Skin Color Limited Palette

My palette for skin colors is based on the limited palette popularized by Anders Zorn (Swedish, 1860-1920).  Zorn's palette is based on four colors:  ivory black, yellow ochre, cadmium red, and white.  In theory, you could achieve any color you need with a palette consisting of white and the three primaries (blue, yellow, and red).  Zorn's palette is based on this, substituting ivory black for blue, as ivory black has strong blue undertones.

Every time I do a portrait or figurative painting I mix the strings of color above.  Looking at the larger puddles forming the strings of color they are, from left to right:
ivory black plus cadmium red, with increasing amounts of white going down = subtle purple
ivory black plus yellow ochre, with increasing amounts of white going down = subtle green
yellow ochre plus cadmium red, with increasing amounts of white going down
yellow ochre plus less cadmium red, with increasing amounts of white going down
yellow ochre with increasing amounts of white going down

I use these strings of color as the basis for all the subsequent skin colors I mix.  I will occasionally grab colors outside the Zorn palette to mix in with my strings of color if I need something a little different.  This is not necessary though, and I start all my students who have never worked with skin colors with just the Zorn palette.  As they gain experience with color we start experimenting with other colors.  I have found that students beginning with skin colors are completely overwhelmed by choice.  Using a limited palette is much easier for them to control.

My full palette is the top row of paint.  It is, from left to right:
ivory black, raw umber, burnt umber, ultramarine blue, cobalt violet, viridian, burnt sienna, permanent alizarin crimson,  yellow ochre, cadmium orange, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, zinc white, titanium white