Jul 2023-Studio Research

I work to complete a mural size linen that had stumped me for months. The concept is very straightforward... I thought for a year or so about basing a piece on the 6 skin tone types illustrated in the The Fitzpatrick Scale (developed in 1975 by a dermatologist Dr. Fitzpatrick to roughly calculate SPF.) 

After trying more than a dozen pre-mixed colors, in multiple locations along the long linen, I landed on these final six. Eventually I felt very satisfied with five of skin tone colors, but struggled with some of their positions on the mural, until landing on the current arrangement...but was still stumped about what color would best fit on the far left panel.

During the second week of July, when I looked up skin tone charts once again, I read that the emoji skin tone chart is based on the Fitzpatrick Scale, with Type I & II combined in the second spot, leaving the first one open for the very recognizable yellow (Hex Color code for Emoji Yellow color is #ffde34, or #FFFF00, and the RGB color code for Emoji Yellow color is RGB(255,222,52). This inspired what became the resolution to my months long painting puzzzle.

(Mind boggling historical background note... a black woman entrepreneur Katrina Parrott of iDiversicons Emoji, developed, patented and launched an inclusive skin tone emojis app in 2013, then introduced the idea to apple, who adopted it in 2019, but did not pay or credit her. She brought diverse skin tones emoji to the iPhone...)

To exhibit, I may end up cutting into three or six segments (along the vertical lines,) then have them stretched, each onto its own stretcher. If I go this route, I may title the collection something like "Emoji-Fitzpatrick Skin Tone Chart " or go an art historical direction, "Populus, Humilis et Divinus" and individually title the paintings, left to right :

Emoji Yellow- "no skin tone"- (Golden's Cadmium Yellow Medium)

Types I & II- "palest- light"- usually burns, tans minimally (Golden's Titan Mars Pale)

Type III- "medium light"- sometimes mild burn, tans uniformly (Winsor & Newton's Pale Terracotta)

Type IV- "medium"- burns minimally, always tans well (Golden's Mars Yellow)

Type V- "medium dark"- rarely burns, tans easily 

Type VI- "dark"- never burns (Golden's Burnt Umber Light)

____________

Also discovered what could be inspiration for another painting...

Lancer Ancestry Scale (Based on geography & heredity)

The Lancer Ancestry Scale was developed by Dr. Lancer in 1998. The scale mirrored the well-known Thomas Fitzpatrick Classification Skin Typing System, which shows a person’s skin pigmentation in relation to their tolerance to sun exposure. At the time of the scale’s creation, Fitzpatrick was measuring the skin’s ability to tolerate UV rays to determine the correct dose of UVA to treat psoriasis. The scale lists six skin types including very fair, fair, light golden, olive, brown and dark brown.

After using the Fitzpatrick scale, Dr. Lancer created the Lancer Ancestry Scale to build on the concept by adding heritage into the equation. Lancer Ancestry Scale (LAS) was developed to help dermatological specialists clearly assess and understand the nature of the biologic function of each individual patient that they’re treating. In prior years, medical specialists used to determine skincare regimens and procedures based off of the patient’s skin color, hair color and eye color but what’s on the surface can be deceiving.

According to Dr. Lancer, you could have a blue eyed, blonde hair, fair complexion patient that looks like the ideal candidate for a laser or chemical peel treatment, but they may not be right for the treatment after all. A dermatologist needs to know the global origin of each patient in order to know if there are any hidden genes in the skin before deciding on the proper skincare regimen or procedure for an individual. For Instance, when Dr. Lancer sees a new patient, he always asks them to speak of their ancestry as far back as they know and most times he finds that the pigmentation in the patient’s skin is not an accurate reflection of their genetic ancestry. A patient could be carrying genes for a darker skin type, but those genes could be hidden in a porcelain complexion. Without knowing a patient’s ancestry, dermatologists could recommend treatments that could damage the skin rather than repair it. A person’s planetary origins influence skin response to topical therapy and can also influence healing time after various procedures.

Below is Dr. Lancer’s LAS scale which shows an ancestral background column with the appropriate LES Type.

ANCESTRY BACKGROUND

African Background

Central, East, West Africa- LES TYPE V

Eritrean and Ethiopian- LES TYPE V

North African, Middle East, Arabic- LES TYPE V

Sephardic JewsIV

Asian Background

Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese-  LES TYPE  IV

Filipino, Polynesian-  LES TYPE IV

European Background

European Jews-  LES TYPE III

Celtic-  LES TYPE I

Central, Eastern European-  LES TYPE II

Nordic-  LES TYPE I

Northern European-  LES TYPE I-II

Southern European, Mediterranean, I LES TYPE II-IV

Central/South American Background

Central/South American Indian- LES TYPE IV

North American Background

Native American- LES TYPE III

To find a patient’s LES type, simply add up the numbers that correspond to their grandparents ethnicities and divide by four. The higher the number, the more likely they’ll experience complications with healing after a cosmetic procedure. It’s also important to note that they might experience an adverse reaction to aggressive resurfacing procedures, including laser treatments and chemical peels.

LES Skin Type Risk 

LES I- Very Low

LES II- Low

LES III- Moderate

LES IV- Significant

LES V- Considerable

Having recently modified the scale’s title, we now look to it as: Ancestry According to Latitude and Longitude. Our global ancestry influences skin topical therapy as well as skin medical procedural therapy. For ancestral information, It’s not the name of the country of the patient that matters, it’s multi generation cumulative of what parts of the planet their family origins arise. If a patient’s multigenerational ancestry are closer to the Northern Hemisphere, chances are the skin is less likely to scar during a procedure than if it’s closer to the equatorial parts of the planet. 

The Lancer Ancestry Scale