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Merry late Christmas, Dakkanauts!

As the title suggests, I am still in the limbo every new painter goes through when figuring out how to do flesh.
I have a lot of trouble when it comes to washing flesh, as the popular red wash such as Reikland flesh is far too warm and boring for my taste (why are flesh washes always in red ) and It just doesn't look "healthy" to me for lack of a better word. Many people will either go warm brown or yellow, and while I know that different flesh washes are meant for different groups of people (asian skin, etc) I still can't find the right skintone for caucasian.

My plan is to buy Vallejo Model Colour "Flat Flesh" as a base colour, and then apply Vallejo Game Colour Ink "Skin Wash" and then simply drybrush over the same colour with a lighter highlight over that. The Ink seems to be more orange which might be what I want in my flesh shade, but the question(s) I would like to ask is this:

1. Would my plan work for a caucasian colour? Are there any tips you can give on handling this ink or is there a better alternative? (I don't have any secret weapon washes in my area so that's something I can't use)

2. Are any of you in the same boat as me when it comes to not wanting to wash with the common colours, and if so how do you make your flesh recipe look unique to YOU?

Thanks!

And yes, I am aware you can wash in other colours such as sepia, crimson, or agrax, but I've tried the AP equivalents and I don't like those either :/

I like...

Base in Elf Flesh. From like, 20 years ago. It's still kicking, cause I don't do much humanoid skin.

Next, take Reikland Fleshwash. 2 drops. Add 2 drops Elf Flesh, 6 drops Medium, 8 drops water. Mix thoroughly. Might have only been 1 drop of Reikland, I can't remember. You'll need to experiment, but basically you need one drop of your base skin colour, 3 drops medium, 4 drops water to make a wash out of your base colour, and then you're tinting it darker.



These guys were painted with white primer, a layer of Elf Flesh, and then the mixed wash I described. No highlights added, just the wash. If you look at the ear of the guy on the right, you can see the sharpest contrast, but you can also note it under the cheek bones and near the lips... crook of his eye. By starting with the base flesh colour, you're guaranteeing that it will blend into the colour beneath.

That's quite an interesting technique. You might be on to something here about using washes differently.

Maybe I can make a custom wash to my liking with a preferred paint!

The problem with a lot of flesh washes isn’t that they’re too red, it’s that they’re too concentrated. Get some Lahmian Medium or the acrylic medium of your choice and thin down that flesh wash about 50%. Then use multiple coats until you get the desired skin depth.

For sure you can! If you're looking at greyish skin tone, you could add navy blue to your wash. Or a darker green to the base flesh for Orks, say, if you wanted more subtle skin tone. It should work for most anything.