Steve- for some help on this, go to my article in Knowledge Base on "What the Gray Scale Can Teach Me.."
Download a 10-panel gray scale from the internet. Use it as I mention in the article, only instead of mixing colors, mix various values of gray. The best gray is Titanium White and Mars Black, but you can experiment with others. (Actually, you can use tones of any color you like, for example: values of burnt sienna or burnt umber!) For your first one, find a good B&W reference, and simply match the colors. I put an acetate sheet over my reference photo and drop the color mix right on top of the area to be matched.
The main problem with oils is too much paint on the figure. Take your color from the tube, set it on an absorbent surface (papertowel, index card, etc.) for 20 min (or longer if need be!) to get all excess oils out of it, then transfer it to your working palette. Now mix in SLOWLY some mineral spirits until you have a consistnecy of slim milk. That's what you paint with. Then, take a SMALL amount of that color, put it in the center of the area to be painted on the figure, now spread that paint with a clean, DRY brush (DO NOT DIP IN THINNER) until the area is covered. Store your palette in the freezer, and dry your figure overnight in a (dedicated - no food) crock pot set on "Low" with lid adjar.
There you have it!
BTW, since you seem to be a SCAMMs member, you may want to contact Penny and ask her for help. She's a great Lady and I'm sure she will help you by answering your questions. Also, contact me offline and I will assist you . Good luck.
