Portrait Painting Challenge, Q & A

It’s been an exciting week so far with so many people signing up for the Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge! 

With that, I’ve received a lot of questions. I want to take a moment and answer some of them, so that if you it’s your question too, well, you’ll have an answer! Some of the questions are ones that I am anticipating as well….

1. When does the challenge actually start? 

Right now, people in my Facebook group are voting for their favorite image until tonight. Once we have the final reference photo, selected, I’ll put a grid overlay on it, and then email it to you here tomorrow (4/8). We will begin the next day, Thursday, April 9th.

2. What if I’m not on Facebook? Can I still participate?​

Yes! You can still paint along with us, and keep in touch with me via email. Click here to REGISTER and get your “Welcome Kit” with the supplies list. It’s not too late.

3. What if the photo I like most doesn’t get picked?

Well, I set this challenge up in a democratic way, so that everyone would get involved and vote collectively as a group. Unfortunately, we won’t all get to paint a portrait from the photo we liked most, myself included. But I think we can still recognize the value of painting the final choice image, because all of them are fantastic options, with their own unique qualities.

Also: I will be saving these “runner-up” images for a future challenge or painting class. So I think we’ll have another shot at painting them!

4. Where are you posting the step-by-step demonstration videos? 

I will be posting them to Realistic Acrylic Portrait School, on my blog. The videos will be hosted on my YouTube channel, Fine Art by Matt Philleo

5. Is this free? 

Yes, the challenge, the Welcome Kit, the video lessons, all of that is free. I want to bless you during this challenging time and allow as many to participate as possible. I will have some additional benefits for you if you are a Realistic Acrylic All-Access Member. If you want to check that out and consider joining if you aren’t already a member, click here to learn more.

6. I can’t find some of the colors on the supplies list. Are there substitutes? 

Yes. If you look at the last page of my Welcome Kit, you will see an image of my palette, with all the colors arranged it. Look at it and match up a color that you have on hand that looks close. For example, Raw Umber mixed with a little Ivory Black should work as a substitute for Raw Umber Dark.

7. I can’t find Organic Red Orange on Nova Color’s website. Where is it? 

That is my mistake. It is actually called, “Organic Pyrrole Orange.” I have called it Organic Red Orange for the longest time, because it is truly a red-orange pigment, and it differentiates it from other straight red or orange colors on my palette.

8. How often are you going to post instructional videos? 

On an almost daily basis. You will be hearing from me very often. If for some reason you feel you are getting too many emails, you can opt-out of the challenge here, and I will not email you anything more about the challenge, no hard feelings. 🙂 And you will still be on my art tips newsletter.

9. What if I get behind on the challenge?

No worries. This is not a race. Think of it more like a group painting party, but where the doors never close. 🙂 You can just keep working at your own pace. The videos will still be there for you to access later.

10. When will the challenge end? 

I am shooting to have it done by the end of April, but we are getting started a bit later than I thought. So it might go into the first week of May. I’ll be keeping in touch with you to let you know when we get closer to that time.

Okay, that’s it for now!

I hope this clears up any questions you have. But if you have more questions, shoot me an email and let me know. I’ll be happy to answer you personally.

I’m so excited to start the challenge with you. Look for an email from me tomorrow with the announcement on the reference photo we will be painting from, and a downloadable version with a grid overlay that you can paint from.

Look forward to seeing you in the challenge!

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! 

Let me know if you have any questions about the challenge that I didn’t answer. Leave your question in the comments below and I’ll get back to you!