Forum: Author Hangout

Skin "Tone" refers to a descriptive undertone, such as "cool" or "warm" for example, a person, usually "White" or Caucasian, who is described as having "Porcelain" skin often has "blue" cool undertones. Likely this is because the person is thin, and their skin is so fair that the deoxygenated blood in their veins results in a blueish undertone.

Similarly, a person described as having "Mahogany" colored skin may be from North America, Africa, or the Indian subcontinent; they have a red skin tone to their medium to dark brown skin color.

Variations of skin colors has interested me for many decades. When I was wounded nearly 2 decades ago, some of the soldiers in the "Warrior Transition Unit" with me required skin grafts, mostly due to burns and amputations.

Women who are knowledgeable about makeup, and related matters were consulted about how to better cover up or "blend" the disparities between a person's skin colors (such as the bottoms of their feet being a lighter shade than their legs, or forearms. Artificial skin, or transplants often did not match.

Justin Case said

Time to just describe people as they actually appear.
(yes, I mean using traditional and long accepted "pronouns" and descriptors)

That is exactly what I am talking about.

Tone is a descriptive of generic skin colors. Redish or Yellowish tones are most common, however, blueish, pinkish, even grayish tones occur. These may be ethnic heritage, environmental (exposure to the sun, or lack thereof), or even caused by illness.

Racial heritage can be almost anything and your skin 'color' not match stereotypes. Especially in the Native communities.

That is especially true. Many Natives don't show the stereotypical Red hued skin, looking more white than anything else. Only their bone structure makes their ancestry clear.

Back on topic-ish, are you writing a story in which racializing the characters matters?

Not "racializing" but differentiating characters.

The main character is of mixed Black (unknown African origin, he knows that 5 generations back an ancestor served in a Regiment of the US Colored Cavalry, and later the 10th US Cavalry Regiment; but it is unknown if he was born a slave or a freeman. To the story what is important is that he served in the US Army Cavalry, and was a Cowboy) and Nez Pierce (and other tribes); as well as other genetic heritage.

Approximately 25% of Cowboys in the post ACW (American Civil War) era were Black. One of the few jobs that Blacks, Whites, Latinos, etc. were paid the same, based upon ability. In the 21st century there are still Black Cowboys. Ranch Owners who are Black are less common. The MC inheritance includes a small ranch in Colorado that he grew up upon. One of the conflicts in the story is his being a Black ranch owner among mostly White ranch owners.

His great grandfather bought the ranch. His grandfather significantly expanded the ranch and other commercial operations. They also established relationships with some other ranchers and other people they do business with. The MC has been away in the US Army, then Marines for many years.

The MC is also a member of the Kit Fox Warrior Society, and the Tribe, however, there are some other members of the Tribe, and other tribes who discriminate against him.

Amongst the supporting characters are a former inner city gang member, a "light skin" who has faced more discrimination from Blacks, a guy from Puerto Rico of mixed race, and a British citizen born in Nigeria, posing as citizen of the USA.

The core group of characters are united by their military service in combat, and most have disabilities. Issues of PTS (Post Traumatic Stress), TBIs, use and in some cases abuse of alcohol and drugs, Anger issues, and Thrill Seeking.

Variations of backgrounds are a source of conflicts in the story.

I am trying to Show, Not Tell, in the story. To many Outsiders, the "predominantly White" people of Colorado, "They All Look Alike" although some are Latino, or Crow, or Nez Pierce, or from Puerto Rico, or Nigeria, etc. Some were born wealthy, others poor, or "middle class" some grew up in "The Hood" or in suburbia, on a ranch, or "the Rez" or whatever.

The group is united by external threats, as well as some common bonds (service, combat, overcoming wounds). Yet, like all groups of humans there are internal conflicts too.

Variations of skin color are (superficially) important to too many people in the (various) Black communities. Insecurities and jealousy may come out in proclaiming another person is "not Black enough" Ironically this may be said by a person with medium-brown skin, who grew up in suburbia, about a darker skinned person who grew up in poverty.

I have had to break up fistfights because one soldier told another he "Talked Too White" (in one case the "too White" guy was from inner city Detroit).

The descriptions of Variations in shades of brown of a number of characters is in most cases establishing differences that will be part of upcoming conflicts.

There are also some issues of amputees and prosthesis in my story. Prosthesis provide greater mobility, freedom, yet they are too often painful, and those with them often resent them and their lost limb. Some people with artificial limbs, and/or skin grafts seem to resent any significant difference from their natural skin color. Sometimes this is because they are really angry about the loss of a limb, but they think others would think they are crazy for resenting the prosthesis, so they say they resent the color mismatch instead.

So, there are multiple conflicts in my story, that I am setting up by establishing the Variations of skin color or tone earlier in the story.

Not just Black or Brown people. One character was born in Central Europe, his "swarthy" complexion allowed him to conduct covert operations in Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Some don't "consider him White" compounded by him living so long as "other" people.

Although I think it is an ignorant attitude, calling others "Not Black Enough" it is a sad fact that it has been used for at least a hundred years.

I am discussing this much more here in the author's forum than I will be explicitly doing in my story. However, it will be among the hidden motivations of some character conflicts.

Disabled veterans must come to grips that their military careers are over. They are adrift, trying to figure out what the can do, and what they Want to do now.

They trust fellow veterans, and almost no one else. (This may be somewhat mistaken.)

Thrill Seeking, and to a lesser degree alcohol and drug abuse risk their destruction.

Eventually, some of the damaged people work together to build a future; not all survive the challenges.

"caffee-latte"

As a non coffee drinker, I have little idea what colour that is.

AJ

Caffee latte is for snowflakes that can't appreciate real coffee.
It's milk with some coffee which makes a light beige color. To hide that disgrace of otherwise good coffee they put a little foam from the milk on top to cover the evidence :D

As a non coffee drinker, I have little idea what colour that is.

I don't drink coffee either (I prefer my caffeine cold and carbonated), but I've been around enough coffee drinkers to have seen most it's various shades.

But can you name them?

Probably not, but if someone else names one I will have at least some idea what shade it is.

It's like Norwegians and snow,

Hmm, are you probably referring to

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (published in America as Smilla's Sense of Snow) (Danish: Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne) is a 1992 novel by Danish author Peter Høeg tracing the investigation into the suspicious death of a Greenlandic boy in Denmark.

The film, Smilla's Sense of Snow starring Julia Ormond, Jim Broadbent, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Harris, Jürgen Vogel, Mario Adorf and Tom Wilkinson, directed by Bille August was released in 1997. There were some changes to the plot, especially having a more conclusive end in which the villain Tørk Hviid gets killed, instead of the book's deliberately ambiguous ending. In the United Kingdom it was released as Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow.

Smilla was halve Inuit and had their sense and the many Inuit words for different types of snow and ice.

HM.
[quotes are from Wikipedia]

So what nationality was Miss Smilla? Danish?

Yes, and Greenlandic. Her Father was a Danish physician, her deceased mother an Inuit huntress from Greenland. She spent her youth in Greenland.
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (book)

HM.