Wood Elf Goddess [WIP - Dark skin tone]

My experimentation with Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints for skin tones continues with an attempt to paint a darker skin tone on another Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess miniature. Used in conjunction with Reaper Master Series Clear Brights, the Vallejo paint recipe for dark skin is adapted slightly from a Marike Reimer tutorial found on her painting DVDs. After considerable trial and error, I managed to get reasonably close (if not exactly similar) to the paint mixtures used to create the dark skin tone. At this stage, her skin is 70% to 90% complete depending on how light I want to make her. 

Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess, work-in-progress dark skin tone

As with her light-skinned sister, I may pain her wearing sheer fabric 

It was easier to blend smooth transitions for dark skin

I guess it should not have been any surprise to find it much easier to get smooth blends for the darker skin tone. After all, chalkiness is often associated more with lighter acrylic paint colours. I had initially planned to give the Wood Elf Goddess lighter highlights and darker shadows but stopped short as I kinda liked the dark skin tone I had painted so far. But what I like may not be good enough. 

Future touch ups could involve lightening the highlights and deepening the shadows 

Back view of the Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess, work-in-progress skin tone

I plan to paint her hair black but choice of dress colour is yet to be decided

So while I am generally happy with the results I have achieved so far, I am still tempted to do lots more work on her skin by making the highlights lighter and the shadows darker. I think this would take it closer to the excellent dark skin tone achieved by Marike Reimer in her DVDs. But there is this voice in my head urging me to let sleeping dogs lie lest I destroy all the work I have done so far.  

Side view (right) of the Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess, work-in-progress skin tone

Put a ring on it?

Colours used for the dark skin tone were Vallejo Model Color Pale Sand, Green Ochre, Red Beige, German Camouflage Pale Violet Brown, Mahogany Brown and Reaper Master Series Clear Brights. As the steps on mixing colours needed to paint the dark skin was implicit, I made an educated guess on the paint mixture/ratios. In brief, I used Red Beige/Pale Violet Brown/Mahogany as the mid-tone with Green Ochre and Pale Sand added for the various highlights. For shadows, more Mahogany Brown and some Oxford Blue was added. The Reaper Clear Brights were used as a red and purple (blue plus red) glaze, something that I may need to do more of when touching up the dark skin tone.  

Colours used for my attempt at painting dark skin

As with the light skin tone experiment, if you truly want to achieve the best results then you owe it to yourself to check out Marike's painting DVDs. Below are some comparisons between the light- and dark-skinned Wood Elf Goddess in avatar form. Both would require different hair and dress colours. 

Light vs dark skin tone (front view of the Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess in avatar form)

Light vs dark skin tone (back view of the Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess in avatar form)

So my initial foray into skin tones using Vallejo paints was a success in that they suited my style of painting which involves a combination of layering and blending fairly thinned-out paint mixtures. I almost never dry-brush unless I am working on bases. One thing's for sure, this week marks a milestone in my attempts to be a better miniature painter. Other than my new found love affair with Vallejo Model Colors, I am also getting a bit better at layering and blending. Happy times all around.