Hi there,
been working on skin shaders recently, and I’ve been trying to find good examples around and looking through the fairly scarce SSS tuts out there. I still feel like there’s a lot to know about skin shaders. Do any experienced character artists care to shed some light on how to get a good shader?
I’m having particular trouble getting surface bumps etc.
The main thing to remember is that skin is composed of translucent layers, which gives skin its complex, radiant quality. Three or four layers of color connected by mix nodes seems to work well: the top layer (epidermis) in grey-tan or grey-brown; then underneath it the dermis, which is pinkish for blood vessels; then underneath it the subcutaneous layers that are orange and/or dark colors. The lower layers should be given only a small percentage of the mix.
