Writing fiction prose is hard because I don't want to be "race blind" and never describe the skin tone of characters but I also don't just wanna write "She's Black" or "Her skin is brown" like that's boring and feels weird. So then the alternative is to always find ways to reference skin in ways that both reveal skin tone and says something about the character and add to their vibe. Like "her dark skin was ashy and in need of moisturizing" showing that a character neglects their self-care and giving a vibe of being stressed or overworked, but also casually referencing that they are dark skinned. Or you can use a reference object like "her skin glistened like a polished sandstone" and now we have a sense that the skin tone is "like sand" but it also gives an impression of being very polished, very put together.
But sometimes when trying to find a good reference object for a character that gives both a vibe and a color, I end up finding images that fit but would make awful prose to reference.
Today, that reference object is "Her skin was a deep dusty brown, like a 17,000 yr old sandstone oil lamp discovered at the caves of Lascaux, France"
Like, no, that is not going to work. I need to find something more normal.
