Contact
Address: 4296 N College Ave, Jackson AL 56545
Phone: +1-390-949-5954
Every skin tone in the SFAIH range, sorted by undertone, with an honest note on where the range runs thin.
SFAIH sells skin tones two ways: as the E- and BR-series inside the standard 168-colour palette, and as three dedicated portrait sets. The dedicated sets are the ones worth buying if portraits are the point — the standard palette carries only 10 skin and earth tones, which is not enough to build a face with convincing shadow.
Undertone matters more than lightness. Two markers can sit at the same value and read as completely different skin because one leans pink and the other leans yellow. The table below groups the range by that, not by how light it is.
Pick a base, then a shadow one to two steps darker in the same undertone. Jumping undertone between base and shadow — a golden base with a rosy shadow — is what makes marker skin look muddy or sunburnt.
| Undertone | Codes | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Rosy | E470 | Pink-leaning. Reads as cool, fair, flushed skin; good for cheeks and ears. |
| Warm | E380, E050 | Red-to-orange leaning. The everyday mid-tone for most complexions. |
| Golden | E090, E220, E280, BR3, E210, BR2, BR1 | Yellow-leaning. Sunlit skin, and the base most portrait work starts from. |
Undertone here is measured from the sampled hue of each swatch, not taken from SFAIH's own labelling — the brand does not publish undertone groupings.
| Colours | Covers | Tips | Rating | Ratings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | Fair to deep, complete range | Brush + Chisel | 4.5 ★ | 57 | Check price |
| 12 | Fair to mid complexions | Brush + Chisel | 4.5 ★ | 489 | Check price |
| 12 | Deep complexions | Brush + Fine | 4.5 ★ | 57 | Check price |
Fair to mid complexions. Enough for clean line-art faces, not enough for a full range of subjects.
Deep complexions, sold separately rather than as part of one range — if you draw a variety of people you need both 12-sets or the 37.
The only SFAIH set that spans fair to deep in one box. If you are buying once, buy this one.
Splitting light and dark complexions into two separate 12-colour products is a real limitation, not a feature. If you draw a range of people, the two 12-sets together cost more than the 37 and still give you a less even ramp. Ohuhu sells 24- and 36-colour portrait sets that cover the range in one box — see the comparison.
Skin is where cheap paper shows first. On 100 gsm copier paper the ink sinks and dries before you can blend it, so gradients band.
Use 180 gsm or heavier marker paper. It is the single change that most improves marker skin, and it costs less than another set of pens.
The 37-colour set is the only SFAIH skin range that covers fair through deep in a single box, with enough steps between tones to shade rather than jump.
Everything on this page is read off SFAIH's own Amazon listings rather than from a press release or a review round-up. That catalogue is 75 listings, 75 of them carrying a star rating, 40,639 ratings between them. The average sits at 4.5, with 62 listings at 4.4 or better.
An average across a whole brand is a weak number, though, and it is worth saying why. Amazon pools ratings across the variations of one parent listing, so a set sold in five sizes can show the same score five times; and a 5.0 from six ratings sits in the same average as a 4.4 from three thousand. That is why the table below is sortable by rating count as well as by score — sorted that way it shows what people have actually bought, which is a far better guide than the score alone.
The strongest listings in the range by score, among those with enough ratings to mean anything, are SFAIH Black Permanent Markers Bulk, 24 Pack…, SFAIH Green Permanent Markers Bulk, 24 Pack…, SFAIH Red Permanent Markers Bulk, 24 Pack…. The weakest on the same basis are SFAIH White Liquid Chalk Markers for…, SFAIH Liquid Chalk Markers for Blackboard…, SFAIH Chrome Silver Paint Markers Pens with…. The most-reviewed are SFAIH Acrylic White Paint Pens - 8 Pack…, SFAIH Gold Acrylic Paint Pens - 8 Pack…, SFAIH Acrylic Red Paint Pens - 8 Pack 2-3MM… — and those are the ones whose scores you can lean on.
Address: 4296 N College Ave, Jackson AL 56545
Phone: +1-390-949-5954
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. SFAIH is not affiliated with Ohuhu, Caliart or any other brand named on this site; brand names are used for identification and comparison only.