You want to colour human flesh? If that’s the case, Copic offer an almost endless combination of colours to use. Here we dive in to the official Copic Markers skin tones numbers, as well as exploring the alternative combinations some artists out there are using.
Colouring skin with Copic Markers
You’ve picked the right pen if you want to get your skin tones right. The Copic’s heritage is as a ‘manga’ pen, and as such it is trusted by comic book artists the world over to deliver. Think those fleshy tones of Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell (if you are going after this style, you need to know about the best paper to use with Copic Markers too).
Copic Ciao Coloured Marker Pen Set – Pack of 12
This set features 12 refillable Copic Ciao Markers (see types of Copic Markers if you are new to the pens), each with replaceable nibs, ensuring long-term use for your creative projects. Designed with both Super Brush and Medium Broad nibs, these markers are perfectly suited for students, hobbyists, and Manga artists seeking versatility and high quality. The included colors are E00 (Skin White), E04 (Lipstick Natural), E11 (Barely Beige), E21 (Soft Sun), E35 (Chamois), E37 (Sepia), R02 (Rose Salmon), R20 (Blush), R32 (Peach), YR02 (Light Orange), 0 (Colorless Blender), and 100 (Black), offering a wide palette for coloring various skin tones. From fair shades like E00 (Skin White) and E11 (Barely Beige) to deeper tones such as E37 (Sepia), this collection enables artists to depict a diverse range of skin colors, enhancing the realism and depth of their artwork. As part of the Copic brand, known for its high quality and professional-grade materials, these markers meet the rigorous demands of creative endeavors across different genres and styles.
Copic Markers 6 Piece Sketch Set – Skin Tones
Housed in a transparent plastic case, this sketch set serves as the perfect starter kit or addition to an existing marker collection. The set features markers that are not only refillable but also come with replaceable nibs, ensuring they can be used for a long time.
Additionally, these markers are compatible with the Copic airbrush system, broadening the scope of artistic techniques that can be explored.
The markers utilize alcohol-based ink, which is permanent, non-toxic, and dries acid-free, making it safe for various applications while ensuring the longevity of artwork. Ideal for artists who prioritize both quality and versatility in their creative tools.
This Sketch set centres around earth tones, again catering for caucasian (or more beige) skin colouring. The fact that most of these are E pens shows the great versatility of this letter in the Copic universe when compared to the next set, which covers darker skin.
It contains: E000 (Pale Fruit Pink), E00 (Skin White), E11 (Barely Beige), E15 (Dark Suntan), E18 (Copper), E93 (Tea Rose).
Bespoke Set for Dark Skin Tones
Taken from a great YouTube video tutorial for Colouring Dark Skin with Copic Markers, this set is made up primarily from the earth tones within the Copic range. It’s a bespoke Copic Markers skin tones numbers set. Nuri Durr, the video’s author, does a great job of showing how to blend this colour set together. All set to a nice jazz background too, what more could you ask for?
He uses E21 to lay down a base layer for the skin. Darker and darker tones are then layered to establish a very deep representation of darker skin. At later stages he alternates at length between E23, E25 similar tones as it layers up. Much later he introduces E49 for the really dark areas (but has a word of warning about making things too muddy with this one).
One clear advantage of working with darker tones is the ability to completely obliterate the guiding lines of your original sketch. This will greatly reduce the complexities you can come across when using Copic Markers over pencil.
The full range of pens he uses are: E04 (Lipstick Natural), E15 (Dark Suntan), E21 (Soft Sun), E23 (Hazelnut), E25 (Caribe Cocoa), E27 (Milk Chocolate), E41 (Pearl White), E43 (Dull Ivory), E44 (Clay), E49 (Dark Bark), E70 (Ash Rose), E74 (Cocoa Brown), R12 (Light Tea Rose), W10 (Warm Grey 10), V93 (Early Grape), V95 (Light Grape).
There are more colours at play when he colours the hair, but we are just focusing on the skin tones for this article.
If you are building a bespoke set for skin colour, it’s worth thinking about how you might organise Copic Markers to keep those colours together. And once you’ve built our your skin tones, you can think further afield, like collecting earth tones for your Copic artwork, or working on your selection of Copic colors for hair.
In Conclusion
The set which suits you will most likely depend on your style and subject matter. Keep in mind some of the official Copic Marker sets may be focused on cartoony/anime style shading. Other sets, like Nuri Durr’s have a more realistic representation in mind. You can start with a basic set and add more depth as you progress. You could also follow the example of countless YouTube artists and build a bespoke set from scratch.
If you are just starting out with Copic Markers, spending on a wide range of tones to colour skin can be tempting. However, we recommend that the best Copic Markers to start with don’t involve colour at all. Similarly, if the costs of Copics are off putting, you can try the Ohuhu skin tone markers.