eatem1978]

This is one of the best painting tutorials I have ever seen.

[@KujoPainting]

High praise, thanks very much!

[@JFXBENGALS-The_P0NY-X]

So glad I found this channel, after a year of painting over 50 miniatures I can glaze and wet blent pretty well, but other things like this video I just didn't understand basic colour mixing .

[@use5555]

You did an exceptional job here as an introduction to color principles. Well explained and described. This is coming from a retired paint salesman. Good Job.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks a lot, glad you liked it!

[@richardlangridge3878]

Wow, I've watched o lot of videos on colour theory, But this is spot on.

[@waksukka]

Wow, covered so many skin tones with just the primary colors, white, and black... Amazing!

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks mate :0)

[@Clone16165]

It's this simple touches and steps that put you above the rest of the KZbin painting tutorials. Thanks for doing this!

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks mate :)

[@quondamreveries7258]

You make mixing skin tones look easy. And now that I’ve actually seen how someone mixes them instead of just reading about it, I know now it actually is easy!

[@KujoPainting]

:0)

[@epifaniofelix1622]

I’m 2 years late but, despite the long time span, your video explanation on skin tones is the clearest and most informative to date. It definitely encourages me to experiment the various tones. I thank you so much for your presentation.

[@7mmScout]

A great education in a smart way to do the job. I greatly prefer this over buying proprietary colours with goofy names and never understanding why these pre mixed products work

[@MonkeyNinja99]

This is by far the best mixing your own skin tone video I've seen! Very helpful, can't wait to try out the complementary color skin tones!

[@KujoPainting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@renato082788]

I'm so glad to have found your channel, you may not have a ton of subscribers yet (or as much as other popular mini painting channels) but I know you will blow up in popularity! I have been binge watching every one of your videos, seeing them has made painting look doable and most important fun! Keep it up man, you are one of the best channels in mini painting!

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks very much! The channels been slow growing over the past few years, it's amazing to me that 17 thousand people have decided to subscribe, that is a lot of people. It took along time to get to 10 thousand but it seems like yesterday and we're closing in on 20, so it's speeding up. Thanks for taking the time to comment, hope you enjoy what I have planned for the future. :)

[@renato082788]

Oh im sure I will enjoy, I have so far. Plus your humor is also on point. I have already talked to my little group of painter friends about your channel, so ill spread the word when I can. One question: Do you think that some colors just don't mix well as shadows/base and highlights? I decided to do a mini in like a rhinox hide base (citadel) and built it up with like a green/grey from Vallejo. Ha it seemed ok in my mind but when executed it does not look well at all, maybe i am just not doing mixing well and consistency, I have only been painting for 3 months so I understand i am not near competent, so I am just wondering your thoughts.

[@booksetc.6482]

You are the best descriptional and explainable artist I have ever watched. I thank you for making this so easy to follow and understand.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks very much. You're welcome :)

[@bethstany6544]

Thank you. Most comprehensive video on skin tones I’ve seen. I finally get it .

[@notmymichael]

I'm colorblind and your tips for fixing the colors is very helpful. Thank you 😊

[@KujoPainting]

Brilliant :)

[@karenmcdonnell4337]

solidly the best tutorial on youtube

[@samuelsanfratello4617]

Excellent blending video! Really like the "were you paying attention" test questions!

[@KujoPainting]

Glad you liked it, thanks. did you get them right? :)

[@stephen1098]

This is great tutorial. Reminds me of when i was in art school. Miniature painters really to must on premixed paints and think that mixing there own colors is scary when it not really difficult at all.

[@KujoPainting]

Yeah that's true, it's more fun too because you end up with something pretty unique to you. Makes it a bit tricky to explain how you did something though when people ask 'hey what did you use for x?'

[@piotrek1v4n]

Once again I've learnt more from one of your video, than from watching 20+ skintones videos elsewhere. You rock!

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks mate :)

[@iOfSauron]

Best videos I've seen. I love how easy you make painting. Thank you

[@KujoPainting]

You are so welcome

[@redbaron671]

Quality video on skintones and mixing your own paint. I would have never tried this but it looks like you can really produce some fantastic mixes.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks, yeah you should give it a go, it's lots of fun to do, plus no two minis you paint will be the same. :)

[@ggg-uu4io]

This is so simply put and succinct. Perfect!

[@KujoPainting]

Thank you.

[@Tashishi0]

Thank you for making this video! I've got a good base in color theory, but blending complimentary colors into the base tone to get highlights is something I've never thought of doing. Very neat idea!

[@KujoPainting]

Thank you, I want to do more videos on colour theory in the future, it's a pretty overlooked topic in mini painting but it's really useful and fun to mess about with. Glad you liked it :)

[@spagroen]

My friend. This was amazing! Thank you so much for teaching me this! Can't wait to get started tonight!!!

[@KujoPainting]

You're most welcome, have fun!

[@krzysiekk1616]

Oh man, one of the best 'how to paint your bloody minis well' movie. 15 minutes gives us more than thousand hours of other crap.

[@KujoPainting]

Hey, thanks man, appreciate that!

[@palafoxx8793]

I never get tired of watching these useful videos. This is one of the best videos I've seen on this subject. Thank you Kujo!!

[@KujoPainting]

Wow, thanks! Glad you found it helpful. Cheers!

[@chucklamb3496]

Best explanation I’ve seen! Thanks.

[@KujoPainting]

You're most welcome, cheers. :)

[@bobongler]

Wonderful video. Thank you for the time you took to make this.

[@KujoPainting]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@WendyHall-n4p]

Love your teaching style! I learned a lot! Thanks.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks, glad you found it helpful. :)

[@jetshroom]

Great vid Kujo, I hadn't thought to mix in complimentary colours with my highlights, I usually go the opposite way and mix them into my shades. I'm going to give that a try.

[@KujoPainting]

Yeah it works really well, for sure give it a go. I think you'll like it. :)

[@maxvieralilja7022]

this is incredibly useful. now I have a better idea about what I need to do for dark skin tones, thanks!!

[@KujoPainting]

You are most welcome.

[@scottnorris6529]

Absolutely fantastic! Very well explained and incredible production. Thank you!

[@KujoPainting]

Hey Scott, thanks for that. Glad you liked it. :)

[@Ghost3210]

Not gonna lie, I love really dark skin tones on my miniatures, but for a lot of fantasy races I'm scared that people will get it the wrong way and try to connect it to the negative aspects of these fantasy races. For example: nobody minds brown skin tones on elves and dark elves. But brown Orks create a huge backlash. Which is why I went for dark grey skin on my Warhammer Ogre army now. It works similar in terms of contrast to the armor, but at least I won't not to fear anyone feeling offended by them. I just think they are some cute and cool minis, very chonky.

[@KujoPainting]

To paraphrase Bob Marley, 'you can please some people sometime, but you cannot please all the people all the time, so now you've seen the light, stand up for your right.'

[@jonathanvanasse6102]

Thanks Kujo, great video and very helpful. Do you ever work with Vallejo or Reaper paints? Would be awesome if you did a similar video, but starting with their skin tones and adjusting various ways!

[@KujoPainting]

I did something like that in an older video -> kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5rMiX6oorqlgqc It's not so fleshed out (urg) as this one, but might be useful. Cheers!

[@pedrogzc]

SUPERB! Thank you for sharing!

[@KujoPainting]

You're welcome, glad you liked it.

[@ElNick09]

Going to have to watch this again!

[@KujoPainting]

:0)

[@bitzbox]

Another easy to follow and well explained video. Nice work.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks very much.

[@keithkraine475]

Well done mate. Another great tutorial,thank you.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks, you're welcome.

[@ErwinNiezing]

This is gold. Thanks.

[@KujoPainting]

You're welcome, glad you liked it. :)

[@dylancaygill8407]

Great tutorial Kujo thanks heaps!

[@tonystanley8186]

Awesome tutorial. Definitely going to try this out the next time I'm doing skin.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks Tony! Best of luck with it :0)

[@robnancekivell2202]

This video was so good that I've signed up to the Patreon (a little late I know). Great work

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks Rob, always appreciated. Hope to see you on the discord. :)

[@christiansebine7316]

Amazing theory video mate, really glad that I have seen it 😲

[@KujoPainting]

Glad you liked it

[@KungKras]

Awesome tutorial! Would it work the same way with cyan magenta and yellow as the base colours?

[@KujoPainting]

Yep, it would indeed.

[@KungKras]

@@KujoPainting Nice! I'm going to try this out with all possible combinations. Not just for miniature painting, but for watercolours also.

[@666lupine666]

I am going to use this. trying out a test run today. Anecdotally I once watched a professional chef try and 'save' two gallons of soup, over an hour later we had to toss 16 gallons of product. I guess its better to start over sometimes.

[@KujoPainting]

I wouldn't recommend eating the paint, even though I do it :0) Best of luck with it, hope it helps your painting.

[@LTModels]

Awesome tips!! Thank you for sharing

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks!

[@nadiabeno467]

Thank u so much very informative video

[@KujoPainting]

Most welcome, glad you found it helpful. :)

[@caspianclaesson8445]

Very helpful

[@KujoPainting]

Awesome.

[@bethanygraham427]

Wonderful video! Best I have seen on this topic.

[@KujoPainting]

Cheers Bethany, appreciate that!

[@bethanygraham427]

Enjoyed it so much, joined on Patreon.

[@KujoPainting]

Oh nice, you are very kind. Thank you. Hope to see you entering the competition. :)

[@Bunyip_Studios]

thanks dude, nice expansion on the Zorn Palette

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks!

[@carreroarts9735]

very helpful ,thank you

[@KujoPainting]

You're welcome.

[@diddy_lemon1]

Thanks Kujo, revisiting this once again - Diddy

[@KujoPainting]

Welcome, I rewatched this a few days ago too hehe. :)

[@liverpools]

Great stuff as usual. When you would freeze the video the resolution would get very bad. Figure I'd let you know.

[@KujoPainting]

Yeah I know, not sure why it's doing that though. Been trying to fix it.

[@IDICBeer]

Thanks for that, very interesting

[@KujoPainting]

Welcome Nick, glad you liked it.

[@resin_Hd]

Terrific lesson!

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks!

[@PuffySofty]

If my mix is too red/pink, does that count as too purple or too orange? I'm wondering if I should add yellow or blue~

[@KujoPainting]

Essentially you're adding the opposite colour on the colour wheel to bring it back closer to brown. If you look on the colour wheel you'll see the colour on the opposite side to red is green so you'd add a small amount of yellow and blue as yellow and blue make green. Hope that makes sense.

[@ernie1903]

Brilliant kujo really helpfull

[@KujoPainting]

Excellent, glad you like it.

[@brianlojeck]

I notice you use the contrasting color for a highlight tone near the end of the video, but as a shadow in the start of the video... does a contrasting color work for any change in brightness?

[@KujoPainting]

Hi mate, yes it does, it's hard to balance if you're changing colour between each layer. But it's doable. Check out some of Craftworld Studios' stuff they do that sort of thing quite a lot.

[@rockstrongo831]

Perfect tutorial, can only agree with the comments!

[@VivMBSR]

Really useful, thanks

[@KujoPainting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TheSnow16]

what that i hear on 6:58??

[@KujoPainting]

Quagmire!

[@bartekkucharski3880]

Hey again. Good as always but using primaries+ white is fundaments of painting not only skin but everything else. But there is one thing people forget. SHadow colours should not contain white. The best explanation you can found on Mark Carder channel. Also check out 'red is not primary colour' theory.

[@KujoPainting]

Hmm I haven't heard of red is not primary colour theory. I'll check it out, cheers!

[@tasospantazopoulos8217]

kujo you are one of the best your videos are brilliant and i could only hope of reaching your level of greatness(sorry for my shit english)

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks! You're English is fine, everyone can get better with practice, don't sell yourself short. :-)

[@vampirwurst1101]

And what to fo if O want a real pale skintone? Marble like? Just mixing white or yellow in it until I have my skintone?

[@KujoPainting]

Yeah just lighten it so you're starting with a lighter base colour.

[@TechnicianZubb]

Difficult to find info on darker skin tones, it's like people forget all miniatures don't have to be some degree of peach

[@KujoPainting]

I think it's because it's harder to do well so most people don't try.

[@moonshinetheleocat1235]

Hey Kujo, I'm having some problems getting an orange hue out of my yellow. It takes an ungodly amount of Vallejo Model Flat Yellow to make an orange with flat red. It seems like the yellow only brings the red closer to a pink. What paints are you using exactly, that you can get an immediate transition with equal parts.

[@KujoPainting]

Hiya, I don't have those paints, so I'm not 100% sure, but if it's going pink you might have some white in the yellow or your red might not be as red as you think. Try to use a really intense yellow and red. The paints in the video were Baal Crimson and Marduk Yellow from the Fantasy & Games line. Also, when you're mixing red and yellow add the red to the yellow, don't add the yellow to the red. Always mix the darker of the two colours into the lighter one, otherwise like you say you'll need an ungodly amount of paint. At least for a while, once you get confident with it you can do it either way because you'll have a better grasp of how much paint to use.

[@moonshinetheleocat1235]

@@KujoPainting and do you use a deep blue or a lighter blue?

[@KujoPainting]

i use a nice vibrant blue.

[@moonshinetheleocat1235]

@@KujoPainting i am more engie than artist. When you say vibrant, do you mean bright? Or seemingly.... More blue? Or dark?

[@harrymanback3475]

Another great tuitional ty Kujo :-)

[@KujoPainting]

You're welcome, thanks for stopping by. :)

[@robinadelstam4492]

This helps allot tanks :D

[@petersaczko6192]

Isn't that colour wheel with complementary colour just a fancy way of saying Red and Green don't mix?

[@KujoPainting]

No. :)

[@shanjudo4510]

wow amazing content!!

[@KujoPainting]

Thank you sir.

[@Andreaskentorp]

Why not use magenta, cyan and yellow?

[@Corswain]

I think he is keeping it simple for stupids like me :D

[@KujoPainting]

;)

[@DrWickermoon]

And I was just going to ask for another skin tut on twitter, due to the skin job on your KD:M model. But a short question: I bought the Scale75 Skintones set a while ago, soooo...should I not use that, can I get the same results with these? :(

[@KujoPainting]

:) Actually I'm not so much a fan of using the scale colours for skin tones, the ultra matt finish looks a bit odd on skin. I prefer to use paints that have more of a satin finish, looks more lifelike. Sometimes I use the Scale Colors in the highlights, but I try to avoid it for the majority of the skin. That's just me though, try them out for sure. You might prefer them.

[@megha283]

I tried the method...i used ultramarine blue, cadmium red and lemon yellow and i am not getting same results. Doest it have to be specific red, blue and yellow...coz i am trying to paint a black lady and finiding difficult to get the skin tone i am looking for

[@KujoPainting]

You want colours that as close to full saturation as possible. Cadmium red is more like an orange, not sure about the other two.

[@goldy7514]

I love your videos man!but do you think this is a better way to get high quality skintones than usig normal skin tone paints? I havent used this trick yet .

[@KujoPainting]

Not necessarily better, but if you want your models to have a character unique to you, then absolutely.

[@goldy7514]

Kujo Painting awesome! Im going to give it a try

[@KujoPainting]

Cool, best of luck! Let me know how you get on :-)

[@lagoweyeo4902]

I have been waiting for a video like this 😂.

[@KujoPainting]

I hope the waiting paid off!

[@dogbreath99]

Hey Kujo, odd question do you mix and dilute your paints with the same brush you paint with or do you keep a separate one for that? I've seen painters do both, does it wear out the brush any faster?

[@KujoPainting]

I'm too lazy to bother having a seperate brush for mixing on the palette, I just use the one I'm using at the time. It will for sure wear out your brush faster but by how much I have no idea. I usually get quite a lot of use out my brushes so I don't feel I'm losing much from not using a spare brush for the dirty work. :)

[@dogbreath99]

@@KujoPainting thanks for the info, I didn't want to treat myself to some nice brushes and then ruin them in a couple days. Thanks again and great job with the tutorials!

[@sevencoloredmage8726]

This is crazy good information.

[@KujoPainting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@akselolsson7576]

Great vid!!

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks!

[@beetle5000]

Awesome sauce, gonna mess with this tomorrow

[@KujoPainting]

Excellent, good luck!

[@Tazirai]

This will save me some money, since I'm doing brownskinned Eldar, thanks.

[@KujoPainting]

Nice! :) Hope they turn out well.

[@richardvervuurt1058]

Great video

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks Richard.

[@samuelsanfratello4617]

"Repetition is the mother of Retention"... ;-)

[@KujoPainting]

Absolutely.

[@ShadowDrakken]

Would be even easier using primary colors instead of a mix of primary and secondaries. That's why you had issues right at the beginning.

[@KujoPainting]

Thanks for the tips!

[@graveofmonsters4076]

Holy fuck now I've seen it all. An actual interesting painting video on youtube. So used to "and then I add white and do the same thing. I add more white and do a little less of the same thing". More videos like this please. Push the medium further not just the same video with the colours switched like we usually see. Double plus good. You get 1 potato.

[@KujoPainting]

Thank you. I do want to do more videos on the why rather than the how. Still, showing the step by step process can be pretty useful too. Glad you like it, cheers. :)

[@anekadiamond]

The memes are killing me 😭🤣🤣 love this

[@KujoPainting]

lol thanks pal, glad you like it. :0)

[@SENTINELA-X1J]

Bom....... Nota 5

[@Fauxmadd]

Good video

[@KujoPainting]

Cheers!

[@Unnickcomealtri]

Kujo you're my "heterosexuality check". I'm pretty sure I'm heterosexual after finding you on YT, because there's not way a non-straight painter wouldn't want to spend his life with you. I do love you, tho!

[@7bootzy]

I rolled a 1 for my heterosexuality check. Welp...

[@KujoPainting]

This is a good time to cash in your reroll.

[@coalitionofrob436]

Hilarious, watched Willow with the kids last night!

[@KujoPainting]

I love that film :)

[@CosmicDuskWolf]

I always thought purple and yellow look gross together.

[@KujoPainting]

A lot of it's down to personal preference and it kinda depends how it's handled. Ideally you want a lot more of one colour than the other.

[@CosmicDuskWolf]

@@KujoPainting Well I guess maybe with a gold. I don't know for some reason it always reminds me of spoiled bacon. I'm not sure why. I guess maybe if there are some minis out there with a good purple and yellow paint scheme I might change my mind.

[@dietdrano1059]

Hey that was willow

[@harrymanback3475]

Yes that was willow, the acorn lobbing Peck in person!

[@KujoPainting]

It sure was! If only he had picked his own finger!

[@geertthomas]

Sharing ;) gg

[@KujoPainting]

Thank you :0)