How to Color Skin Tones With Colored Pencils and Crayons

To color skin with colored pencils, build it in three or four light layers instead of using one "skin" pencil: a base tone, a darker shadow color at the edges, a warm or cool undertone, and a highlight left white. A face takes 5 to 15 minutes this way, and an ordinary 24 pencil set has enough colors for light, medium and deep skin. Children from about age 6 can learn the layering, and younger ones do fine with two crayons. Here are recipes for 12 and 24 pencil sets and for crayons, plus cheeks, lips, hair, eyes and a short paint section.

Quick answer: how to color skin tones

1. Pick a base color close to the lightest part of the skin you are coloring, and shade it lightly over the whole face, arms and hands.
2. Add a shadow color along the edges: under the chin, beside the nose, around the eyes and at the hairline.
3. Add an undertone in a very light layer: pink or orange for warm skin, a touch of olive green or violet for cool or deep skin.
4. Leave a highlight on the forehead, nose tip and cheekbones, either as bare paper or blended with a white pencil.
5. Press harder only at the end, once the color looks right, to smooth the layers together.

Why doesn't one "skin" pencil work?

Real skin is never one flat color. Every face has lighter areas where light falls, darker areas in the folds, and a mix of pink, gold, olive, brown or red. A single peach pencil, colored evenly, looks flat and matches only a few people. Many boxes also have just one color sold as "skin", so a child coloring a dark-skinned grandparent or themselves has nothing that looks right. Layering two to four ordinary colors fixes both problems.

How do I color light, medium and deep skin with colored pencils?

Work lightly, in small circles or short strokes, and let each layer show through the next. Our colored pencil techniques for beginners guide shows the pressure and layering basics in more detail.

Skin tone	Base	Shadow	Undertone	Highlight
Very light	Peach or light pink, very light pressure	Light tan or a soft pink	A whisper of yellow	Bare paper
Light	Peach or light tan	Light brown	Pink or light orange on cheeks	Bare paper or white
Medium	Tan or golden ochre	Medium brown	Orange or a touch of olive green	White, burnished
Medium deep	Light brown	Dark brown	Orange or red brown	White or light tan
Deep	Medium or dark brown	Dark brown with a little black or violet	Red, orange or violet, very light	White or light tan, burnished

Test each mix on scrap paper first, and go lighter than you think: it is easy to add color and hard to remove it. For deep skin, avoid black, which flattens a face; dark brown with a little violet in the shadows looks richer. To finish, burnish: color over the layers with a white or light pencil, pressing firmly, to blend them into smooth skin.

What if I only have a 12 pencil set?

A basic 12 set usually has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, black, pink and white, or something close. You can still mix most skin tones:

• Light skin: a very light layer of yellow, then a very light layer of pink or red over it. Add brown, lightly, for shadows.
• Medium skin: yellow, then orange, then a light layer of brown. Shadow with more brown.
• Deep skin: brown pressed firmly, a light layer of red or orange over it for warmth, and violet or a little black in the deepest shadows.

The secret with a small set is pressure: one brown pencil becomes three or four shades. A 24 set usually adds peach, tan, light brown and dark brown, which makes the table above easy to follow.

How do I color skin with crayons?

Crayons are waxier and harder to layer than pencils, so keep it simple: two or three colors, light pressure first. Our guide to coloring with crayons covers grip and pressure for younger children.

• Light skin: peach or apricot, with a little pink on the cheeks.
• Medium skin: tan or light brown, a little orange blended in, brown at the edges.
• Deep skin: brown or dark brown, with a light layer of red or orange for warmth.
• Blending: color the second crayon over the first, then rub with a white crayon to soften.

Several brands sell skin tone sets of crayons and colored pencils, from very light to very deep. They are handy in classrooms, but not essential: everything above works with a standard box.

How do I color cheeks and lips?

• Cheeks: a very light circle of pink, coral or red on the cheekbones, blended into the base. On deep skin, use a warm red or berry instead of pink so it shows.
• Lips: the base skin tone, then a slightly darker color: rose or coral on light skin, red brown or dark berry on deep skin. Leave a tiny white spot on the lower lip for shine.

What about hair and eyes?

• Hair: long strokes in the direction the hair grows, a base color plus a darker one at the roots, and a white streak where the light hits. Black hair looks best as dark brown or dark blue with black only in the deepest parts.
• Eyes: color the iris, leave a small white dot for the reflection, and keep the eye white mostly white.
• Eyebrows: close to the hair color, in short strokes.

Should I correct a child who colors skin "wrong"?

No. A child who colors their face purple or their brother green is playing with color, not making a mistake. Most children start coloring people realistically around 6 to 8, when they become interested in it themselves. What helps instead is putting a range of skin colors within reach, offering rather than correcting if they ask ("want to try this one on top?"), and treating family differences as normal: siblings, parents and grandparents often have different skin tones. How a child colors their own face is their decision.

Coloring your own family

Coloring pages made from family photos are where skin tones matter most. Lay out the pencils, keep the photo next to the page, and let the child pick colors person by person. Our guide to turning a group photo into a coloring page explains which photos give clear faces for everyone.

To practice first, try a free character page: the astronaut coloring page, the doctor coloring page or any of the free people and character coloring pages. Each comes in four levels, and the easy level has big face shapes that are good for trying the layers.

How do you make skin color with paint?

For anyone mixing paint rather than coloring, the basic recipe is red, yellow and white, adjusted with a touch of blue or brown.

1. Start with white and add a little yellow and a little red to make a light peach.
2. To go darker, add a tiny amount of blue (it makes the mix brown) or brown paint, a drop at a time.
3. For warmer skin, add more red or orange. For cooler or olive skin, add a little more yellow and a touch of green.
4. Test on paper next to the photo or person, and let it dry: most paint dries slightly darker.

Frequently asked

What colored pencils do you use for skin?

For light skin, peach, light pink and light brown. For medium skin, tan, golden ochre, orange and medium brown. For deep skin, medium and dark brown with a little red, orange or violet. White is useful for every skin tone, for highlights and to blend the layers smoothly.

How do you make skin color with colored pencils without a skin pencil?

Layer yellow, then a light layer of pink or orange, then brown, using light pressure. Change the amount of brown to go from light to deep skin. Pressure does most of the work: a light touch with a brown pencil gives a pale tan, and firm pressure gives a deep brown.

How do you color dark skin so it doesn't look flat?

Build it up in layers of brown rather than using black, add a light layer of red, orange or violet for warmth, and keep the highlights on the forehead, nose and cheekbones lighter. Burnishing with a white or light tan pencil at the end makes deep skin look smooth and glowing.

Try it with your own photo

The best page for practicing skin tones is a picture of your own family. Coolorio turns a photo into a printable coloring page in four detail levels, delivered as a PDF to print at home, so every child can color their own face. Photos are deleted after 7 days. See how it works to make your first page.