Hand Painted Portraits From Photos And How YouDo It

By Brenda Miller


Ever been intimidated by a portrait painting? Especially when it is close to impossible to get all the colors correct? Well, we are going to discuss easy steps on perfecting it. With a little more practice and once you get a feel for it, you will be a natural. Here are techniques on Hand Painted Portraits from Photos.

Choose one photo with a lot of good highlights. Also shadows. Try picking one that has a good range from light and then to dark. Pose your model so there will be a few shadowy areas on its face because this adds dimension to your painting. Once you have that image, cut this photo to the right size of a canvas or maybe even a panel.

Sketch the lines and include its highlights for more detail later. You can use your projector to get the proportions right if you are not adept or comfortable drawing by hand. After that lay out all your colors that you will use for your portrait. For most skin tones, use burnt umber, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, titanium white and french ultramarine. Those will be what you will need the most.

You paint the eyes first. The whites should be done before the pupils. Always remember that those are never purely white. Some have shadows or anything that varies all its whites. Your darks and shadows ought to be blocked in too. Doing that help helps you get comfortable with the face.

Put in the midtone colors. Start from the darks then to the lighter ones. As you do this, you will be able to see the planes of its face starting to take its shape. Lips are of skin tone colors so remember that they are not always red. Paint light colors afterward.

Details and other definition ought to be next. Things such as shadows and adjustments should be covered as well as light coloring. Add the darks and the lights in places they are needed the most and never put too much or else a mess is made. Contrast should be practiced as well.

Put the fundamental hues needed for its hair. When you do the blocking on its hair, you are going to notice which place is needed to be colored or not on the face. So in that case, add those shades to its forehead too. Load up everything in its hair.

Finish up all the highlights of the portrait and tiny details. Those eyes need a sparkle to have a reflection so busy yourself with that. Adjusting the details? Master that too. You will only little highlights so avoid getting carried away.

Your background should be last. Put colors that cannot match your subject to add contrast and so they mix well together. If you are done, view your work. The first ones do not always turn out great but practice can get you going. After all, the saying is Practice Makes Perfect.




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