Some notes on painting skin tones. Bear in mind I paint 15mm figures using the black undercoat.
European Skin Tones
I paint Europeans pretty simply. Using the Black Undercoat Method it is just a black with features highlighted with Flesh tone, i.e. forehead, nose, chin, checks, ears, hands.
Negro Skin Tones
I’ve tried a couple of schemes for painting Negro skin tones. I like the “one tone” approach because it is effective and simple. At the other end of the spectrum there are suggestions for multiple layers of dry brushing.
Negro Skin Tones – one tone
I paint 15mm figures so I use a very simple scheme. On a black undercoat I use 
Vallejo 140 (984) Flat Brown to paint the facial features (forehead, nose, checks, chin, ears) and other flesh (hands, arms, legs). Leave the black undercoat as shadow.
Negro Skin Tones – two tone
Before I landed on the one tone option I tried a two tone option:
- Vallejo 149 Chocolate Brown
Paint the facial features (forehead, nose, checks, chin, ears) and other flesh (hands, arms, legs). Coat D’arms 216 Negro would do as well. - Vallejo 139 Mahogany Brown
Dry brush the flesh
This gives a slightly red-ish glow to the skin. Using just the base coat (Vallejo 149 Chocolate Brown or Coat D’arms 216 Negro) leaves the flesh areas too dark – the figure looks incomplete.
Negro Skin Tones – layers of dry brushing
If you want a more complicated/realistic painting guide then check out the vallejo colour palettes given on Cool Mini or Not: Ethnic Skin Tones. All references are to Vallejo paints. The table below gives the summary for Negro skin tones. There is a range of skin tones from dark skinned (African man) to light skinned (Afro-American woman). Just dry brush the way through you the list.
| African Man (Dark skin) |
African Woman | Afro-American Man | Afro-American Woman (Fair skin) |
|---|---|---|---|
 150 German Cam. Black Brown |
140 Flat Brown |
140 Flat Brown |
139 Mahogany Brown |
149 Chocolate Brown |
139 Mahogany Brown |
 134 US Tan Earth |
 Mix 75% 136 Red Leather and 25% 139 Mahogany Brown |
Mix 50% 149 Chocolate Brown and 50% 134 US Tan Earth |
 131 Orange Brown |
131 Orange Brown |
Ochre Brown #856 |
134 US Tan Earth |
 133 Cork Brown |
133 Cork Brown |
Dark Sand #847 |
Mix 75% 133 Cork Brown  and 25% 038 Brown Rose |
 132 Brown Sand |
 017 Basic Skintone |
Mix 80% Iraqi Sand #819 and 20% Ivory #918 |
017 Basic Skintone |