In this lesson, you will learn how to slowly transition out of the sketch process and into the painting with confidence.
Instead of the typical way of painting—dumping a bunch of paint onto the canvas and hoping something good comes out of it, you will strategically begin your portrait with light, translucent glazing layers.
If you follow the heart of my method, you will not feel like the painting is out of control. You will be guiding the painting to a successful finish, rather the painting taking you and your emotions for a roller-coaster ride.
It takes patience.
So please don’t jump ahead, even though it feels you’re starting so slowly.
You’ll find that once we get the painting moving in the right direction, it will begin to take off, just like a car as it goes into higher gear. Your layers and brushstrokes will get bolder as you hit the midpoint of your painting, like a climax in a good movie or book. You’ll be moving much faster then!
Finally, you’ll slow down again.
You’ll gently add nuances and final touches to bring the portrait home and make it a masterpiece.
In our previous step, I showed you how to sketch your canvas to create a firm foundation for your painting. Not perfect, but accurate.
Now, in this lesson, we will finally get to the painting!
Ready to paint?
Now, before we begin (yes, I have to ask you again, just in case 🙂 )…
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Watch my in-depth Masterclass acrylic online tutorial below to see these steps in action.
After learning from this video, you’ll know exactly how to do it.
Make sure to watch the ENTIRE video first before diving into the painting. It will be worth it to do that. Then, I’d like you to go back and refer to whatever steps you need to as you paint. That way, you won’t miss any of the instruction and tips that will help you make this portrait your very best.
Here’s the video…
[PORTRAIT CHALLENGE] Masterclass Lesson #3: Beginning Your Portrait Painting Lightly and Confidently
The largest challenge of the glazing technique is overcoming the tendency to go dark and thick with your paint. But if you stick with this, even beyond this portrait, you’ll find the technique “clicking” and you’ll understand how it can help you to create a painting with incredible luminosity, smooth shading, depth, and detail.
In other words, a portrait that will “wow” others and you’ll feel proud to have created. And even more, a portrait you can give as a gift, hang on your wall (or someone else’s) and will be enjoyed for years to come.
There you have it! Now you know exactly how to begin your portrait lightly, and confidently. The next step is to build up depth with more glazes and see the amazing portrait fade in, slowly materialize before your eyes.
I’ll see you in our next class! Until then be blessed in your painting and may God guide your every brushstroke!
Yours for Better Portraits,
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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!
In this video, I share how I painted an 11″ x 14″ portrait of three beautiful children, using the classical glazing technique.
This is not a time-lapse video, but rather real-time snippets of my studio process, step-by-step, with explanations of what I’m doing. I share all the tips I can within about 20 minutes so that you can learn to paint an amazing acrylic portrait that you can give as a gift or even do for a living!
This tutorial shows the entire process of painting a portrait. Here are the steps I show in this tutorial:
Watch the video below and happy painting! 🙂
Of course, I always love to hear from you. Please let me know how this video helps.
Also, do you have a question about your portrait that I could answer for you? Let me know in the comments below!
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!
It’s hard to make it look real. I want to show you the first step in painting realistic hair in your acrylic portrait, in this video where I paint a portrait of three children.
You’ll find it’s a matter of creating the right shapes and patterns of value, and starting very simply, using the glazing technique. Let me show you how to paint hair without fuss in this quick video tutorial.
Did you enjoy this video?
Share it with your artist friends if you think they will find it helpful! Also, if you need more help, hop onto courses.realisticacrylic.com where we concentrate on just acrylic portraits, and how to make yours the best it can be.
My goal is to make your life as acrylic portrait artist easier by giving you tips, lessons, and tutorials.
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!
In this video tutorial, I want to show you how to set the stage for a painting with luminosity, by using light glazes.
Glazes are simply mixtures of paint and clear medium (matte medium) and usually at least 50% medium to paint ratio. By building them up slowly, you can steer the portrait in the right direction, incrementally.
You will see how color is applied to the entire painting, and it starts coming alive, even if slowly.
It’s a different way to look at painting. I’ll show you how I do it in this video, using this recent 8″ x 10″ commissioned portrait as an example…
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have a blessed day,
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!