Spring 2021 Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge: Sculpting Shading and Skin Tones in Your Acrylic Portrait

Acrylic portrait painting, in many ways, is like creating a sculpture. We want to truly make our faces look realistic and three-dimensional. In this master class video lesson, I show you how to do exactly that.

We’re breaking a fine art portrait painting down into bite-size steps that YOU can do.

Specifically, in this video lesson, I demonstrate how darkening your background can really make the face stand out in a lifelike way.

What colors should we use for the shadows? I’ll show you how to mix them, what brushes to use to apply them, and HOW to do it. Get the shadows right, and 80% of the battle is won, so to speak in your portrait.

What colors for the skin tones?

In this video, you’ll learn the correct color to mix, how to create glazes with matte medium and apply it to the face smoothly.

This is still very much the beginning. More lessons to come.

Take the Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge (it’s FREE!) and paint along with us!

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter! After you join, I’ll send you the supplies list and reference photos to paint from.

Register for the Challenge!

 

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WATCH NOW…

Lesson #5: Sculpting Shading and Skin Tones in Your Acrylic Portrait

 

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Would like to paint this portrait with me and hundreds of other artists?

Take the 2021 Spring Portrait Painting Challenge!

You can register below and get started. It is completely FREE to join the challenge and participate. When you join, I’ll send you the “Welcome Kit” which includes:

• The Supplies List (so you know what you need to paint with us, your shopping list. 🙂 )
• The Reference Photo with and without the grid, high resolution, that you can download ready to print out or display on your tablet. You’ll be able to create an accurate portrait this way.
• The Palette Layout Guide showing you how to arrange your colors so they don’t get muddy on your palette
• The Master Class Lesson Schedule
• the Lessons emailed to you
• A private Facebook group to cheer you and help answer your questions
• And a few “bonuses” like opportunities to win my paid online classes

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

What’s coming up in the next lesson? More shading, more skin tones, and the start of some detail work. Follow the lessons and you will be able to create a portrait you can be proud of…even if you’re a complete beginner!

Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to teaching you more!

—Matt

Questions? Suggestions? Thoughts? Let me know, below in the comments. Please share your sketches in our Facebook group and share this post with your friends!

Spring 2021 Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge: The Slow and Steady Way to Paint an Acrylic Portrait

If you remember the childhood story, “The Tortoise and the Hare,” you recall that the hare started out really fast and put the tortoise to shame. But then the rabbit took a nap, while the slow, while the turtle, with his slow methodical steps, passed him up and won the race!

Likewise, in an acrylic portrait, we often want to see quick results. But if we take our time, and just add one layer on top of another, even though it looks like hardly anything is happening, eventually, we will end up with a great painting!

I’d like to show you how to slow down a bit, take your time, and paint your acrylic portrait layer by layer, using the acrylic glazing technique.

Take the Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge (it’s FREE!) and paint along with us!

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter! After you join, I’ll send you the supplies list and reference photos to paint from.

Register for the Challenge!

 

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WATCH NOW…

Lesson #4: The Slow and Steady Way to Paint an Acrylic Portrait

 

In this master class lesson #4, I demonstrate how to continue darkening your darkest values on the face and background, and then work in some warmer glazes to set up the skin tones on her face. We’re going very light, using a large amount of matte medium (95%) to a small amount of paint (5%)

Watch how to do it here…

 

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Would like to paint this portrait with me and hundreds of other artists?

Take the 2021 Spring Portrait Painting Challenge!

You can register below and get started. It is completely FREE to join the challenge and participate. When you join, I’ll send you the “Welcome Kit” which includes:

• The Supplies List (so you know what you need to paint with us, your shopping list. 🙂 )
• The Reference Photo with and without the grid, high resolution, that you can download ready to print out or display on your tablet. You’ll be able to create an accurate portrait this way.
• The Palette Layout Guide showing you how to arrange your colors so they don’t get muddy on your palette
• The Master Class Lesson Schedule
• the Lessons emailed to you
• A private Facebook group to cheer you and help answer your questions
• And a few “bonuses” like opportunities to win my paid online classes

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to teaching you more!

—Matt

Questions? Suggestions? Thoughts? Let me know, below in the comments. Please share your sketches in our Facebook group and share this post with your friends!

Spring 2021 Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge: Applying Your First Glazes

Think of the acrylic glazing technique as a Polaroid camera print.

Remember those? You would load up the small film sheets, snap a picture and out popped the print.  Back in those days (yes, I’m old enough to remember them) this was amazing. You wouldn’t have to drop off your film and wait 3 days (or even an hour!) for it to process.

But even then, it wasn’t immediate. The image would slowly fade in, and you’d watch a vague outline of your scene start to materialize. Finally, after a minute, you’d have a beautiful print!

In the same way, instead of painting our portrait one section at a time, with thick, opaque applications of paint, we slowly fade it in, covering the entire canvas at once, in stages. We use the classical acrylic glazing technique, just like Da Vinci, Titian and Vermeer used during the Renaissance to achieve smooth, subtle nuances of color and value, vibrant colors, and incredible depth.

I’ll show you how to do it!

But first, make sure you’re registered for the challenge!

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter! After you join, I’ll send you the supplies list and reference photos to paint from.

Register for the Challenge!

 

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WATCH NOW…

Applying the First Glazes to Your Acrylic Portrait, Part 1

 

Before we can begin the painting, first we must seal in the sketch, so it doesn’t smear or muddy up our paint. Next, we need to white-out the grid lines so they don’t distract from our final painting presentation. Lastly, we mute the sketch and tone the canvas in one step, so that we don’t have a white canvas staring us in the face, and so that the sketch is softened—easier to convert to a painting.

Watch how to do it here…

 

 

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Applying the First Glazes to Your Acrylic Portrait, Part 2

Let’s begin the actual painting process! I’ll show you what colors we are using, how to block in the value structure simply with just two colors and matte medium. We’re going to go light and leave room to correct any mistakes. This will be the foundation we’ll build off of from here on out…

 

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Would like to paint this portrait with me and hundreds of other artists?

Take the 2021 Spring Portrait Painting Challenge!

You can register below and get started. It is completely FREE to join the challenge and participate. When you join, I’ll send you the “Welcome Kit” which includes:

• The Supplies List (so you know what you need to paint with us, your shopping list. 🙂 )
• The Reference Photo with and without the grid, high resolution, that you can download ready to print out or display on your tablet. You’ll be able to create an accurate portrait this way.
• The Palette Layout Guide showing you how to arrange your colors so they don’t get muddy on your palette
• The Master Class Lesson Schedule
• the Lessons emailed to you
• A private Facebook group to cheer you and help answer your questions
• And a few “bonuses” like opportunities to win my paid online classes

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to teaching you more!

—Matt

Questions? Suggestions? Thoughts? Let me know, below in the comments. Please share your sketches in our Facebook group and share this post with your friends!

Spring 2021 Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge: Sketching Your Portrait with Accuracy

Just like a contractor would never dream of building a home without a sure foundation, we shouldn’t try to paint an acrylic portrait without the same.

A sketch serves as an excellent foundation to build upon. I will show you in this series of Master Class Lessons how to sketch your portrait accurately.

With an accurate sketch, you are already halfway there to a beautiful painting.

I’ll show you how to do it, step-by-step, using the grid method.

With the grid method, even a beginner can create a realistic sketch. With that in place, I can help you build on top, layer by layer using the glazing technique to create smooth transitions of value and lifelike skin tones. You can do this. I’ll be here to help.

Ready? Let’s get started!

I’ll show you exactly how to do it in the lessons below. But first, make sure you’re registered for the challenge!

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter! After you join, I’ll send you the supplies list and reference photos to paint from.

Register for the Challenge!

 

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WATCH NOW…

 

Sketching Your Portrait With Accuracy, Part 1

Let’s begin the sketch! Get out your colored pencil and start making some simple marks. Look at the squares and see where the lines fall. All we need to do at this stage is loosely capture the outline of the subject—the girl—and later on, we will fill in the details. “What if I make a mistake?” No problem. That’s what erasers are for!

 

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Sketching Your Portrait With Accuracy, Part 2

Learn how to paint a realistic acrylic portrait by creating a solid sketch. In this in-depth video lesson, I’ll show you how to refine the facial features on your portrait drawing. After watching, you’ll be able to capture a better likeness and also plot out where your shadows and highlights will be.

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Sketching Your Portrait With Accuracy, Part 3

We’re going further in this sketch for the Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge! I show you how to add detail to the girl’s hair. It’s important to break down the complex shapes into something simple, and then add the complexity back in again, to make it realistic. I’ll show you how to do it.

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Sketching Your Portrait With Accuracy, Part 4

In this Master Class Lesson, I will be teaching you how to sketch the lace for the girl’s dress top. It is an extremely detailed portion of the photo, but again, we will follow the method of breaking the complex into simple. That way, we don’t spend all day sketching this portrait and it will be easier to block in during the painting process.

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Sketching Your Portrait With Accuracy, Part 5

Let’s finish this sketch up! In this lesson, I’ll show you how to add the final touches to the lace, the girl’s face, and some additional details to make this drawing as realistic as possible. Then, we can dive into the painting process with confidence!

 

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Would like to paint this portrait with me and hundreds of other artists?

Take the 2021 Spring Portrait Painting Challenge!

You can register below and get started. It is completely FREE to join the challenge and participate. When you join, I’ll send you the “Welcome Kit” which includes:

• The Supplies List (so you know what you need to paint with us, your shopping list. 🙂 )
• The Reference Photo with and without the grid, high resolution, that you can download ready to print out or display on your tablet. You’ll be able to create an accurate portrait this way.
• The Palette Layout Guide showing you how to arrange your colors so they don’t get muddy on your palette
• The Master Class Lesson Schedule
• the Lessons emailed to you
• A private Facebook group to cheer you and help answer your questions
• And a few “bonuses” like opportunities to win my paid online classes

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to teaching you more!

—Matt

Questions? Suggestions? Thoughts? Let me know, below in the comments. Please share your sketches in our Facebook group and share this post with your friends!

Spring 2021 Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge: Gridding Your Canvas for an Accurate Sketch

One of the biggest struggles portrait artists have is getting an accurate likeness. In this lesson, I will show you how to grid your canvas, so that you will be able to not only make a sketch with good proportions but also get a good likeness too.

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

Gridding Your Portrait for an Accurate Sketch

Would like to paint this portrait with me and hundreds of other artists?

Take the 2021 Spring Portrait Painting Challenge!

You can register below and get started. It is completely FREE to join the challenge and participate. When you join, I’ll send you the “Welcome Kit” which includes:

• The Supplies List (so you know what you need to paint with us, your shopping list. 🙂 )
• The Reference Photo with and without the grid, high resolution, that you can download ready to print out or display on your tablet. You’ll be able to create an accurate portrait this way.
• The Palette Layout Guide showing you how to arrange your colors so they don’t get muddy on your palette
• The Master Class Lesson Schedule
• the Lessons emailed to you
• A private Facebook group to cheer you and help answer your questions
• And a few “bonuses” like opportunities to win my paid online classes

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to teaching you more!

—Matt

You Can Learn How to Paint a Realistic Acrylic Portrait

“Can I paint a portrait?”

This is the question so many of my students asked themselves prior to taking my master class for the Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge.

The fact is: yes, you can.

“But,” you may ask right now as you read this, “Will it look terrible? Will it even look human? Will the skin tones be muddy? Will I be able to get a good likeness? Will the paint layers get blotchy? How exactly do I paint a portrait?”

Again, these questions have been asked before. You’re not alone.

And I’m happy to say, that many of my students, an aspiring artist just like you, have taken these questions to the canvas, started painting following my step-by-step video instruction, and created a beautiful portrait. Even as beginners.

Then now, I can’t promise you’ll be able to paint a Rembrandt your very first try.

But I will promise this: if you come with a mindset of being willing to try, and being willing to hang in there when the painting process gets challenging, you will create a portrait that is way better than you ever thought possible!

Some of my students create portraits that look professional on their very first attempt. Others create portraits that are much improved from what they previously did, but they will need to keep practicing to get better. (We all need to keep working to get better, myself included! 🙂 )

So you can do this! And then I’ll show you how, and you won’t be alone.

Last year, I launched our inaugural spring portrait painting challenge, just as the lockdowns of the coronavirus hit. And then Over 700 artists took the challenge, and I have personally seen many, many portraits that look amazing considering it was the very first portrait they ever did.

In this case, you would think they had been painting for years! When they posted their portraits to social media, they started getting commissions! Of course, others started painting portraits of family members to give as unique gifts.

Then here’s what my student Rod Martin (part of the Realistic Acrylic All-Access Membership) created. So below is his very first acrylic portrait (on the left) and a more recent one on the right. And when I write this, he’s only been with me for a year!

I am not going to boast in myself or my teaching. I do really care for my students, and then I put everything I have into helping them paint portraits they can be proud of. But the real secret is I pray and God helps me not only to teach, but my students to apply the teaching and create something amazing. They take the knowledge I give them, put into practice with tenacity, and they produce a fantastic portrait.

So, take the 2021 Spring Portrait Painting Challenge!

You can register below and get started. It is completely FREE to join the challenge and participate. When you join, I’ll send you the “Welcome Kit” which includes:

• The Supplies List (so you know what you need to paint with us, your shopping list. 🙂 )
• The Reference Photo with and without the grid, then with high resolution, that you can download ready to print out or display on your tablet. You’ll be able to create an accurate portrait this way.
• The Palette Layout Guide showing you how to arrange your colors so they don’t get muddy on your palette
• The Master Class Lesson Schedule
• the Lessons emailed to you
• A private Facebook group to cheer you and help answer your questions
• And a few “bonuses” like opportunities to win my paid online classes

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

 LEARN MORE

• How to Paint Foliage Using the Acrylic Glazing Technique
• How to Trace for an Accurate Portrait Sketch
• How to Paint Realistic Eyes in Your Acrylic Portrait
• How to Add Raw Umber Dark & Ultramarine Blue to Your Portrait
• How to Make Your Own Raw Umber Dark
• How to Paint Realistic Trees & Grass in Your Acrylic
• How to Block In Skin Tone Values Using Glazing Technique
• How to Paint Vibrant Reds in Your Acrylic Portrait
• How to Glaze Background Colors & More Acrylic Portrait
• How to Paint White Clothing in Your Acrylic Portrait
• How to Easily Transition from a Sketch to a Painting
• How to Block In Shading & Skin Tones in Your Acrylic
• How to Build Up Color on Acrylic Pet Portrait
• How to Build Up Form on Clothing with Acrylic
• How to Paint Dark Clothing Using Acrylic Glazing Technique
• How to Paint a 24 x 30 Acrylic With 30 People
• How to Do Smooth Shading with Acrylic
• How to Sketch an Acrylic Portrait with a Grid

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

Look forward to teaching you!

—Matt

Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts below. Please share this post with your friends!

How to Trace? Is it OK to Trace as a Portrait Artist?

Let’s address the elephant in the room: tracing as a portrait artist. Is it OK? Is it cheating?

I’m going to answer that question today.

Up until COVID-19 hit, I participated in a Fall studio art tour every year. An artist on the tour, who was also the founder and coordinator for it, had some strong opinions about tracing.

“Matt, tell me you didn’t trace that sketch for the mural project you did.”

“I’m not going to lie,” I told her. “I did use a projector to get the proportions up, and then refine it freehand.”

“How could you do that? What if your client found out?”

“Well, first of all, this project was done for my church, as a gift,” I replied. “And secondly, I would be upfront with them if they asked about my process.”

She chided me in a motherly kind of way, and I listened respectfully and smiled.

This is the first time I ever really thought about the concept of tracing as being a bad thing, at least to this degree. But is it?

I’m going to give you 5 reasons why I believe tracing is OK.

1. Tracing saves time. Let’s face it. Drawing freehand, or with a grid is a time-consuming process. You have to measure, re-measure your proportions, and if you lack much drawing experience, often have to settle for eyes that are too large, noses that are unnatural, and mouths that aren’t aligned properly. I have many commissions to do, and so tracing expedites my workflow. I don’t trace all of my portraits, but for some, I choose to do so.
2. Tracing helps you get accurate proportions, especially for a large painting. I had always drawn freehand and never even thought of tracing until 1999, when I did mural work with a well-known Florida muralist, Bob Jenny. He had hired me to do a series of murals depicting army medics serving in American wars at some VA hospitals. They were large—two 6′ x 30′ murals. One day, he came by to check on my work. He saw me meticulously sketching a battle scene, freehand. “We’re going to be here for months if you do it that way!” he exclaimed.  “Let me show you how to do it.”And he taught me how to use an overhead projector to transfer the design up quickly and effectively.
3. Tracing helps you to see distinctions in value. When you trace, especially using a projector, details become blurred and you readily notice differences in value—those distinct shapes that create the planes, the forms we see—whether they are the forehead, nose, cheekbones, or locks of hair. You can trace along the edges of those distinctions. It can be a beneficial exercise to help you in your portrait painting.
4. There is historical precedent for tracing. Jan Vermeer reportedly used a camera obscura to project scenes from outside onto his surface to create exact replications of landscapes. So there is so shame. I think we can all appreciate the work of Vermeer. Art historians and art appreciators alike marvel at his skills.
5. Tracing is a tool. It can be used like a contractor uses a nail gun to frame a house. The same work could be done by old-fashioned hammer and nail, but the nail-gun will do it faster. Obviously, this metaphor doesn’t translate entirely in terms of portrait painting, but the idea I’m trying to convey is that it’s just a tool.

Now, with all that said, here are some caveats on tracing.

1. If you ONLY trace, and never do freehand sketching or use the grid method, your portrait painting skills will suffer. You will either stagnate, or take a very long time to progress past the beginners’ level. I get emails often from artists asking me to help them with skin tones, but because they haven’t put in the time to observe proportions and render them on the canvas, they don’t create realistic value shapes. The result is a portrait that looks falls far short of their goals. Anatomy and values must come first, skin tones after. And freehand sketching is the best way to develop it. I drew freehand for years as a child, before beginning to use acrylic in high school, and the observational skills I learned were priceless. Tracing is not cheating. But if you rely on it too much, it will cheat you, as an artist, of growth. This is why I teach my classes mostly using the grid method. It’s a good middle-of-the-road option between freehand and tracing. It helps artists create a solid sketch, so they can do a portrait they’re proud of without having to spend years getting proficient at freehand sketching. It helps them to see proportions and shapes, and then carry that confidence into their painting process!
2. Tracing helps you to quickly establish proportions on your canvas, but it by itself, it’s not enough. The process often omits fine details and nuances that can only be achieved by refining your sketch with freehand sketching. In fact, tracing can flat-out distort your photo reference. In a scene, it totally obliterates the distinction between foreground and background. It can cause areas with lighter value to exceed the proper boundaries. If you want an accurate sketch to work from, you must evaluate your tracing and go back on top of it with more work, to fix mistakes and supply detail that is lacking.
3. If you trace, be honest about your process. You are not obligated to tell the whole world, “I traced this!” But if your client or Facebook follower asks, did you do this freehand (most will never ask) be sure to answer them honestly and confidently about your process. If you don’t feel ashamed about it, they won’t think any less of you as an artist. Even with a traced/ projected sketch, it still takes an incredible amount of skill to do the remaining work: selecting colors, mixing them, applying them in the right places, and finishing with detail.

 

Here is a fun video I did on tracing. I go over a few of the ideas I shared with you above, and I also show you, if you choose to trace, how to do it, using a painting I’m doing right now as an example…

 Is it OK to Trace as a Portrait Artist?

 What are YOUR thoughts on tracing? Let me know below, in the comments!

LEARN MORE

• How to Paint Foliage Using the Acrylic Glazing Technique
• How to Trace for an Accurate Portrait Sketch
• How to Paint Realistic Eyes in Your Acrylic Portrait
• How to Add Raw Umber Dark & Ultramarine Blue to Your Portrait
• How to Make Your Own Raw Umber Dark
• How to Paint Realistic Trees & Grass in Your Acrylic
• How to Block In Skin Tone Values Using Glazing Technique
• How to Paint Vibrant Reds in Your Acrylic Portrait
• How to Glaze Background Colors & More Acrylic Portrait
• How to Paint White Clothing in Your Acrylic Portrait
• How to Easily Transition from a Sketch to a Painting
• How to Block In Shading & Skin Tones in Your Acrylic
• How to Build Up Color on Acrylic Pet Portrait
• How to Build Up Form on Clothing with Acrylic
• How to Paint Dark Clothing Using Acrylic Glazing Technique
• How to Paint a 24 x 30 Acrylic With 30 People
• How to Do Smooth Shading with Acrylic
• How to Sketch an Acrylic Portrait with a Grid

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

I’d love to hear your thoughts about 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.  

 

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 kno

 

[PORTRAIT CHALLENGE] Masterclass Lesson #8: Finishing Your Portrait Well

The Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge Masterclass, Lesson #8, is out! 

This is our FINAL lesson together.

It’s kind of sad to see the challenge drawing to a close. As I write this, it’s been an entire month since I started this challenge on April 6, 2020.

My goal was to create a way for artists to overcome the challenges of being in COVID-19 lockdown, create something beautiful with their time, and grow their skills as artists.

Many, many have risen to the challenge and done exactly that. If you’re reading this, and you’ve taken the challenge; you’ve gone through steps 1-7, I’m so proud of you! It’s not easy to paint a realistic portrait in acrylic, let alone during a quarantine. But you did it! And you’ve encouraged many others along the way.

 

Because of that, you are a better artist, and have grown in character as a human being.

Your portrait —hopefully—is nearly done. What next? How do we “bring it home”, so to speak?

Let me show you, below!

 

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Six Steps to Finishing  Your Portrait Well

STEP ONE: Double-check the tonal values. Use my Value Checker tool for that.

STEP TWO: Double-check and add more detail to the eyes. 

STEP THREE: Add vibrance to areas where certain shadows and highlights meet

STEP FOUR: Refine the shadows

STEP FIVE: Redefine the edges of your subject and objects

STEP SIX: Paint pin-point highlights on the face

When is the painting done? 

Watch the video to find out…

[PORTRAIT CHALLENGE] Masterclass Lesson #8: Finishing Your Portrait Well

Is it too late to join the challenge? No, not at all. This challenge is meant to be ongoing—something you can do at your own pace. The lessons are free and they aren’t going anywhere.

If not, register below for FREE and I’ll send you:

• a downloadable/ printable”Welcome Kit” with a Supplies List and a Palette Color Layout Guide.
• high-resolution images of the photo we’ll be painting from for this challenge.
• each new lesson that comes out in this Masterclass series.
• a link to my private Facebook group, where you can do this challenge with other artists, get feedback and help on your portrait, and not feel alone.

REGISTER TODAY.  It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

 

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Where do we go from here?

I am so happy that you have done this challenge with me and hundreds of other artists. I give you a virtual high-five for the effort and dedication you have put in.

First, I give God the glory and thanks for entrusting all of us a talent to use. Next, I thank you and the other artists for taking your time and investing it into yourself as an artist and into others’ lives to encourage them.

You’ve left great comments for each other and your building skills to be able to paint a portrait you can take pleasure in and others can too.

This is what art is about. It transcends a piece of cotton canvas stretched on a wood frame, with plastic polymer resin on it. In the hands of a skilled painter, it becomes something beautiful that can last forever.

When we touch lives, bring hope and encouragement both in the creation and in the giving or selling of the art, we are doing something that has the potential to last for eternity!

So what we all have done in this group, by God’s grace, is amazing. And I believe it is just the start! 🙂

If you would like to work with me more closely, so I can personally help you become the portrait artist you’d like to be, be sure to watch my invitation at the end of the video. Whatever you decide, thank you so much for taking part in this challenge and may God richly bless your talent, and multiply it many times over!

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!

 

[PORTRAIT CHALLENGE] Masterclass Lesson #7: Painting Fantastic Facial Features

The Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge Masterclass, Lesson #7, is out! 

In our last lesson, I showed you how to visualize your painting as a map, and add shading and skin tones to specific spots on your portrait.

Now, in this lesson, I want to show you  how to “dial-in” the facial features.

(To be upfront, I want you to know there is some video footage after Lesson 6 that I just couldn’t capture in this lesson, so it didn’t get too long for a YouTube video. All of the “in-between” BONUS videos will be posted within Realistic Acrylic All-Access Membership, after I’m finished posting these challenge lessons. The main Masterclass Lessons will be there as well as one complete course, and I will also segment them for easier viewing, since the learning interface makes that possible.)

For most of the students I serve, they do their portraits as gifts for loved ones, and on commission. So, unless you are painting only for an academic exercise, it’s important that you capture an accurate likeness of your subject.

I have painted many portraits over the years, and I can tell you from experience, it doesn’t matter how much detail I add to the painting, if the picture doesn’t look like Aunt Betty, it’s not going to sell. 🙂

So, as you are aiming for realism—that is, the accurate form, tonal values, skin tones, shading, detail, etc., you also want to work to achieve a true likeness.

Does it need to be perfect? No, just close. Usually 85-90% as accurate as the photo you’re working from (and even that is not as accurate as real life) and you’ll do well. But shoot for the 100% every time.

Let’s dive in…

 

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Here’s what to do…

STEP ONE

1. Redefine the eye-socket region.
2. Redefine the eyelid folds.
3. Dial-in the coloring of his eyes

STEP TWO

1. Adjust the length and shape of nose (if needed) and add shading.

STEP THREE

1. Add more depth to the eyes.

STEP FOUR

1. Refine the mouth and mustache.

Ready to paint?

Now, before you begin…(Yes, still need to ask, because some folks are just discovering these Masterclass lessons 🙂 )

Are you registered for the challenge?

If not, register below for FREE and I’ll send you:

• a downloadable/ printable”Welcome Kit” with a Supplies List and a Palette Color Layout Guide.
• high-resolution images of the photo we’ll be painting from for this challenge.
• each new lesson that comes out in this Masterclass series.
• a link to my private Facebook group, where you can do this challenge with other artists, get feedback and help on your portrait, and not feel alone.

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

 

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 #7: Painting Fantastic Facial Features

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Moving Forward…

Thank you so much for all your effort you’ve put into doing this challenge with me and so many other artists. You’re almost there…your finished portrait is in sight.

Hey, if you’re having some challenges with your Portrait Challenge portrait, I just want to let you know, that’s natural! Painting portraits is difficult even for artists who have been doing it for years. But step-by-step instruction and encouragement from other students helps a lot. Many people in our group are doing with little to no experience, and they’re doing a knock-out job, even if they’re struggling in certain areas.

So, if you do feel stuck at this point, or find your results are less than what you expected, keep in mind this is a learning experience. You will get better as you practice painting portraits in the glazing technique, as so many others have.

That being said, if I can help in any way, please leave a comment or send me an email. I get a lot of requests, but I’ll do my very best to help. Also, make sure you join our amazing Facebook group, Realistic Acrylic Portraits, because you will receive helpful tips and encouragement from other students, some of whom are farther ahead in the portrait painting journey.

I’ll see you in our next class! What is it going to be? Painting the Final Details, Nuances, and Finishing Well. I’m excited to share that with you! Until then, be blessed in your painting and you and your family stay safe and healthy.

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!

 

[PORTRAIT CHALLENGE] Masterclass Lesson #6: Creating Smooth Blending and Skin Tones

The Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge Masterclass, Lesson #6, is out! 

In our last lesson, I showed you how to add depth to the dark value of the hat, shadowed areas of the face, and some of the darker areas within the background.

Now that we have a good underpainting foundation in place, it’s time to transition into the “middle” portion of the painting. In other words, we’re working our way towards what the final surface of the portrait will look like.

I want to show you specifically how to create smooth blending and establish realistic skin tones.

It’s important to think of this process like outlining the boundaries of a nation, state (province) or county.

I know, we shouldn’t mix geography with art lessons, but I think this metaphor will help you understand the concept I’m trying to get across…

I live in the state of Wisconsin, U.S.A. It has its own distinct shape and location within the United States of America. Now, the U.S.A. has its own distinct shape and location within the continent of North America.

In the same way, in a portrait, you may have a small area of value/ skin tone with its own distinct shape and location within the larger area of value/ skin tone. What you want to do is pay attention to the boundary lines on these specific shapes by studying your reference photo.

You won’t see a sharp line you will on a map, unfortunately. But you will see a marked difference where one value/ color ends and another begins.

You will see a shape emerge. Note that shape.

Then transfer what you see onto your painting. It’s as simple (and challenging!) as that.

You will see shapes within shapes within shapes. The more you can train your eyes to spot these shapes, the better you will become at realistic painting. That’s half the battle. The other half is technique: getting the paint to do what you want it to do.

This concept of “Nations and States” is powerful once you get a hold of it and use it regularly in your acrylic portrait painting! Now, let’s get onto the lesson…

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What we want to do at this stage:

Begin the process of adding smooth shading and skin tones throughout the portrait.

We will be adding:

• a large “warming” glaze to the entire shadow area of the man’s face.
• glaze on the highlighted area of the face, adding depth and the beginning of skin tones, so the area is not just plain white or off white.
• small glazes (“states”) on the shadow side (“nation”) of the face to further define the pinkish skin tones.

We will do this using the acrylic glazing technique, where we mix a TINY amount of acrylic paint into a LARGE amount of clear acrylic matte medium. It’s best to go very, very light when you start your painting. You should just barely see a difference. However, at this stage you will getting a bit more opaque, because you have enough layers down already to give you some smoothness in the overall appearance.

Also, as always, make sure you rinse your brush off thoroughly between glazes. Any extra water in the heel of the brush may cause your glazes to drip or get streaky.

 

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Here’s how to do it:

STEP ONE

1. First, mix the “warming glaze” for the shadow side of the face: Use raw sienna and mix with a large amount of matte medium (10% paint to 90% medium) as shown in the video lesson. “Scoop” a large amount of glaze onto your 3/4″or 1″ flat brush. A few of the glazes will get a little darker, with ratios of as much as 30% paint to 70% medium. Make sure you watch the video to know where and when to change the ratio. “Next, glaze
2. Glaze on the highlight side of face, to “tie-in” with the shadow side, develop mid-tones and create depth: Use raw sienna and organic pyrrole orange (or a cadmium orange) and mix it 5% paint to 95% matte medium. Test the glaze and see if you need to add more pigment or more medium. You should just barely see a difference in what you apply.
3. Add small glazes in specific locations (“states”) on the shadow side of face using organic pyrrole orange, raw sienna, and a bit of alizarine crimson if needed to darken the glaze without adding too much chromatic intensity.

STEP TWO

1. Add another layer of shading to the man’s hat and the background: Use raw umber dark, ultramarine blue, and a touch of alizarine crimson. How much of each? It depends on what the hat looks like right now as you paint. Is it too bluish? Add more raw umber dark. Is it too brownish? Add more ultramarine blue. Is it too greenish? Add alizarine crimson—just a pinch.
2. Take the same glaze you used for the hat and add some shadows below his hat: Because it is right underneath the brim of his hat, the shadows will be quite dark in value. Add a bit of raw umber dark (or raw umber) and a bit of alizarin crimson if necessary to warm up the glaze, especially as you transition into the lighter parts of the skin tones.
3. Clean off your brush and apply a blue glaze to the highlighted areas in his shirt: Mix ultramarine blue and phthalo blue (just a bit—it’s a VERY strong pigment) into a large amount of matte medium (95% to 5%, ratio to start with, and test to see if you need to change it) We want to bridge the gap between the shadows and the highlights, adding much-needed depth to this area of the painting.

STEP THREE

1. Repeat Step 1, with slight adjustments. Follow the video for more detailed instruction.

Ready to paint?

Now, before you begin…(Yes, still need to ask, because some folks are just discovering these Masterclass lessons 🙂 )

Are you registered for the challenge?

If not, register below for FREE and I’ll send you:

• a downloadable/ printable”Welcome Kit” with a Supplies List and a Palette Color Layout Guide.
• high-resolution images of the photo we’ll be painting from for this challenge.
• each new lesson that comes out in this Masterclass series.
• a link to my private Facebook group, where you can do this challenge with other artists, get feedback and help on your portrait, and not feel alone.

REGISTER TODAY. The challenge is ongoing, something you can do at your own pace. It’s not too late to enter!

Register for the Challenge!

 

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 #6: Creating Smooth Blending and Skin Tones

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Moving Forward…

If you have gotten this far in the challenge, I’m proud of you! It’s not easy to try something new, especially during a challenging time (COVID-19 as I write) but you are making a difference in your own life by developing the talent God gave you and you will be making a difference in others lives when you freely share the beautiful artwork you create with those you love or want to impact.

I’ll see you in our next class! What is it going to be? Painting fantastic facial features. I’m excited to share that with you! Until then, be blessed in your painting and you and your family stay safe and healthy.

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!