Faces painted with artist acrylics.

I paint flesh using a couple of methods. One is the underpainting method and the other is building up layers from a basecoat. The basecoat method uses these primary steps.

1. Get some tube artists acrylic colors (W&N, liquitex). Burnt sienna, raw sienna, titanium white. Use high quality white as it really makes a difference.

2. Base coat - Mix 1 part burnt sienna, 1 part raw sienna, and white to taste. Try adding a little more burnt sienna to get a redder shadow tone. Apply without watering down, as the gel will allow for very thin layers to be applied in short, quick brushstrokes. the initial basecoat will be a bit messy as gel paints take many layers to use properly, but don't worry.

3. Add more white to the mix and wet blend with short strokes to create highlights. Do not use water here, but get thin layers by removing paint from the brush on a piece of paper or the palette. Do this quickly after applying the basecoat. Paint sideways across the face whenever possible to control the paint and not cover over shadows under the cheeks. 

4. Thin the flesh mix with water and add more white. The paint should be applied in thin layers now with less wet blending. You will find that the thin paint blends in on its own to a certain extent. Try to do this quickly after step 3.

5. Mix some burnt sienna + black + water to get a dark brown. This is not a wash but is painted in eye sockets and other shadow areas. Redder brown mixtures can be used to shadow the cheeks and neck.

6. Mix up some more skin with more burnt sienna and white than raw sienna. This is to give the pink tint to cheeks and noses. Apply in water-thinned layers. For women, add a touch of pink or red to the mix.

These paints are incredibly versatile and can mix into just about any skin tone.  Many colors in canvas paintings mixed in ways one would not expect. Raw and burnt siennas and umbers show up everywhere, in blues, greens, and yellows.