Wood Elf Goddess [WIP - Light skin tone]

Vallejo Model Colors are the best acrylic paints I have used for skin tones by a country mile. And if used together with the Reaper Master Series paints, I feel that the sky is the limit for me from now on. It's as if the glass ceiling that's holding me back has been shattered ... perhaps a tad over dramatic I give you that but that's how it feels for me. Although this is my first attempt at painting skin tones using the Vallejo paints, the results I got are so much better than what I have ever achieved ... period. 

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

Still undecided whether to paint her blouse as sheer fabric

Side view (left) of of the Wood Elf Goddess, work-in-progress skin tones

I found it easier to achieve smoother textures even for the lighter hues which have always given me problems by turning out chalky. Well not any more, as I did not have much trouble with chalkiness when using the Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints. It was also easier to blend smooth transitions.

Vallejo Model Colors are giving me smoother textures, even for the lighter hues

Back view of the Wood Elf Goddess, work-in-progress skin tones

Subtle shadows to shape her buttock and back of knee

Any harsh transitions from light to dark that you may spot in the photos are purely my own fault as I had to quickly finish her skin tone before my paints dried up completely. In my hurry, I missed a few spots. That means I will need to do about half-an-hour to one-hour or more of blending and layering to achieve smoother colour transitions. But the big question is whether I will be able to get the same skin tones I had mixed earlier seeing that they have already dried up in this hot weather. I created a lot of mixture/ratios to obtain smooth colour transitions, and some I may not be able to recreate.

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

Dark Sword's Wood Elf Goddess is an incredibly sculpted piece, very beautiful

In brief, the paints I used were beige red/basic skin tone for the midtone; pale sand, basic skin tone and beige red in varying mixtures for the highlights; and German camouflage pale violet brown, basic skin tone, and beige red in different ratios for the shadows. Carmine red was mixed with the midtone for the lip colour while a glaze of Reaper Clear Bright (Red) was applied on parts of the Wood Elf Goddess's body. For the correct mixture and techniques in the painting of a light skin tone, I strongly suggest you check out Marike Reimer's painting DVD. My results are nowhere near as good as hers.  

Colours used for the Wood Elf Goddess's light skin tone

Keeping her skin tone low contrast meant it was difficult for me to maintain some depth to her skin so I did the best I could. Regardless I am still happy with the results. Finishing this light skin tone experiment has gotten me all fired up to do the dark skin one. Stay tuned for that one as it's up next!