Help with chalky skin tones

[thelonegoldfish]

I've noticed some of my skin tones have a chalky build up when I use them. I think the latest one I remember it happening on was maiden flesh.

 

Anyone know why this happens and how to mitigate it?

[Cyradis]

White paint seems to have a very thick pigment. Paler paint gets chalky more easily from my experience. Instead of thinning with just water, try putting some thinning medium or glaze medium in. It will hold the paint together better than water. 

[thelonegoldfish]

Tried just thinning more, and still ended up with a chalky consistency.

 

Added a drop of liquitex glaze medium (this thing makes big drops) to about 5 drops of caucasian flesh, watered it down with 2 drops of water and it seems to be working fine if taking forever to apply.

 

The sunburnt flesh looked really good with this method, but that's darker already.

 

Thanks Cyradis

[Cyradis]

Have you tried just some thinner medium and the paint, instead of adding water? Base coats shouldn't take forever to apply. A coat or two should be sufficient. Chalkiness begins for me more often in the glazing and layering phase. 

 

Some of my paints do get chalky and almost gritty anyway - it is why I rarely use my Rosy Skin triad. That stuff is really prone to it in my experience. 

[thelonegoldfish]

@cyradis I tried airbrush thinner instead of water, and that ended up chalky as well.

 

I don't have thinner medium specifically.

 

[Cyradis]

That's unfortunate. My glazing medium has been helping me a bunch recently. Still have to be careful with the pale colors though. How dry is your area? Is it possible that you are getting slight bits of paint drying on your brush as you apply the paint? I had to deal with that when I lived in dry air. 

[thelonegoldfish]

Pacific northwest, but somehow I have a drying problem sometimes too. Mostly due to insufficient thinning I think. But trying to do eyes, sometimes the I'll go from the palette to the model and it will be dry by the time I get there.

[Cyradis]

I just moved to the Pacific Northwest, so everything here feels moist to me after Colorado. I don't tend to have a problem with eyes though. This guide is great for that, and allows use of a larger brush - hold more paint, have more time until drying happens. https://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/12 

 

 

[Doug Sundseth]

4 minutes ago, thelonegoldfish said:

Pacific northwest, but somehow I have a drying problem sometimes too. Mostly due to insufficient thinning I think. But trying to do eyes, sometimes the I'll go from the palette to the model and it will be dry by the time I get there.

 

What size brush are you using? I generally use a quality #1 or #2 brush for eyes, which mostly doesn't have that problem. Very small brushes can allow paint to dry very quickly.

[thelonegoldfish]

Usually a 0, though I tend to try to put as little paint on them as possible to avoid it spilling everywhere.

 

Like I said, it'll probably sort itself out as I get better at thinning.

[Cyradis]

Do you blot your brush on a towel between palette and figure, when using thinned paint?

[thelonegoldfish]

I do now it it seems overloaded... and I usually blot from the middle of the bristles. (if I had wet the brush before the paint).

 

My methods have been in flux for a bit.

Edited September 19, 2018 by thelonegoldfish

[Guindyloo]

Some paints just naturally come out chalky and it doesn't matter what you use to thin them with. If you have other options, you're better off using a different paint rather than fighting with a paint that doesn't want to cooperate. I love Reaper's Golden Skin triad. There are a couple of their other single skin tone paints that also work great for me. Otherwise, not so much. If the midtone colour of a skin tone triad is working for you but the highlight of it is coming out chalky, try gradually lightening the midtone colour manually with your favourite white/off-white instead.

[Cyradis]

It would be worth practicing as a habit. It kinda feels like wasting paint at first, but then it becomes a matter of using paint effectively. Its no good if it spills all over a figure, and it is no good if it dries on the brush. You don't need to get rid of all the liquid in the brush when you blot it, just let the excess go. By the end of painting one figure, I have a folded paper towel that is completely colorful on all sides and all folds due to blotting and twirling my brush into a point. 

 

Just now, Guindyloo said:

Some paints just naturally come out chalky and it doesn't matter what you use to thin them with. If you have other options, you're better off using a different paint rather than fighting with a paint that doesn't want to cooperate. I love Reaper's Golden Skin triad. There are a couple of their other single skin tone paints that also work great for me. Otherwise, not so much. If the midtone colour of a skin tone triad is working for you but the highlight of it is coming out chalky, try gradually lightening the midtone colour manually with your favourite white/off-white instead.

 

^^ Guindy is very right here. And the Golden Skin triad is awesome. S75's Purity White is my favorite smooth white for mixing/highlighting, personally. 

[thelonegoldfish]

Quote

You don't need to get rid of all the liquid in the brush when you blot it, just let the excess go

Yeah, that's what I realized... hence blotting from the middle if I was loading a wet/semi-wet brush already.

 

As to whether to keep fighting the reaper skintones (now that I seem to have a handle on them) or to switch to scale 75 or something... I still have to decide.