Painting Portrait Tips / Lots of information about how to paint a portrait
Portrait painting from photography, what do you need to know?
The portrait all the way at the bottom is painted from a live session. Based on this portrait I will show you what are the pitfalls in case of portrait painting from photography. Continue reading “Portrait painting from photography”
These days, around the end of the year, Helma and I are busy clearing the attic. The plan is to make large cabinets with plenty of storage space. I am already looking forward to the carpentry because it has been a while since I have held a saw, hammer or chisel. Continue reading “Portrait painter, be professional, find a gallery”
Did you ever thought of using test strips in portrait painting? Portrait painting is often difficult enough, so why not make it easier where possible? If you work from photographs, it´s a good idea to use test strips. It is a perfect tool to mix the right colour and value. (In the pictures you clearly see I don´t mean test strips in het
I would emphasize this maxim for beginners: Control first freedom later. Continue reading “Test strips in portrait painting.”
Last month someone asked for the original photographs of “Little Boy” and “Little Girl” From today they are free to download here. I’ve also added the pictures of the painted portraits.
As you know by now, painting commissioned portraits is an essential part of my daily artistic activity and has been for more than twenty-five years. I like to talk about it over and over again and hope that you can benefit from this.
Let me repeat this week what I consider to be the most important properties for a portrait painter.
I’m often criticized because I explain how to paint a portrait from photography. Working from life is the only true religion, I always hear. I never answer because I know how things are in my profession. I say it again loud and clear: almost all my colleagues use photography when it comes to a commission. Only, they would rather keep silence in public. Anyway, I do not want to talk about that.
The exposure. The lefthand picture shows a portrait that I painted from life in my studio during our Tuesday sessions. I always take a picture of the model before we stop. That shot you see on the right. A major handicap in photography can be seen at a glance. The light-dark contrast is too big. In particular, the light parts suffer from the loss of the subtle nuances. I notice in my classes that many people overlook that phenomenon. So make sure that the print that you’re working from is not too light and that there is difference between the light and the high-lights.
Finally: of course work from life. Study as much as possible with a live model in front of you. The more training in direct perception the more your work from photography improves.
More posts on working from photography:
More posts on painting from life model:
Protection of an oil painting.
When the portrait is dry to the touch, it is advisable to apply a coat of retouch varnish. For two reasons.
Continue reading “Portrait painting lessons (10) after treatment”
If you don´t have the opportunity to study from live nude models, the internet provides a great solution. Search for “nude models for artists”. It’s obviously not the same as far as spatial perception, but it is excellent to study proportions, masses, light and shade etc. of the human figure. It has never been so easy. I wonder what, for example Peter Paul Rubens would have said if he could have seen us studying this way! See also this post that I wrote about portraits models.
On Facebook this week I came across a very interesting article on the painter Eugène Delacroix and the use of photography. This also has to do with portrait painting. I thought it is important to share. Here’s a short quote.
Delacroix imagined that the daguerreotype (the term was then interchangeable with “photograph”) would contribute to a new and improved kind of painting, one he himself would not live to see. In his journal, he ended his account of the evening’s experiment with a confident glimpse into the future. “Truly, if a (painter) of genius should use the daguerreotype as it ought to be used,” Delacroix prophesized, “he will raise himself to heights unknown to us.”
Read the whole article
More about photography.
As you have seen I use my professional photographer´s kit to make the pictures of my models. I must rely on good materials since portrait painting is my full-time profession. However, also with good amateur stuff you can make good pictures. For the beginner a few tips, some dos and don’ts. Let me start with a common mistake. Don´t use the flash on your camera. This flash blows away all the shadows. And shadows are fundamental in portrait painting: with good shadows you will get an easier grip on the likeness.
If you are a beginner keep the lighting simple. A window where no direct sunlight comes in is good for a simple lighting. Place yourself almost near the window and put your model in front of you. Take care that three thirds of the face is in the light.
Put your camera at the same level as the model´s head, unless you want to emphasize that the model looks up to you or looks loftily. Think about that.
Don´t get your camera too close to the model´s face because of the wide angle distortion: Big nose and small ears, not a very flattering picture. So keep some distance.
Don´t put your model so far away that the whole body fills your image if you only need the face. That is a waste of all the lost pixels.
In the future I will pay more attention to photography. Good photography is fundamental.
See also: Portrait painting lessons (1)
