January 2023 – Realistic Acrylic Portrait School

Matte Medium vs. Gloss Medium for Acrylic Glazing

Students who are new to my glazing technique have a lot of questions. So many mediums to choose from. Which ones are best to use…and why?

That’s what I want to discuss today.

Here’s a portion of an email I got from one of my students:

As you know, I am currently working on your portrait course at the moment, however, I have a question that I hope you can clarify. All previous information I have looked up indicates that when applying glazes, acrylic matte medium dries cloudy and gloss medium dries clear and obviously glossy. Can you just explain it for me why we only use matte medium for glazing in your tutorial, as my initial thoughts would be that the cloudiness would just build up? Or am I just missing the l point in that this is how we build up the underpainting of the portrait? Many Thanks, R—

This is a good question.

So, what’s better for glazing? Matte medium or gloss medium?

Let me answer that with the reply I sent back to my student.

I use matte medium for three reasons:

1. It dries to a flat finish and so it doesn’t react with the lights in my studio, producing distracting glare.

2. Because it dries to a flat finish, it is closer to the sheen of paint, and so when you have areas that are more opaque and less opaque, they match up better. In other words, you can perceive the values more accurately. A glossy finish will make colors look more saturated and deepen values. When you put a varnish over the painting, it would present a problem, causing certain subtle nuances that seemed to look correct, suddenly become inaccurate. (Yes, this happened to me!)

acrylic painting palette

3. Matte medium is usually less expensive than gloss medium. With the copious amounts of medium that I use, this adds up!

Now, I don’t find that matte medium builds up cloudiness, in the way that I teach. It will get cloudy, if you have areas of your painting that are quite dark or saturated, and you overlap those areas with a very transparent (high ratio of matte medium to paint) glaze.

But I don’t do it that way in my paintings. Rather, I start off very transparent, (95-5) then shift to more translucent (80-20), and finally end up with semi-opaque layers (50-50) over portions of the work.

acrylic portrait painting challenge in progress

Acrylic portrait painting challenge example in progressm using the acrylic glazing technique, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas by artist and instructor Matt Philleo

This prevents that cloudiness from occurring and gives a rich saturation of color too. But we still retain the benefits of the smooth shading, vibrancy, and depth that glazing produces.

I finish my painting with a satin or semi-gloss varnish and that’s where we can add some extra saturation of value and vibrancy.

What is YOUR experience with acrylic mediums? Which do you prefer…and why? Let me know in the comments below.

Look forward to sharing more tips and tutorials with you.

Yours for Better Portraits,

If you found this post helpful or encouraging, would you send it on ahead? Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much!

Building Up Color on an Acrylic Pet Portrait

/ Real Time Tutorial Uncategorized Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

Ever wonder how you to paint rich color tones in the fur of a pet portrait and make it look real?

I’ll show you how to Building Up Color on an Acrylic Pet Portrait, using 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!

How to Build Up Form on Clothing with Acrylic

/ Real Time Tutorial Shading Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

In portraits, the clothing that the people wear is very important. How do you make it look realistic?

It’s all about the foundations. In this video, I show you how to see not only the difference in value, but FORM. That is the three-dimensional illusion of an object—in this case, people—reacting to the light source around them and looking real. We put values in the right place. And when we use enough layers, voila!

The wrinkles and form of the body under the clothing look natural and lifelike. I am using, as an example, my 24″ x 30″ commissioned acrylic portrait of 30 people in it. Watch over my shoulder as I paint, and explain in real-time, what I am doing, and how you can do this too, in your own acrylic portrait paintings!

Watch my tutorial to learn how to build up form on clothing with acrylic.

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 Dark Clothing Using the Acrylic Glazing Technique

/ Uncategorized
/ By Matt Philleo

How do you paint dark clothing with glazing technique?

I’m working on this 24 x 30 acrylic portrait of 30 people again, and in this video, I show you how to paint dark clothing using the acrylic glazing technique. With the acrylic glazing technique, we mix a little bit of paint into a large quantity of matte medium, and apply many translucent layers. This allows for more blending, depth, and helps you to not lose the likeness from your sketch. Now, this is just one step of many, so please subscribe to this channel so you see the entire process as it unfolds!

Watch my tutorial to learn more about how to paint dark clothing using 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!

Painting a 24 x 30 acrylic with 30 people

/ Uncategorized
/ By Matt Philleo

How do I apply the first skin tone layer using acrylic glazing?

In this video real-time portrait painting demonstration, I begin a 24″ x 30″ acrylic portrait with 30 people in it! This is a commission, and it features full-length figures with an immense amount of detail to capture. I am painting this on hardboard so I can get in the fine shading and nuances, especially on the faces. I use a modified version of the classical glazing technique. It allows you to capture a lot of detail and blend smoothly, with precision. Watch over my shoulder as I paint! I hope this helps you learn new techniques you can apply to your portrait. Be blessed!

Portrait painters know that it’s not easy to paint realistic skin tones. In acrylic, this is especially true. But what if there was a way where you didn’t have to have a perfect recipe or make it all happen in one shot? What if you could slowly, but predictably build up skin tones one layer at a time? And what if you could do it without losing your likeness in the sketch? That’s what I am going to show you today.

Now, this is just the start. But it’s a very good start. I’ll demonstate, real-time, in this 24 x 30 acrylic portrait of 30 people, how I am putting in the FIRST layer of skin tone color, using the acrylic glazing technique. What is the acrylic glazing technique? Watch over my shoulder in this video tutorial, and I’ll show you.

Back to that 24 x 30 acrylic portrait again! This time, I’m showing you how to block in the color for the hair. We’re using the acrylic glazing technique, where we mix a little bit of paint into a large amount of clear acrylic matte medium, and create blending with many faint layers.

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 do Smooth Shading with Acrylic

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

I’ll show you step, by step, how I develops shading with the acrylic glazing technique.

Shading– the transition from a dark value to a lighter value in a two-dimensional work of art–is one of the most important techniques you can master to make a painting or drawing look realistic.

Watch my tutorial to learn more on how to do smooth shading with acrylic.

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 Sketch an Acrylic Portrait with a Grid

/ Uncategorized
/ By Matt Philleo

How do you sketch in you acrylic with a grid?

Watch my tutorial to learn more about how to sketch an acrylic portrait with a grid.

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 a Pet Portrait in Acrylic

If you’re a portrait artist, it won’t be long before you’ll be asked to paint a portrait someone’s beloved pet. And you’ll want to know how to do it.

I will show you how, using the acrylic glazing technique, in this first part of a 5 x 7 acrylic on hardboard commissioned pet portrait demonstration.

How to Paint a Pet Portrait Part 2

I’ll show you how he gives his acrylic pet portrait depth as adds shading, nuances and differentiates the dog from the background by using the correct values in shadows.

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!

Sketching Your Painting Accurately

Every house has a foundation. A painting is no different.

I’ll show you how I helps a student in the sketching process in this critique to make sure the painting starts out well!

Watch my tutorial to learn more about sketching your painting accurately.

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!

Beginning a Pet Portrait in Acrylic

After creating your sketch, what’s the next step?

I’ll shows you how begins the first layers of paint in this realistic acrylic pet portrait using the glazing technique.

Beginning a Pet Portrait in Acrylic

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!

Archive Monthly Archives: January 2023

Students who are new to my glazing technique have a lot of questions. So many mediums to choose from. Which ones are best to use…and why?

So, what’s better for glazing? Matte medium or gloss medium?

Ever wonder how you to paint rich color tones in the fur of a pet portrait and make it look real?

In portraits, the clothing that the people wear is very important. How do you make it look realistic?

How do you paint dark clothing with glazing technique?

How do I apply the first skin tone layer using acrylic glazing?

I’ll show you step, by step, how I develops shading with the acrylic glazing technique.

How do you sketch in you acrylic with a grid?

If you’re a portrait artist, it won’t be long before you’ll be asked to paint a portrait someone’s beloved pet. And you’ll want to know how to do it.

How to Paint a Pet Portrait Part 2

Every house has a foundation. A painting is no different.

After creating your sketch, what’s the next step?

Beginning a Pet Portrait in Acrylic