Saper - Painting beautiful skin tones with color & light: oil, pastel and watercolor

painting beautiful skin, tones with color & light

in oil, pastel and watercolor

Chris Saper

NORTH LIGHT BOOKS
CINCINNATI, OHIO
www.artistsnetwork.com

The Notion of Race

Neither anthropologists nor sociologists can agree on what constitutes race, and each group modifies its thinking on the subject over time. Ethnicity, nationality, culture, migration and intermarriage over the centuries have blurred the lines. For the sake of convenience, the four skin color groups addressed in this book follow the guidelines published by the U.S. government (which, incidentally, reconsiders its own definitions every number of years) in the Federal Register.

Caucasian/White (not of Hispanic origin): Persons having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, NorthAfrica or the Middle East.

Black/African American (not of Hispanic origin): Persons having origin in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.

Asian or Pacific Islander: Persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, Indian Subcontinent or Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands and Samoa.

Hispanic: Persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish cultures or origins, regardless of race.

Painting Beautiful Skin Tones with Color & Light Copyright 2001 by Christine J. Saper. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including infor mation storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the pub lisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. (800) 289-0963. First edition.

Other fine North Light Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply store or direct from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Saper, Chris.

Painting Beautiful Skin Tones with Color & Light / by Chris Saper.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13:978-1-58180-163-7 (hc: alk paper)

ISBN-10:1-58180-163-7 (hc: alk paper)

1. Portrait paintingTechnique. 2. Human skin color in art. I. Tide.

ND1302 .S27 2001 2001030145

751.45'42dc21 CIP

Designer: Wendy Dunning

Cover designer: Andrea Short

Content editors: Amy J. Wolgemuth and Michael Berger

Production editor: Stefanie Laufersweiler

Interior production artist: Ben Rucker

Production coordinator: John Peavler

Artwork on title page: Sylvia, oil, 16 12 (41cm 31cm), collection of Milton and Sylvia Saper

Acknowledgments

My deepest thanks to my family, friends and talented and generous teachers, especially Phil Beck; for technical assistance, my thanks to AR3 Photography, Scottsdale; 5 Star Image Photo, Phoenix; and the GNU Group, Lafayette, California.

Special thanks to artist Ann Manry Kenyon for her warm friendship and encouragement; and to Jack Connery for believing it was just as important to teach darkroom technique as health care organi zation, and whose trusty old Nikkormat produced all the 35mm slides for this book. My heartfelt thanks to my North Light Book editors: to Amy Wolgemuth, Michael Berger and Stefanie Laufersweiler, for their patience and professionalism always; and to Rachel Wolf, for her humor, intellect and willingness to take a chance on a painter from Arizona.

Dedication

To Ron, Aaron and Alexandra, who teach me every day what real beauty is.

About the Author

Chris Saper's portraits are currently held in more than two hundred private and corpo rate collections throughout fourteen states and Canada. A member of the Palette & Chisel Academy in Chicago, the Pastel Society of America and the American Society of Portrait Artists, Saper has exhibited at the U.S. Senate Rotunda, the American Legacy Gallery in Kansas City, the National Arts Club and the Salmagundi Club in New York City.

Published in The Best of Portrait Painting (North Light Books, 1998) and Pastel Artist International Magazine, Saper's recent awards include the American Artists' Pro fessional League's Director's Award in New York and the International Association of Pastel Societies' Silver Medal. Her work is also the subject of a one-hour television program first aired on Phoenix Cable in the spring of 1997.

Saper has studied with noted portraitists, including Bettina Steinke, Burton Silverman, Harley Brown, Dan Gerhartz and Phil Beck. She holds a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and a master's degree in Health Services Administration. She resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband and children.

Visit with Saper at her Web site, www.chrissaper.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Each of us learns in different wayssome by reading or listening, some by watching, some by doing.

Since I began painting portraits ten years ago, I've sought out the advice of painters whose work I admire. Fortunately, many of those painters were also great teachers. To me, painters tend to be either intuitive or academic. Intuitive instructionjust pick out some color, use color that expresses the way you feelhas never helped me. But instructors who have taught me how to seewhat to look for and whyhave given me tools I can use for a lifetime. This book is designed to give you tools you can use, too.

Painting beautiful skin tones has more to do with understanding color and the way it is affected by light than any other factor. The principles presented here apply to any medium and do not rely on a particular style or technique.