Painting Portrait Tips / Lots of information about how to paint a portrait
Develop your drawing skills.
In order to learn portrait painting properly, it is essential to develop your drawing skills. Actually that applies to all forms of realistic art. I had the good fortune to have had an excellent drawing training at a young age. However, I know that many of you do not.
Portrait painting business: Above an image from long time ago when I just started my career as a commissioned portrait painter.
For those who would love to do portrait painting on a commission basis, once again, I want to give some advice. The most important thing I must say is: Make sure you’re good enough. Continue reading “Portrait painting business”
Our Art trip to China. Perhaps you have noticed it but I have been away for a while. We were on a cultural/historical/art journey to China. For me it was the first encounter with this fascinating country. Continue reading “Art trip to China”
Last week I told you about the female nude commissions. And, I wrote that only during the photo session does it become clear how the model will be depicted. This post is again about Improvising and portrait painting. Continue reading “Improvising and portrait painting”
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.
If you have the intention to start working from life model try to find some friends to join you and agree a fixed day and hour in the week. It is good to have some obligation.
Painting a portrait from life? Do you work a lot from photography? There is nothing wrong with that, I have said so often. It gives you the opportunity to calmly create a portrait with good likeness and time to mix the colours at ease. It is also often a fantastic picture that invites you to make a beautiful painting.
But there are also pitfalls, namely that you create a too detailed reproduction of the photo. That is a missed opportunity. A painting must be your interpretation and not a copied image. Continue reading “Painting a portrait from life”
Portrait painting in oil: A quick approach in colour from a live model.
You know I’m far from being an opponent of working from photography. I have received my share of criticism for this stance. That is fine by me. I know whereof I speak, take it from me. Many of my colleagues use photography. And lots for 100% of their work. Only: they do not want to talk about it! I know this phenomenon from the inside out, and I remain to tell you the truth.
But without prejudice I encourage everyone to study from observation. One of the special features is the reflection of a quest. All the elements of a face are not always immediately in the right place on the canvas. And I like to see these little changes of detail in the work. It gives the final artwork that unique charm.
When I work from a live model, I should actually take many more pictures in between to show that process well. The accompanying picture shows two shots. One after a session of 20 minutes and the other after an hour. Pay special attention to the small changes around the mouth and the eyes.
Of course it is an added problem when a model cannot sit still for more than five minutes, at least I can´t. ( I am always happy to be the painter and not the sitter) Every model tends to drift or have difficulties to hold one position. That is why I always take some pictures with my cellphone before stopping the session. So afterwards I am able to correct some features when the model had gone.
“If you are self-employed, do you need a lot of self-discipline?” someone asked me a long time ago. “Of course!” was my answer, “because you need to know when to stop.” Unless you pay attention, you find yourself day and night behind the easel. I have had to think of that now I am seized with “watercolour fever”.
Two weeks ago I wrote you about a commission in watercolour. I finished the job but I could not shake myself free of watercolours as they captivated me. I attacked (after Van Gogh) a number of portraits in this beautiful technique. The working method in watercolour is opposed to that of oil. In oil you immediately start with the darkest parts, then the half tones and finally the lights. On the contrary, in watercolour you start with the light areas, (saving the high lights). Then the halftones and finally the darkest parts.
Already people have asked me for a tutorial and I have put it on the agenda for next year. Next post will be on the preparations for a watercolour portrait.
The colours on my palette:
I prefer to work on Arches France, Bockingford or Fabriano paper.