Step-by-Step Tutorial – Realistic Acrylic Portrait School

30-Minute Acrylic Portrait: Profile of Woman With Dark Skin Tones and Red Hair

I’ll show you a 30 minute portrait of a woman with red hair and a dark skin tone!

In this alla prima portrait of a woman with red hair and dark skin tones, we explore the contrast between the highlights and shadows on her face and hair—real time, in a half hour. Enjoy!

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30-Minute Acrylic Portrait: “Serious Self-Portrait”

I’ll show you how I do a “serious” self-portrait, alla prima.

I like the contrast and strong lighting on my face. It makes for a dynamic portrait, where it is fairly easy to build volume and form. In this video, I demonstrate how you can paint a portrait quickly, either to use as a study or the underpainting for a more polished work. Try this exercise and see what you can accomplish in a half-hour!

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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: Thoughtful Woman in Black

I’ll show you how I paint an acrylic portrait in half an hour.

I am working on a portrait of a thoughtful woman with black hair and black clothing. The strong shadows on her face and her slight smile make for a very interesting subject to paint. Follow along with me as I endeavor to quickly capture anatomy, likeness, value, and skin tones.

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5 Brush Techniques and Tips to Paint Smoothly in Acrylic

How do you paint smoothly with your brush?

Do you struggle to apply your layers of paint? Are you frustrated with blotchy shading? In this video, I will show you how to create smooth applications of paint and matt medium, otherwise known as glazes.

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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!

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!

Category Archives for Step-by-Step Tutorial

30-Minute Acrylic Portrait: Profile of Woman With Dark Skin Tones and Red Hair

I’ll show you a 30 minute portrait of a woman with red hair and a dark skin tone!

LEARN MORE

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

30-Minute Acrylic Portrait: “Serious Self-Portrait”

I’ll show you how I do a “serious” self-portrait, alla prima.

LEARN MORE

30-Minute Acrylic Portrait: Thoughtful Woman in Black

I’ll show you how I paint an acrylic portrait in half an hour.

LEARN MORE

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

5 Brush Techniques and Tips to Paint Smoothly in Acrylic

How do you paint smoothly with your brush?

LEARN MORE

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

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

How do you finish you acrylic painting?

How to Paint Mountains in the Distance with Acrylic

How do you paint mountains?

How to Paint Golden Dog Fur with Glazes in Acrylic

How do you paint a dog?

Techniques for Painting Realistic Trees & Landscapes in Acrylic

How do you paint trees and landscapes?

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

Painting a landscape using the Alla Prima technique!

How to Use Halation to Add Vibrancy and Realism in Acrylic

Which technique did you use to create your acrylic portrait?