How to Paint a Head With Watercolors

Watercolor painting is a highly expressive and vivid way of depicting art. The control and understanding necessary to properly paint a head using watercolors can elude even the most seasoned painters from time to time. However, you can learn to paint a head with watercolors and maintain a sense of grace that allows you to produce a portrait you are proud to display.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Watercolor paper or canvas
• Large (1.5 in or larger) paintbrush
• Watercolors

1. Locate a picture or portrait of a person to use as a reference point for painting a watercolor head. Make sure that you use a photograph that is large enough that allows you to see the light gradations of the head as well as the use of shadow and contrast
2. Using a soft lead sketching pencil sketch a basic oval outline on a piece of canvas paper or watercolor paper. Lightly indicate where you will paint the portrait. Make the oval large enough so that you can adequately show the various features on the face.
3. Mix a flesh tone color a couple of shades darker than you want the final flesh tone. Use brown and white, noting that darker skin will require more dark paint. Thoroughly mix the paint and test the color out on a test sheet to ensure that it is dark enough to be used as the basic skin tone.
4. Choose a fairly wide, about 1.5 inch, watercolor brush and begin painting inside the pencil sketch to indicate where the head will be. Paint down from the oval to indicate a neck if you have room on your canvas. It will give anatomical validity to your painting and allow for greater use of shadow and contrast.
5. Use a slightly moistened wash cloth or painter's cloth and wipe away some of the darker flesh color paint on one side of the head. It will indicate where the light is falling on the head. Allow this part of the painting to dry before moving on to paint any details of on the face.
6. Return to your head after it has dried and paint ears and an outline of hair. Go back over sections of the head and add white to give slight glimmers of light that indicate where the highest points of light are on the head. Typically this glimmer will occur around the eyes, teeth, and under the eyes on the cheekbones.

Tips & Warnings

• Go under the chin with the dark shadow tone to indicate where the light does not reach the neck.
• Use a wash to paint in the background in a complimentary or at least dark color to contrast of the light on the head to show through.
• Keep your watercolor palette clean. Each color should have a separate place in a tray or tube to prevent discoloring and inconsistent skin tones.

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