This may seem weird, but this had been buzzing around in my mind since I was very little. How do you describe a white person's skin? Here's a picture of me for demonstration: Yes, it is a white person; I know that, but when I think of the color white, this doesn't appear accurate, you know? White is like the clouds on a sunny day, a blank sheet of printer paper. This? It's more pink-ish and... Well, that's just it. How would you describe it with the actual colors? I don't know if I'm making much sense here but... It's been in my mind since I was very little.
... soft blue eyes and skin as pale as milk... ... her alabaster complexion was juxtaposed by large brown eyes... ... he was ruddy skinned and tended to burn with ease... ... while nowhere near as dark as the tribe that had adopted him and made him one of their own, his tanned complexion spoke of days on the open plain, running with horse... There are a million ways to describe skin. The last thing I would go for is to try to peg it down to a color from the 96 pack of Crayola. Like anything, the description needs to make sense in context, to why it's being described, who is the beholder, what are they interested in. No one looks at someone and tries to name a particular shade off the color wheel.
Unless the person is either very pale or very dark, part of the problem is that skin is more than just one colour. In the picture you keep posting (as if to taunt me with your non-cetacean self) you have rosy cheeks, so your skin's pinker there, and slightly darker pigment around your eyes, etc. There are also undertones to skin that I don't really understand, but people talk about having green or yellow or pink undertones to their skin, and those tones can be brought out or repressed by the wearing of different colours... It ain't easy.
Her eyes were dull as a box. Bleach wouldn't had made the door any lighter. I could've sworn that head was a tomato a moment ago.
I'm going with "porcelain". Cream/beige colored, with a sense of translucence, and the underlying color that you can see "through" the translucence leans toward pink rather than yellow.
Are you asking out of interest or do want to know how to describe this in your writing? Faces are a range of different hues, sometimes different colours entirely, and that all changes in different lighting conditions. As for writing, it depends on the context doesn`t it?
Well, I wouldn`t necessarily describe the colours of the face in too much detail. I guess it depends on context. I did knock this up though, the description is a bit too colourful (forgive the pun) maybe but you get the drift. His face turned when I mentioned Zac`s name, as I knew it would. The fierce noon light gave his face a hard blow, sweeping across it in a great brush stroke. The pinks inside his ear burned a darker purple while those outside reddened perceptibly. Where the light did not burn it off completely his cheeks pouted a lighter orange pink. His right eye, nose and lips were now supported with dark browns and reds as the light pushed the shadows across his face as if desperate to get rid of them. It made his face look startled but I knew better. As I looked at his eyes the orange brown orbs filled with an age old anger. Needs more work but maybe that`s how I would do it.
When I paint white humans, I tend to use: a bright red and burnt sienna for the majority of the skin and either phthelo green or phthelo blue for shading. Occasionally I'll use a darker yellow for shiny parts.
From this chart, it's 3 and 8, so "Whispering Peach" and "Phoenix Sand". Then again, I'm not great with colour.
With the proper instruments, I'd measure the net average percentage of wavelengths reflected at intervals on the spectrum! Colors freakin' change under different lighting conditions.
