theasexual-jackson - Angelle diPoetry
Angelle diPoetry

985 posts

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing brown complexions to life

Inspired by this ask

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life

So, do Black people blush?

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life

We are human beans 🤣! Blood rushes through our veins! This isn't just a nonblack misconception either; I know plenty of Black people who think we don't blush. Stop saying that shit. It's not true! If you thought this at any point, I'm glad you learned, TAKE THIS L IN SILENCE! I am sparing you the indignity of saying this out loud, ever! šŸ™šŸ¾

Jokes aside, the actual issue usually lies with the depiction or description. Depending on our skin tone, most of us aren’t going to turn ā€˜bright pink’ with a blush (if you write that in your y/n or roleplaying fics, that’s an easy way to negate a good amount of your potential Black audience). Think of a cherry coke- how you still see the tint of red in it, but it’s still brown? Like that.

One way to dodge this in writing is to say ā€œflushedā€, or ā€œears/cheeks became hotā€. This is describing the physical action of blushing, without having to describe the color of someone’s face. If you’re really nervous about not writing us correctly via blushing… there you go!

Colorism

Okay. So this is something I’ll likely do its own lesson on, because there’s no way I could encapsulate it into one little blurb and I’m not going to try! After asking the internet an admittedly confusing question šŸ˜…, one thing I was able to reaffirm is that people have different opinions on what ā€˜dark’/’darker’ skin tones mean. People recognize that different cultural upbringings and contexts will change what that means! And that’s good- that an important part of the larger conversation!

However, I want everyone to understand that you don’t have to be Black to be dark/’darker’ skinned- you can be Black and very pale! We discussed that in the last lesson! There’s no ā€˜singular point of brown-ness’ that designates a Black person as ā€˜Black’- there’s an entire sociological conversation behind that!

My point is, this isn’t a ā€˜oh Black people OVERALL aren’t depicted blushing properly’- because there are ā€˜lighter’ skinned Black people that wouldn’t suffer as much from this particular issue.

Blushes and Undertones

Three Links for Tips on Medium to Deep Skintones

Different complexions are going to require different colors, there's not a 'one fits all' option. However! What we want to do for deeper brown complexions is to focus on BOLDER, not lighter! Putting light pink or a white person’s ā€˜nude’ on our skin will often make us look ashy and undercolored. And we don’t like looking ashy.

"It looks like they're ashy!"

What do we mean when we say this about a piece? Well, worse case scenario, it looks like this:

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life

This was NOT one of KD’s better days, and he was thoroughly mocked for this. He got more than enough money for lotion! Anyway, when we say that your art looks ā€˜ashy’, it means that it feels like the skin of your Black character is gray, or dead. Like a corpse. We don’t look like that unless things are dire.

In fan and professional art, you can sometimes find people user a grey undertone for deeper shades of brown on Black people: NO! We are NOT grey! We are not pitch! Many skin shades of brown can be found based in the oranges and the reds. Based on lighting and depth of complexion, you might even have to go into the blues and purple to capture the brown you’re seeking.

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life

I’m begging us to stop desaturating the browns we use. We can see the difference. It’s usually one of those ā€˜White Man Painted Brown’ techniques I discussed before; an attempt to ā€˜make a character Black’ without really committing to it because the brown skin tone ā€˜doesn’t look good’ to the artist. Brown is beautiful! Commit to brown! Commit to the full design!

Put in the work to create the brown you need!

While this is a traditional art piece (follow Ellie Mandy Art, a Black creator), I want you to notice how she incorporated many colors to create the deep brown for her piece.

-8:05 for the list of paints

-8:05-17:29 for the process

She used black, yes, but it was nowhere near the base color. She incorporated blues and reds and other browns to capture that depth. It wasn’t ā€˜toss in a bunch of black or grey to get the brown darker’. (SKIP TO THE END TO SEE HOW GOOD THIS PIECE IS, BTW. I felt like I was in the presence of a master watching her do this, fr. We gotta pay artists more.)

I want to use this model as an example to show that while we might get very dark, we're still not 'pitch black'. You can see the flat of the black of their clothes versus their deep complexion. They're not the same!

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life

Even if your character's complexion is very deep brown into black, you still need to incorporate ā€˜life’ into them (if that makes sense). And you know what? Even if you want to describe your characters as having ā€˜black’ skin, that’s fine, but there are still other ways to do it- obsidian, the night sky, velvet. Find a way to romanticize our skin (there’s an entire conversation about how ā€˜black’ is used in a negative connotation in language and storytelling, and we’re ALSO going to have that conversation later!)

A Real Simple Way (i.e. how I do it)

I tried, but I cannot find my skin tones palette link anymore. I’m sorry! But, it’s been essential to my character design. If you don’t ever buy anything else, I would HIGHLY suggest investing in a skin tones palette for your art program.

Everyone say hello to Philia, my OC! I’m used to drawing her, so I’m going to use her as an example. Now remember, I am still an amateur! But this is how I do it!

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life
Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing Brown Complexions To Life

Admittedly, I do the one on the left when I'm feeling lazy, but more often I'll take the time to do the one on the right. Now here’s the thing- I’m not actually blending the red into the brown. This is on a whole different layer. What I’m actually doing is adding to and fading the color until it’s at a color that I feel is natural. There's definitely an easier, smarter way to do this, but that’s what I like to do- I like to see the stages slowly until I’m comfortable.

You have to mess around and practice; see what looks good and what doesn't. Go into the reds, the oranges, the pinks and observe how it looks- I may go through multiple before I settle on one. It’s really just a matter of getting used to drawing Black skin tones and how they look in different lighting. This one's not perfect for sure.

Resources

Here are some really good posts and Youtube videos on how both to paint skin, and to add blush tones. And remember, as per my usual, the best way to learn how the draw and paint Black people is to follow and learn from Black artists! Another good idea might be looking into Black makeup and Black SFX makeup artists. As people that work with skin on a regular basis, they would be a good place to study what colors can and should be used on different skin colors as a whole.

ami0amii

Likelihood Art

Tiara Anderson

Proko

Sinix

Ross Draws

In summary, focus on bolder colors, be willing to test until you get what you need, and practice! All you can do to get better is to practice! And as always: it’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

  • worcestershire-sauce
    worcestershire-sauce liked this · 1 year ago
  • quasiquack666
    quasiquack666 liked this · 1 year ago
  • memento-mariii
    memento-mariii liked this · 1 year ago
  • bunnyboyzyon
    bunnyboyzyon liked this · 1 year ago
  • snowytiger
    snowytiger liked this · 1 year ago
  • acorncoffeeformysweetheart
    acorncoffeeformysweetheart liked this · 1 year ago
  • typosandtea
    typosandtea reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • typosandtea
    typosandtea liked this · 1 year ago
  • notanandalitebandit
    notanandalitebandit reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • notanandalitebandit
    notanandalitebandit liked this · 1 year ago
  • sponfawn
    sponfawn liked this · 1 year ago
  • hyaenidaze
    hyaenidaze liked this · 1 year ago
  • ghost--buzzard
    ghost--buzzard liked this · 1 year ago
  • not-from-mars
    not-from-mars liked this · 1 year ago
  • art-to-go-back-to-and-learn-from
    art-to-go-back-to-and-learn-from reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • buried-sunset
    buried-sunset liked this · 1 year ago
  • painonthebrain
    painonthebrain reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • cremebrulee-69
    cremebrulee-69 reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • cremebrulee-69
    cremebrulee-69 liked this · 1 year ago
  • crechi
    crechi liked this · 1 year ago
  • that-1-url
    that-1-url liked this · 1 year ago
  • heypax
    heypax liked this · 1 year ago
  • indiedoodles
    indiedoodles reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • indiedoodles
    indiedoodles liked this · 1 year ago
  • sukibenders
    sukibenders reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • awkwardqueercreature
    awkwardqueercreature liked this · 1 year ago
  • legit-a-queen
    legit-a-queen liked this · 1 year ago
  • prinnamon
    prinnamon liked this · 1 year ago
  • xx-k4nd1-1n-cyb3rsp4c3-xx
    xx-k4nd1-1n-cyb3rsp4c3-xx liked this · 1 year ago
  • failurebydesign
    failurebydesign liked this · 1 year ago
  • pedestrian-pop
    pedestrian-pop liked this · 1 year ago
  • darradreamer
    darradreamer liked this · 1 year ago
  • the-darkest-luminosity
    the-darkest-luminosity liked this · 1 year ago
  • shgdb
    shgdb liked this · 1 year ago
  • spamlets-blog
    spamlets-blog reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • spamlets-blog
    spamlets-blog liked this · 1 year ago
  • sunnyartistwriter
    sunnyartistwriter liked this · 1 year ago
  • androreblogs
    androreblogs reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • theinsanelycoolandzarming
    theinsanelycoolandzarming liked this · 1 year ago
  • wannabesongbird
    wannabesongbird liked this · 1 year ago
  • nordicberries
    nordicberries liked this · 1 year ago
  • eviebofficial
    eviebofficial liked this · 1 year ago
  • whatdoesthequeersay
    whatdoesthequeersay liked this · 1 year ago
  • tiramisugal13
    tiramisugal13 liked this · 1 year ago
  • 186-3
    186-3 reblogged this · 1 year ago
  • nimikyu
    nimikyu liked this · 1 year ago
  • plasticduck
    plasticduck reblogged this · 1 year ago

More Posts from Theasexual-jackson

1 year ago
Berry

berry šŸ’

↳  commission for fauxmingos on twt!


Tags :
1 year ago

Reblog to let people know that people identifying identities "cis-nazi" and "cis-zionist" are not welcome on your blog.

I shouldn't have to explain why this is a fucking stupid thing. Just... no. You don't "identify" as a nazi, you're just a raging fucking nazi/racist piece of shit.


Tags :
1 year ago

You tell them, monarch, you tell them.

I rly hate the Satanic Panic & the moral panic surrounding violence in video games in the 90s, coz it's now impossible to talk about the social implications of violent video games in a realistic sense.

No, violence in video games does not create serial killers in the way most people imagine it would.

However, it's very important to notice how after 9/11, a lot of violent video games pivoted their content from silly gratuitous cartoon gore to more realistic military shooters set in the Levant from a US American lens. It's also important to notice the connection of these games & their toxic online multi-player voice chats to Gamer Gate in 2014.

It's obviously not as black & white as it was presented in the 80s & 90s, I dont think everyone who played early Call of Duty games is a white supremacist who wants to join the military to kill people in the middle east, but I think it's dangerous to pretend like video games or any media can't have an impact on the way people think about violence.

I think what makes all the difference here is how that violence is portrayed, what the message behind it is, what the motives are behind the people who crafted that message, who the victims of that violence are, how they are portrayed & the greater cultural context that surrounds it.


Tags :