Hi ladies! BSD is offline but Lexus and I did not want to wait to thank everyone who came to our ‘painted kit show’ last weekend, hehe! :)
Many of you asked how to make the anatomically correct torsos look so real, and I promised to post a lil’ somethin’ that should help explain. :) Just follow the same advice I gave for the tummy plates and paint dark pigmentation where you would see it on a real baby.
For the newbies- the pigmentation video I posted in March explains how brown skin shows non-subtle darker pigmentation in certain areas. When you hold a brown baby close, you see that his or her brown skin has permanent shadows, permanent mid-tones and permanent highlights. It not only light making the skin “look” different colors. Be sure to wrap your mind around this fact while painting. Brown people are living paintings-- especially brown babies who refuse to wear concealer and foundation that “hide” their natural dark to light pigmentation. ;)
Of course, dark pigmentation varies from baby to baby, so model your reborn after a baby you like. There is no right or wrong way when it comes to placement, as long as the end result is realistic.
Allison, Katie and Wu were concerned about not having access to brown skin up close and in person, but please, ladies, do not get discouraged! :) Use the provided professional reference photos and have fun painting what you see. Here is a great reference photo for the torso.
Also, for the newbies, and this one is a biggie-- be sure not to confuse coloring with shading. Some artists around the Internet use these terms interchangeably. Confusing the two will not help improve your ethnic painting skills. I have noticed that some Caucasian painting tutorials use both of these terms to describe the same thing, but with my ethnic painting technique, I draw a distinct line. Watch video #14 for a complete explanation on this topic.
Anywhoo, thank you all again for coming over! I am looking forward to our next weekend together in November! :)
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