Flesh Shadow

What the color is for

Flesh Shadow is a shadow tone of skin. It is used wherever the face, neck or hands of a figure are to gain depth: in the eye sockets, under the brows, in the corners of the mouth, under the chin, between the fingers and in the folds of the skin. A basic flesh shade on its own looks flat on a small figure, because the natural half-shadows are missing at that scale; only shadow and light make a face out of a face. The shade can also be used to suggest stubble, a tan or tired skin.

How to work with it

The best procedure is from the broad surface to the detail: first the basic tone of the skin, then the shadow in the hollows and finally the light on the raised places. Apply it in thin layers and blend the transition between the shadow and the base; a sharp boundary on a face is distracting. It pays to work step by step and to build the strength of the shadow up by repetition, because taking away is harder than adding. The thinner, the thinning ratio and the drying time are stated by the manufacturer on the packaging; follow them. Try the shade out beforehand on a piece of scrap plastic, as it behaves differently on light and on dark skin.

Who it is for

For builders of figures and busts in any scale where skin is painted by hand. It also suits modelers who build figures only now and then to bring a diorama to life and need a single tone in addition to the basic flesh.

• a shadow tone of skin for the faces, necks and hands of figures
• it is applied into the hollows and the transitions are blended
• it is worked in thin layers and the shadow is built up step by step
• the thinner, the thinning ratio and the drying time are stated by the manufacturer on the packaging

Terms of supply

Brushes, thinner and other shades are not included in the delivery, unless stated otherwise.