How to Learn Portrait Painting
Portrait painting is a difficult task for any artist--especially a beginning artist. When learning how to do portraits, an artist must train himself to paint exactly what he sees and to do that by looking at his subject objectively. The best way to learn to how to paint a portrait is by painting a portrait, then painting another and another until you become a skilled portrait artist.
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Things You'll Need
- Photograph of subject
- Paint (variety of colors)
- Canvas/paper
- Paint brushes
Instructions
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1
Draw from photographs of people--and do this over and over again. This activity will help you familiarize yourself with the proportions of the body, posture and musculature. These drawings should range from quick sketches to lengthy studies. Photographs are often better than live subjects because they never move and the lighting conditions never change. Use photographs that are large, high resolution and detailed.
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2
Choose your painting medium. Ideally, this will be a medium with which you are already familiar. The most common media are watercolor, acrylic and oil paint. Watercolor is a translucent medium that can be difficult to control and is not usually recommended for beginning portrait artists. Acrylic paint is a fast-drying, opaque medium. The quick drying time of acrylic paint is a disadvantage when it comes to blending skin tones. Oil paint is a slow-drying medium that looks similar to acrylic paint.
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3
Select your painting surface. If you are using acrylic or oil paints, you may want to paint on canvas board instead of canvas while you are still learning, because canvas board is less expensive.
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4
Set up your materials and draw a basic outline of the facial features--meaning, an outline of the face, hair, eyes, nose and mouth, but no fine details--on your painting surface. Use a standard No. 2 pencil with eraser, and draw lightly.
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5
Paint a thin wash of the appropriate colors on the painting surface. Do not paint any details or shadows at this time--just quickly lay down the groundwork for the rest of the painting.
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6
Paint some details (using a medium-sized paint brush), and smooth the paint you just put down. If you are working with oil paint, you may want to give the painting surface time to dry before proceeding.
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7
Paint finer details, using a smaller brush.
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8
Step away from your painting and return to it after you have forgotten exactly what you painted. This may take several hours or days. When you return to the canvas, compare it to the photograph and look for errors. Make corrections as necessary.
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9
Repeat steps 4 through 8 for every painting, and paint portraits often. Practice as much as possible.
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Tips & Warnings
Flesh tones are difficult to match with paint. Most light flesh tones are made with a combination of red, yellow, white and brown. Most darker flesh tones are made with a combination of red, yellow, brown and blue. If you are uncertain whether the flesh tone you have mixed matches the subject, look back and forth between the photograph and the canvas. Try to see differences.
If you think something may be wrong with your completed portrait but you're not sure what, show the canvas to someone you trust who has an eye for art. Ask his opinion and take the advice seriously. Remember to thank anyone who shares his thoughts with you.
To find errors in your canvas, turn the canvas and photograph upside down, and compare the two. This will allow you to look at your painting--and the subject--objectively.
For additional instruction and practice with a professional, consider signing up for portrait painting classes at your recreation center or community college.
References
- Photo Credit Girl Paint image by Nenad Djedovic from Fotolia.com
