How to Paint Faces With Oil Paints

Start with the largest shapes, working toward details to create a portrait with oil paint.

Painting a portrait in oil requires close observation to shapes, lighting, color, layering, and details. Go through the process, step by step, to accurately paint a face using oil paints.

Things You'll Need

• Portrait model
• Primed canvas
• Oil paint
• Palette
• Palette knife
• Turpentine
• Linseed oil
• Brushes
• Rags
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Situate your model so they are facing you directly, especially if this is your first portrait painting. A 3/4 view is much more challenging than a straight-on view.

2. Light your model with a strong light in order to create light and dark contrasts. Using a strong light on your model will create contrasting highlights and shadows which will help you see more shapes in the face.

3. Mix a tiny amount of yellow ochre oil paint with plenty of turpentine to create a water-like consistency, which is referred to as a wash. Paint the wash over the entire surface of the white canvas. Allow to dry.

4. Draw the outline and major shapes of the face you wish to paint using pencil on the washed canvas. Look at images of human proportions to figure out the placement of facial features (see Resources). Create emotion and expression by looking for small details in and around the eyes and mouth.

5. Mix your flesh colors on a palette. Mix white with a small amount of yellow ochre, a smaller amount of burnt umber and a tiny bit of cadmium red to create a flesh color. You may need to experiment with adding or subtracting amounts of paint to get the color you desire.

6. Paint in the large shapes such as cheeks, forehead and the bridge of the nose of the drawing. Use colors that are similar to what you see in person. Mix the first layers of paint with plenty of turpentine so the paint flows easily and covers large areas quickly. Allow each layer to dry before adding additional paint.

7. Develop your portrait by adding small amounts of linseed oil to the oil paint and painting smaller shapes and details such as eyebrows, lips, nostrils and pupils as you continue. The main rule in oil painting is "fat over lean"--use thicker layers of paint over thinner layers of underpainting.

8. At the very end of your painting process, use white paint mixed with linseed oil to add highlight details in the eyes, on the tip of the nose, and on the forehead.

References

• Oil Painting Techniques
• Guide To Oil Painting
• Portrait Painting Color Theory

Resources

• Human Proportions