Blog – Page 2 – Realistic Acrylic Portrait School

Acrylic Portrait of Couple with Flowers—Using the Glazing Technique—TIMELAPSE

How do you preserve the details of your sketch?

Here is an 11″ x 14″ acrylic portrait I finished, using the glazing technique, just before Christmas—a timelapse, showing nearly the entire process.

This portrait was a little more challenging than most, because of how much detail was involved in such a small space.

But, by God’s grace, I was able to get it done in time! The glazing technique allows you to preserve the detail of your sketch, so you don’t lose the likeness, build up color and depth, and create a realistic portrait. I’d encourage you, if you haven’t already, to give this technique a try!

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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 in 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!

3 Myths About Portrait Painting—BUSTED

/ Tips and Techniques Uncategorized Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

Did you know that there are common ideas of people about portrait painting?

There are three common ideas people have about portrait painting. Are they true? I’ll show you these ideas, and bust them, one by one. 🙂

It’s my goal that, in busting these myths, you’ll be set free to paint a portrait you can be proud of. Enjoy!

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3 Parts of an Acrylic Landscape

/ Glazing Real Time Tutorial Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

How do you paint landscapes?

Watch this free video tutorial to learn more.

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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 in 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!

Finishing and Signing Moses, Aaron, and Hur 30 x 40 Amalekite Battle Painting

How do you finish you acrylic painting?

After the ancient Israelites left their bondage in Egypt, the Amalekites came out to attack them. During the battle, as long as Moses held his staff up, they did well. (His staff was a symbol of his connection with God.) But when his arms grew weak, and he couldn’t hold up the staff anymore, the Israelites started to get beaten. (Recorded in Exodus 17) So Aaron and Hur, his companions, decided to have Moses sit on a rock and then hold up his arms.

With that Israel prevailed in the battle! In the same way, we draw strength from the Lord as we pray and keep our connection close to Him. Sometimes, however, we grow weary. And that’s why we need friends to help us! God also gives us strength to fight another day, with the prayers, encouragement, and help of those around us. We may not be fighting on a battlefield, but we do have many challenges in our lives, don’t we?

In those challenges, God will strengthen us, as we draw close to Him and the friends He gives us. And we can be friends to others too! In this video, you can watch the final nuances and the signing process. Thank you so much for your encouragement as I worked on this painting for so long!

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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 in 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 Mountains in the Distance with Acrylic

How do you paint mountains?

How do you paint mountains so that they appear naturally in the distance and have the right sense of shape, form, and lighting. In this video, I’ll show you a few tips (not a complete process) on how to do exactly that! I’m using my painting of Moses, Aaron, and Hur in the Amalekite battle, as I depict the surrounding terrain, for this lesson. Enjoy!

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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 in 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 Golden Dog Fur with Glazes in Acrylic

How do you paint a dog?

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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 in 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!

New Portrait Painting Class Coming Very Soon!

/ New Course
/ By Matt Philleo

I’m SO excited for the new painting class that I will be opening up tomorrow!

So what’s the difference between that one and the old one?

Well, the first one, “Paint Your First Amazing Acrylic Portrait,” was launched waaaay back in 2017. One of my online followers, Dorothy, asked and asked and asked me when I was going to teach a class. I had taught in-person classes for a while, but I wasn’t sure if it was possible to teach online.

Despite my uncertainty, a very eager Dorothy, who was in her 80’s, bought a webcam and I walked her through on how to set it up. Then she asked me, “IF you were to teach a class, how much would you charge?”

I researched online, and it seemed like $97 was a good price. So I told her, and she said, “I’ll mail you a check.”

So now, I HAD to do the class!

I let the people on my email list of 141 people know and 10 signed up! And that was my original class. I taught it all live. I bought an online class teaching me how to teach an online class. They said, “it’s better just to do it imperfectly than to be a perfectionist and not do it at all.”

I took that to heart and decided to take action.

From several conversations with artists, I learned what they wanted in a class, and what frustrations they were experiencing while trying to paint a portrait in acrylic. I created my lesson plan based on that.

Quickly, I suspended my webcam with some sticks and wire on the ceiling and started meeting with the students once a week, and recording the lessons.

That first class was good—for a beta class—and hundreds of students got great results from it. But I know it could be better. I’ve gotten tons of feedback. Like hundreds of comments from students to know what to improve.

So what will be the difference between the classes?

Let me show you.

As you can see, God willing, the new class will be TONS better! I am excited to offer it to you.

Tomorrow, I’ll give you more details and open it up for enrollment.

Sign up here on my email list to get the invite:

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits

Blessings,

Matt

P.S. Do you have any questions about this class? Leave a comment below. I’m excited to teach you!

Techniques for Painting Realistic Trees & Landscapes in Acrylic

How do you paint trees and landscapes?

In this video demonstration for my student Diane’s portrait (with a big landscape background), I paint the background and midground trees. I’ll show you what colors to use (and why), how to mix the paint with matte medium for the glazing technique, how to use the brush for maximum blending effects, and a whole lot more!

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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 in 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!

30 Minute Acrylic Portrait: (Landscape Special) “Golden Fields under Crimson Trees”

Painting a landscape using the Alla Prima technique!

This is a special edition of the 30-minute acrylic portrait, where today I paint a landscape, using the same alla prima technique. The fall colors are gorgeous in Wisconsin, and I’m so blessed to be able to walk into my backyard, and see an expansive vista of trees and hills.

Vibrant reds, yellows and oranges are already beginning to frost the tips of the trees here. I decided to do a painting based on a photo I took. They complement the golden fields perfectly. Enjoy this half an hour of painting, I hope it inspires you to try your own!

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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 in 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 Halation to Add Vibrancy and Realism in Acrylic

Which technique did you use to create your acrylic portrait?

Working on that painting of Moses, Aaron and Hur again (the 30 x 40 Amalekite/ Israelite battle scene) and I’m concentrating on the background. To take nondescript forms of soldiers in the distance and make them look realistic without over-detailing is tricky. And then adding sunlight to the mix is even more challenging.

What technique to use?

I use halation. Halation is a technique that was extensively employed by Wayne Thiebaud in his realism/abstraction paintings to add visual excitement, energy, and vibrancy to his paintings. It involves taking a saturated color mixture and painting it along the transition point between a light and dark value.

I’ll show you how to do it in this video!

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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 in 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 do you preserve the details of your sketch?

Did you know that there are common ideas of people about portrait painting?

Read more about how to paint a portrait that you can surely be proud of!

How do you paint landscapes?

How do you finish you acrylic painting?

How do you paint mountains?

How do you paint a dog?

How do you paint trees and landscapes?

Painting a landscape using the Alla Prima technique!

Which technique did you use to create your acrylic portrait?