May 2022 – Realistic Acrylic Portrait School

How to Varnish an Acrylic Portrait in ONE STEP

/ Real Time Tutorial Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

An acrylic portrait just doesn’t feel complete until you have it varnished.

But how do you do it successfully? Let me show you a simple, ONE-STEP method to varnish your painting. No messing around with isolation/ multiple coats or sprays. I’ve been using this method for over 20 years and it gives my portraits a nice satin sheen that protects them from dust.

MATERIALS USED:

Liquitex Freestyle 10″ brush

Novacolor Matte Varnish (85%)

Novacolor Gloss Varnish (15%)

Water spray bottle

DISCLAIMER: Your results may vary. I cannot be held responsible for any painting that gets damaged due to varnishing, but this technique has worked well for me.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

How to Use Cooler Colors for Clothing Shadows in Your Acrylic Portrait

/ Real Time Tutorial Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

I’ll show you how to use cool colors for clothing shadows in your acrylic portrait using the glazing technique.

This is done with the glazing technique, where we mix a small amount of pigment with a large amount of clear matte medium. This creates wonderful depth and vibrance in your painting!

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

How to Darken Background and Clothing With the Acrylic Glazing Technique

/ Backgrounds Glazing Real Time Tutorial Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo
/ 1 COMMENT

With the acrylic glazing technique, it’s easy to adjust your background and make it darker.

You can also add wonderful cloudy effects so that your subjects—the people in your portrait—are in focus and jump out at you! Let me show you how in this video tutorial.

Watch my video tutorial to learn more how to darken background and clothing with the acrylic glazing technique.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

Blocking in Shadows for a LARGE Acrylic Painting

I show you how to block in the value structure using the acrylic glazing technique.

Back to this large 30″ x 40″ acrylic portrait painting of Moses, Aaron and Hur in the Amalekite battle. What’s great about this technique, is that you can easily adjust on the fly, avoid time-consuming corrections to mistakes, and make sure your painting turns out just the way you want it.

Watch my tutorial to learn more how I block in shadows for a large acrylic painting.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

How to Paint Short Silver Hair in Your Acrylic Portrait

/ Real Time Tutorial Shading Sketching Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

I’ll show you how I painted the acrylic portrait with short silver hair.

How do you paint short hair in your acrylic portrait? And how do you paint hair that is silver in color? In this video I’ll show you how. We start with ultramarine blue and raw umber dark, mixed into matte medium to make translucent glazes. Then, we apply that gently on top of the foundation we already have built. I’ll show you more in this video..

Watch my free tutorial to learn more how to paint short silver hair in your acrylic portrait.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

How to Refine the Shape of Teeth in Your Acrylic Portrait

/ Shading Sketching Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

Next to the eyes, the mouth is the most important feature to capture in a portrait.

In this quick step-by-step video tutorial, I’ll show you how to refine the shape of the teeth. It’s a very important, but often overlooked part of painting a beautiful smile!

Watch my free tutorial to learn more how to refine the shape of teeth in your acrylic portrait.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

How to Use Cooler Colors in Your Acrylic Portrait

What colors do you use for shadows in your acrylic portrait?

Cooler colors really can help to add the realism you are aiming for. In this brief tutorial video, using a commissioned portrait as an example, I’ll show you what colors to mix and why.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

Two Steps to Make Teeth More Realistic in Your Acrylic Portrait

/ Shading Sketching Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

What colors do you use for shadows in your acrylic portrait?

Cooler colors really can help to add the realism you are aiming for. In this brief tutorial video, using a commissioned portrait as an example, I’ll show you what colors to mix and why.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

How to Paint Subtle Nuances in Your Acrylic Portrait

It’s those final nuances and details that can really make a portrait look realistic.

In this video, I’ll show you how to add a highlight to the eyelid, a nuance to the nose and cheek, and a few details of the hair. When you learn how to do this correctly, you too, can finish your painting well and create a portrait you can be proud of!

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

Archive Monthly Archives: May 2022

An acrylic portrait just doesn’t feel complete until you have it varnished.

I’ll show you how to use cool colors for clothing shadows in your acrylic portrait using the glazing technique.

With the acrylic glazing technique, it’s easy to adjust your background and make it darker.

I show you how to block in the value structure using the acrylic glazing technique.

I’ll show you how I painted the acrylic portrait with short silver hair.

Next to the eyes, the mouth is the most important feature to capture in a portrait.

What colors do you use for shadows in your acrylic portrait?

What colors do you use for shadows in your acrylic portrait?

It’s those final nuances and details that can really make a portrait look realistic.