[Karin Wells]

Because I seldom paint a la prima, the way I get a skin tone might not work for you unless you are glazing over a raw umber and white underpainting mixture like I do.

Meanwhile, if I were to work in the direct method of painting, I would approach skin tones in a way that is similar to how John describes it...

There are as many ways to paint paintings as there are artists to paint them. And probably all of them are "the right method" if the finished product looks good.

I think that the key to any artist painting well is to "train the eye" and this is most easily accomplished by copying the Old Master paintings. Copying demystifies skin tones and so many other things about painting will automatically fall into place.