A little background: I am an engineer, and probably about as unartistic as a person can get. And in my spare time, I paint figures as a hobby. The figures are much larger than wargame figures; they’r eusually three or so inches tall. I’m not very good, but I have fun, and once in a while something clicks and the end result looks just fine.
So there are two problems that I have, and I suppose they’re related. The first is shadow tones of flesh and the second is shadow tones of white.
I use oil paints; they’re wonderfully flexible; I can mix any color I want. For flesh I usually use Permalba white, raw sienna, and burnt sienna, sometimes with a tiny bit of orange. But my problem is shadows in deep creases (like the line between the upper arm and chest when the arm is held close to the chest). I usually use more burnt sienna in the mix to make that dark tone, but I’m not entirely happy with the result; it’s hard to get a nice dark crease line, and it looks too reddish. But when I add black to the mix, something goes awry with the color and that doesn’t look right either. Should I be using the mysterious Payne’s Gray?
The second is shadow tones of white, say the creases in a white shirt. I usually shade whites with a bit of raw sienna, but that gives the whole shirt a yellowish cast. And again, black just doesn’t look right. Is this another place where I should be using Payne’s Gray?