Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith

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Writing About Skin Colors

Tags: ethnic studies, how to, linguistics, networking, writing
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  • 11 comments
Excellent post.

I describe Lyria as having skin the color of fertile soil. Fertile soil is a brown so dark it's nearly completely black.

In another story I'm working on, one of the Ah'Koi Bahnis characters is described as having skin like malachite; bands of various shades of brown and green.
>>I describe Lyria as having skin the color of fertile soil. Fertile soil is a brown so dark it's nearly completely black.<<

Nile earth! :D

>>In another story I'm working on, one of the Ah'Koi Bahnis characters is described as having skin like malachite; bands of various shades of brown and green.<<

Ooo ... pretty.

I use all different descriptions. Yes, including food, which I used for white people (milk-pale, peaches-and-cream) as well as dark (kola nut, turmeric).
That reminds me, another AKB character in the same story is described as having skin like coffee with creamer added to it.
One of my favorites is vanilla latte: the palest possible shade of brown, that color you see in some people from northern Spain who have very fair skin and usually dark hair and eyes. Occasionally Turkish too; it's considered hawt on a bellydancer.
Ah'Koi Bahnis come in so many different amazing colors. I have another character, same story, with skin as black as coal, eyes as yellow as sunflowers, and moss green hair. Then another with a human shade of light brown skin, and aquamarine spots.
One of my favorite things about haikujaguar's Jokka is their exquisite skin tones and markings. "Cream of egg" is such a lovely image.
Interesting indeed, some of the comparison terms later in the article, though seem a bit stretched: for instance, 'calla lily' on its own makes me think of this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zantedeschia_aethiopica, not the colored cultivars, which are quite new.

Calla brings up 'creamy white' in my mental database too, and next down is 'flame orange.' Bat flowers are black, but very few flowers are only black.
Bookmarking that for later.. I got some upcoming characters I'll need it for.
I'm glad I could help. Characters of color deserve rich vocabulary.

thnidu

August 21 2015, 19:36:51 UTC 5 years ago Edited:  August 21 2015, 19:37:26 UTC

What siliconshaman said. I haven't started writing (and may never do so), but this is exactly one of the things I've been thinking about for Glazier.

  • Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-21

    Here is my card for the Winterfest in July Bingo fest. It runs from July 1-30. Celebrate all the holidays and traditions of winter! ( See all my…

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