Preventing "Chalky Skin Syndrome"

[The Joe]

I am working on some models for a friend currently and as I began to lay down the basecoats for the flesh tone (using the Vampiric Skin Triad) I got a bit of anxiety about it. 

 

There's  a prolific painter in my area who is fairly well known in gaming circles.  One of the things that always bothered me about his work was that he painted so much but EVERY TIME his skin tones would finish a gross, chalky way and he never worked to learn how to do otherwise.  Chalky Skin Syndrome is sort of one the ways to tell if he's the artist on a paintjob!

 

I REALLY do not want that to become my "style" the way it is his.  Having never worked with the Vampiric Skin Triad and it having been a long time since I've had to paint any human-ish skin colors I am especially apprehensive.  

 

What are the best ways to avoid Chalky Skin Syndrome and achieve a nice, smooth finish on the miniature's flesh?

[Inarah]

The chalky effect happens if you thin too much and the white pigment comes out of solution. It may take some trial and error to get it right.  Vampiric triad is mostly white so you're more likely to get that effect,  

[pcktlnt]

When I encounter paints that can become chalky, I add one drop of either reaper brush on sealer or gloss sealer to combat the thinning. It gives it a boost of liquid.

[Glitterwolf]

Inarah and Pcktlnt are both right.

Thin the paint right, shake that bottle..

If necessary add some brush on sealer.

 

Also..if you paint over primer, beware that the primer itself isn't gritty.

Sometimes if you use a spraycan and it's humid it might give that effect, if you paint over that it will also look chalky.

[lexomatic]

An acrylic medium for thining will do the trick. Used to happen to me all the time until I started adding some

[Count Urlik]

I had this problem too.  One of the tips on face/skin I gleaned from Darren Latham painting (before his YouTube channel was sadly deleted) was that chalkiness can happen when overworking thin paints.  DL, and the ‘eavy metal guys paint in a style that calls for numerous layers, as well as glazes and washes.  However, you can’t go back and forth until everything is covered just right.  Instead, you cover over the section (say, the upper cheek) just long enough to wet it.  Then you move on, and let it dry before either swabbing on another thin coat, or further highlighting a sub segment (say, just the cheekbone).  Even if you make a mistake, you just wait until it’s dried.  He might put 20 - 30 coats on a section, but always waits for it to dry in between.

 

TBH, it’s usually only a minute or so for really thin paint to dry, so it isn’t that burdensome.

 

Anyways, it’s helped me in reducing the chalky effect.

 

-t

[golldan]

On 5/5/2022 at 4:22 PM, Count Urlik said:

... One of the tips on face/skin I gleaned from Darren Latham painting (before his YouTube channel was sadly deleted) ...

There is now a 'Not_Darren_Latham' utoob page... so just morphed!