Descriptors for Dark Skin Tones?

[Jabrosky]

I have a lot of African-looking people in my stories, including my current WIP, but when it comes to describing their skin tones, I run into a little trouble. I don't think the traditional term "black" is very accurate, as no one in Africa or anywhere else in the world is really that color, so I want to avoid both that and any metaphors that invoke literally black objects (e.g. obsidian or charcoal). There's also ebony, which references a dark brown wood, but that's a rather cliche descriptor. Are there any suitable metaphors for dark brown skin, or should I simply use "dark brown"?

For that matter, how about skin that is medium brown (I mean darker than copper or tan but not extremely dark)? There's cocoa and mahogany, but these both reference plants indigenous to the Americas rather than Africa.

 

[ThinkerX]

Those of lighter skin tone might use words such as 'dirty' or 'muddy' for derogatives.

'Tanned' might also work.

My ancient thesarus lists alternatives for 'brown' as 'ocher' (also for 'orange'), 'umber', 'seinna', and 'sepia', along wuth 'sorrel', 'chesnut', 'cholcolate;, and a few others,

(sorry, it is way late for me).

 

[Dreamhand]

"Swarthy" is a great word, and "olive-skinned" is fairly expressive as well.

For darker skinned characters, you can use all manner of simile: "her dark skin glistened like oiled mahogany" or "His skin was dark and coarse, like freshly turned earth". Some people frown on its extensive use, but a well-turned simile is like poetry to the ears in my opinion.

Can you give us some passages that you'd like to revise? Maybe we can offer some more specific suggestions with more specific examples.

 

[Telcontar]

Swarthy is a great one. I often use 'coppery' or 'copper-toned' for the same idea as olive - Greek or Italian style darker skin. "Dark as coal," etc. One you have established the general skin tone of a culture with one character, you can easily refer most others in comparison to him/her.

 

[Taytortots]

For some reason I tend to lean towards describing skin with food, such as Caramel, mocha etc.
I do agree with Dreamhand though, I love similes, and I think they're especially great when describing appearance.

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

Hmm, just had a thought....what's wrong with brown? I know people like to avoid cliche, but last I checked the use of common color names to describe things is still acceptable. It only takes a touch of modification to make it dark brown, or light brown...or even tan for light brown.

I think at this point some writers go into way to much effort to precisely describe an aspect of a character than most of the time isn't that relevant. If the exact shade of their skin color has some form of major significance to the story, then it might be important, but rarely does it have that, and if it does, will the system be so complex that describing would be confusing?

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

"She had smooth, coffee-coloured skin", my favourite. Also smokey, hazel, chestnut, chocolate skin.

 

[Leif GS Notae]

Hmm, just had a thought....what's wrong with brown? I know people like to avoid cliche, but last I checked the use of common color names to describe things is still acceptable. It only takes a touch of modification to make it dark brown, or light brown...or even tan for light brown.

I think there is nothing wrong with brown, but it isn't descriptive enough for some people. It is a matter of taste and a way some people think they can stand out. I've described dark skinned people before, but I usually save the food terms for hair and eyes, that is where you really need to make your hay for description.

Acorn, Ash, Buckskin were always good ones in my book. Those might not be dark enough, but they get the point across.

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

One other little thing to remember when using 'food' and other analogous terms for description....what if the substance you are using doesn't exist in that world? I know coffee is used in many fantasy stories, as is tea, but if you actually look at the history of these beverages, then they aren't as easy to accept as being common. Coffee was discovered almost by accident, and tea was specific to a region of the world and exported out.

How many fantasy worlds have caramel? Since narration should be just as in story as the characters, references to modern day things (unless you are in a modern day setting) don't really fit with the story.

I still think 'dark brown close to black' is just as descriptive as 'coffee-coloured', and can be used in ANY story.

 

[W.k. Trail]

I disagree that the narration should be 'in-universe' - while obviously comparing something in a fantasy story to something overly modern or commercial ("her skin was dark, the color of a mocha frappucino") you ARE telling the story to modern people, and it's important to help them relate to what you're writing.

Aside, why wouldn't a fantasy world have caramel? It's wicked simple to make, and it predates modernity by... a lot.