Continue Your Journey from the Portrait Challenge and Paint Beautiful Portraits You Can Be Proud Of!
Get the personal support, teaching, and mentoring you need to paint amazing acrylic portraits you can be proud to show others, do on commission or give as an exquisite gift!
Join by July 29, 2023
before enrollment
closes!
Overcome the frustration of painting alone. Get step-by-step lessons & personalized help when you feel stuck!
I am so happy that you took the Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge with me and so many other artists! You went out of your comfort zone during a challenging time, and challenged yourself to paint a realistic acrylic portrait.
It's not an easy task.
How did you do? How do you feel right now as an artist?
Maybe you were amazed at what you were able to create: your first portrait ever that looked realistic and lifelike.
Maybe you really enjoyed the process of learning the glazing technique and using your time to create something beautiful, but you want to learn more of how to do it correctly.
Or maybe you felt like you wanted to do really well with your portrait, but it was a STRUGGLE. The skin tones weren't coming out right, some areas got too dark, and the glazes got blotchy. Or you just weren't sure about the likeness and didn't know how to fix what was off.
I want to help you with that!
Although I posted 8 lessons for free, and put in many hours of heart and passion into teaching you everything I could, I knew that some artists need more than what I could offer during the Masterclass Lessons.
You might be one of those artists.
Do you need more help with...
- guidance on specific brush techniques?
- picking the right colors?
- mixing skin tones that aren't muddy?
- getting the likeness?
- making hair that looks real?
- making the mouth and lips look right?
- creating textures on the face?
- how EXACTLY to add detail to the portrait?
- and a lot of other things that can be frustrating when you don't have help!
Or maybe you just want to take the next natural step and continue to grow in your portrait painting skills. I'd be thrilled to continue to work with you!
Introducing... Realistic Acrylic All-Access Membership!
Get the teaching and mentoring you need to become a skilled, confident portrait artist.
Join Realistic All-Access Membership and learn each specific part of acrylic portrait painting, step-by-step, so you can overcome your frustration. Or build upon the success you've already achieved as a portrait artist and become a Master at what you do.
Join our amazing, talented, and supporting community of artists!
My goal for you: To paint an acrylic portrait you can be proud of. And to keep growing as an artist. Do you want to paint realistic portraits of your grandchildren? I can help you with that. Or maybe you want to beautify your home with your own original art. After taking my classes and learning within our community, you will be able to paint a portrait that you can give as an amazing gift, starting taking commissions, enter into art shows, and most of all, to encourage others!
And finally, you will be able to ENJOY the painting process and take pleasure in what you created!
Join by July 29, 2023
before enrollment
closes!
Get instant access to all my classes and critiques...
"What will I get when I sign up?"
As soon as you sign up and become a member, you will get instant access to ALL 20 of my online courses. teaching you all things acrylic portrait painting: painting your first amazing acrylic portrait, shading, skin tones, sketching, painting wrinkles and detail, and more!
I will also be adding more courses regularly. Over 100+ hours of painting instruction that you can watch, in bite size pieces at you own pace! When you have gone through the classes, you will have learned more about painting portraits than many do at a four year art school, but in way less time.
You'll know exactly what you need to do to paint a beautiful portrait in acrylic!
You will also become part of a growing community of artists who will help you when feel stuck, encourage you to keep painting and persevering, and cheer you on when you proudly finish a beautiful portrait!
Here's what you get as a Realistic Acrylic All-Access Member...
20 Online Portrait Painting Courses
Learn how to paint a portrait you can be proud to show, step-by-step, with "Paint Your First Amazing Acrylic Portrait." Or dive into exactly how to do shading with "Shade With Acrylic Like a Master." Want to learn how to paint skin tones accurately? I've got a course for that too. One way to rapidly grow as an artist is to learn how to sketch freehand. I have a course where I demonstrate how to do that. There are several other courses covering important aspects of acrylic portrait painting, and I'll be adding more!
Personalized VIDEO Critiques*
If you want "hands-on" personalized help when you hit a wall, get frustrated during your painting or are just unsure of your next steps, this is what I'm here for. You send me a photo of your portrait in progress, along with the reference photo, and I'll record a video critique just for you. I'll show you what's working and what to fix, and how to do it. I will be kind to you, encourage you, but I'll give you specific tips and guidance on how to make your portrait the best it can be!
*Available only in the "Student" and "Apprentice" Membership levels
Live Weekly Group Critiques
Do you have questions about acrylic portrait painting? I'm sure you do. And if you don't now, you probably will soon. Every week, I'll be hosting a LIVE Weekly Q & A / Group Critiques Session. You email me your questions ahead of time or ask them live, and I'll answer them. If you need specific help with your portrait, you can submit your portrait ahead of time and I and other artists in our group will give you tips on how to improve! All Weekly Q & A Sessions will be recorded and archived in the membership for you to refer to later.
Members-Only Private Facebook Group
This is something my students encouraged me to create, and I am so glad I did! We now have a thriving community of artists, encouraging and helping each other to do our best work! It is like the Realistic Acrylic Portraits Facebook group, only more focused on the techniques I teach within the school. The members are extremely kind, helpful and supportive. You can always find insightful tips on how to improve your portrait, someone to encourage you when you're struggling, or someone to celebrate your latest portrait accomplishments. We would love to have you there!
Priority Email / Forum Q & A
Maybe you have a quick question you want answered as you're painting. It would be too long to wait until the Live Weekly Q & A. Or, it's just something simple that a brief answer would take care of. No worries. Go ahead and ask me personally! These days, I'm getting so many email questions, I just can't answer them as fast as I'd like. But I give priority to my All-Access Members. You come first. So, you can ask me a question via email or on the Student Discussion Forums, and I'll get back to you, usually within the same day (except Sundays ) :)
The Premium Versions of the Portrait Challenge Master Classes
In the Premium Version of the Master Class Lessons, you can watch the videos without ads, and segmented in an easy-to-watch way. You can also ask me questions there and I will get back to you. Not only that, but In every Portrait Challenge I've taught since 2020, there has been more video footage than I could fit in my class hosted on YouTube. So I decided to include that within Realistic Acrylic Portrait School, within the Master Class Lessons. The BONUS Videos will take you further, showing you how to do little but very important nuances on the skin tones, eyes, nose, mouth, hair, and tons of things that can not only make your Portrait Challenge portrait better, but also that you can use in any future portraits that you paint!
Here’s what my students are saying about Realistic Acrylic Portrait School...
It's been my pleasure to help hundreds of artists become better at acrylic portrait painting. Here's what some of my students who have worked with me and the artists in our group have to say:
Diane Bruyere
Artist
"It is your encouraging words that got me this far..."
...I wanted to thank-you for the warm words that I heard in this lesson. I recognize the story of one of your students that is painting her sons portrait and how I have progressed so much. I believe you’re talking about me right? You made me cry!!! Thanks so much for your encouragement and coaching . You never criticized negatively, you always encouraged with positive words even though I was far from doing it right! For that…thank-you! It is your encouraging words that got me this far. But I still Have lots to learn.
Jennifer Arnold
Artist
"My family and friends have also noticed an immediate improvement in my paintings!"
I just want to say thank you for sharing your expertise and for all your encouragement it is a great value and blessing. Since I've started this challenge my family and friends have also noticed immediately an improvement in my paintings! So you are highly respected in this neck of the woods! I am learning.
Keith Foss
Artist
"I am now doing my 10th portrait since taking your portrait course."
Hey Matt My paintings are going great, thanks mostly to your portrait course I had the pleasure of doing . I am now doing commissioned portraits , something I never dreamed I would be doing.my work has improved to say the least. I am doing my 10th portrait since taking your portrait course. It’s amazing! Thanks again .....please keep posting your videos , it’s always a blessing..... praise God!.... Keith 
Learn, step-by-step, how to paint fantastic portraits with these courses included in your membership...
100+ Hours of Video, segmented for easy viewing, plus downloadable guides on selected lessons to give you clarity and confidence at each step. When you join, you get instant 24/7 access to everything!
Join by July 29, 2023
before enrollment
closes!
"Sheer a
"Thank you! Matt I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support & suggestions everyone had to help bring this one home.
Here is the finished portrait which I have named “Sheer Achromatic” on a 16” x 20” canvas board.
"I have been given something special in this life Matt & you have not only brought out my skills as an artist you’ve fine tuned them & I feel very comfortable as to where I’m now at.
"I hope you understand what this actually means in my life Matt - it’s been burning inside me all my life & you have given me so much THANK YOU!
If you were close I would give a hug of gratitude & Thankyou personally for believing in me.
"I found you on Facebook in October 2017
I followed your school & students work. Checked you out on YouTube & it wasn’t until you put the Maka challenge out there that I thought it could be possible to paint something like that….
Months later I had.
That’s the turning point in my life my art & my confidence levels."
—Michelle Sullivan
Continue your journey as a portrait artist with a Learning Path mapped out for you!
Here's a step-by-step learning path for you, to get the most out of your membership once you join...
1
Step 1: Take the Paint Your First Amazing Acrylic Portrait Course to learn the complete process.
This is the place to begin. Whether you have painted portraits before, or you are just starting out, you'll want to take this course so you know the complete process of painting an acrylic portrait in the glazing technique. You did it in the challenge, but the best way to learn is by reinforcement. You follow the same method as you did with me in the challenge portrait, but with a different reference photo and with EXTRA principles and theory added in as well.
In this class, you paint a portrait YOU want to paint, from your own reference photo.
THE RESULT: you'll retain what you learned and move past it to a higher level. In other words, you'll get better as a portrait artist!
2
Step 2: Take the Shade with Acrylic Like a Master Course and dive in deep on the thing that will most improve your realism.
Now that you learned how to paint an amazing portrait, we're going to dive in deeper and touch on a very, very important part of painting realistically: shading. Yes, you've heard me say it before—values are more important than color! In this course, I'll teach you the basics of how to see shading and value correctly. I'll also teach you the 5 different blending techniques, with exercises you can do yourself. You'll be able to shade, blend and glaze more confidently. And your painting will look much more real as a result!
3
Step 3: Make muddy skin tones a thing of the past with my Learn How to Paint Lifelike Skin Tones Course!
As portrait artists, we all love skin tones right? Skin tones done correctly make the person you're painting look like they could speak to you. There's just some amazing about portraits that have realistic skin tones, and there's nothing more frustrating than not being able to do them! Now that you know how to see and paint values correctly, it's time to master skin tones. I'll show you how in this course, by showing you what colors to mix and how to apply them in the right order.
4
Step 4: Learn How to Create Incredible Detail with the Paint Realistic Wrinkles in Acrylic Course.
Detail is the final step of the journey. I'll show you how to paint amazingly realistic wrinkles in this course, and we'll even learn the names of the wrinkles on the face as we paint them! After you take this course, you can learn from the other remaining courses. By the way, this learning path is the "recommended" path. You can dive into any of the other courses whenever you want. They are all available 24/7!
Bonus
And of course, there's the Bonus Videos...
During the Acrylic Portrait Painting Challenge, there were a few "gaps" between some of the lessons. I wasn't able to upload all of these videos to YouTube due to time constraints and not having a way to properly arrange and segment them there for easy viewing and learning. But in your membership. you will have access to all these videos! And they are sequential, arranged step-by-step. There's a lot of extra tips and techniques in these videos to give you extra confidence as you paint! The bonus videos are only available in the individual courses (for $197 each) or you can get them all with your Realistic Acrylic All-Access Membership!
Portrait of Larry
In March of 2020, just when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and communities all over the world went into lockdown, I felt God wanted me to start a portrait painting challenge! It would help encourage them to create something beautiful and not give into the fear of what could happen.
What DID happen, however was amazing. Over 700 artists took the challenge, and many painted a realistic acrylic portrait, their very first time!
Meet Larry, the man in black hat. Paint his portrait, step-by-step!
In this Premium Master Class Series of Lessons, I show you all the extra nuances of how to make this portrait your very best! You get access to over 7 hours of BONUS videos, all broken up into easy-to-watch 5-10 minute segments.
Portrait of Maka
The Realistic Acrylic Portraits artists kept the ball rolling in Fall of 2020. We did another challenge, this time of a beautiful woman with dark skin tones, named Maka.
Hundreds of artists signed up for this challenge and I have seen so many incredible portraits!
You will enjoy creating these deep, bronze skin tones, and fresh, bright textured clothing using the acrylic glazing technique, where we layer everything little by little.
You can create a fantastic portrait! I'll show you how with the Master Class Lessons, plus nearly 10 hours of BONUS videos, available to you ONLY as an All-Access member!
Portrait of Cora
When the weather started warming up again in Wisconsin, I launched another Portrait Painting Challenge for Spring 2021.
Our Realistic Acrylic Portraits group decided to paint a portrait of a sweet little girl I call "Cora."
In the Master Class Lessons, I teach the step-by-step process of building up the shading, depth and form of her face, her smile, her deep brown eyes and hair...and of course...the lace.
In this Premium Version of the Master Class, you get access to 7+ hours of bonus videos, to help you dial in the details, nuances, and bits of shading to make the portrait come alive!
Portrait of Jess
In Fall of 2021, our group started to paint a portrait of a beautiful woman named Jess.
The goal was to paint an image where a hand is featured in the portrait, prominently. Many artists want to learn how to paint hands more realistically, and in this master class, you will learn exactly that...and more! The subject's delicate features, reiterated by the soft lighting and diffused background make it a wonderful experience to paint!
In this Premium Version of the Master Class, you get access to 10+ hours of bonus videos, to help you dial in the details, nuances, and bits of shading to make the portrait come alive!
Monochromatic Portrait
For a while now, I've desired to paint portraits of people praying. Many of my students asked me to paint a monochromatic portrait for our latest challenge master class.
So, that's what we did in this painting—a portrait based off a reference photo of a man, deep in thought, seeking God with His Bible open.
The painting was based off a reference photo of me, when I modeled for a painting I did a few years ago called, "Smoldering Wick," based off Isaiah 42.
There are 10+ hours of bonus videos available, along with all the master class lessons, for you to learn the exact approach I use to create dramatic monochromatic portraits. Without the distraction of color, you will learn how to see light and shade, and paint it accurately onto your portrait!
Portrait of Diane
In December 2022, one of our Realistic Acrylic Portrait School students, Diane Howe, passed away from cancer.
We wanted to honor her memory by painting a portrait of her, ready to paint, palette and brushes in hand!
Diane was a wonderful student, cheerful person, and in this way her memory lives on as we capture that energy she brought to every critique meeting she was a part of.
There are 5+ hours of bonus videos available, along with all the master class lessons, for you to learn all the nuances of skin tones, hair, clothing, the mouth and a lot more!
So, how did this whole thing start?
It all happened when one day in 2015, I decided to write a blog post called, "How to Paint a Realistic Acrylic Portrait in 5 Steps."
I had been painting commissioned portraits part-time since 1991, and as a professional artist since 2009. I wanted to share what I learned.
After a few months, I got a steady stream of emails from people who saw this post (which went up to the #1 spot in Google), asking me to share more portrait painting tips! I felt I had a responsibility to help them. So I started up a YouTube channel and created some videos to help artists with their portrait painting. Then I started teaching in-person painting classes in a community art studio in 2016.
Eventually, I connected with a lady named Beverly, who was in her 80's.
"When are you going to make a portrait painting course?" she asked.
I wasn't sure it was possible to teach online, but she kept asking and asking, so I gave in! :)
She said: "How much do you want for the course?"
"How about $97?" I replied.
"I'll mail you a check right away."
Oh boy! Now I had a paying student. I HAD to create a class! I got a webcam, emailed people that I was starting an online class, and 10 people signed up!
That was "Paint Your First Amazing Acrylic Portrait."
I taught that via Zoom video in spring of 2017. I put the recording of the class up, and over time, 100 students enrolled in it and many created wonderful portraits, following those lessons.
I asked the students who took the class if they wanted to continue to learn from me. That's how the Realistic Acrylic All-Access Membership was born!
Little by little, I've been adding new classes and doing critiques for my students. Things really took off after the first Portrait Painting Challenge in 2020! Now we have a truly amazing community of artists who are so supportive and encouraging to each other. It's a joy to be a part of it—to see many artists all over the world discovering their God-given talent for portrait painting, and beautifying the world with that gift!
"Can I paint an acrylic portrait that I'll be proud of?" Yes!
Here's what more of my students have to say about their journey as portrait artists. Most of them are beginners. If they can paint a realistic acrylic portrait, with teaching, practice, critique, and encouragement, you can too!
Thanks 
Rod Martin
Artist
"So good to be able to continue the painting more confidently..."
Matt, thanks so much for taking the time to do this critique during such a busy week! This feedback is extremely helpful to me, as usual. So good to be able to continue the painting more confidently...I definitely couldn't have done this without all your help - I'm so glad to be one of your students!
Debra Bodi
Artist
"There is very little that is more rewarding than sitting back and looking at how far I have come..."
So, I just want to say...I work full time and I babysit my grandkids every other afternoon. That gives me evenings for painting and catching up on our Fall Challenge painting. There is absolutely nothing that can compare to the relaxation I get when I sit down and work on my painting. There is very little that is more rewarding than sitting back and looking at how far I have come. I was a painter before this group, but I am a far better painter because of this group, not only in portraits but in all my work! I have learned patience, I have learned to "look and compare," I have learned to not be afraid of mixing colors and skin tones, and I have learned that there is nothing more valuable than a group of your peers to help you through those tough decisions. We are so close to the end of this challenge!! I am so excited to show off my work to my friends and on my fb business page. I always, ALWAYS wanted to be a portrait artist but was never that good. Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Thank you, Matt Philleo and everyone here! You are all wonderful and this was just my FIRST portrait project with this group! Sorry for overflowing but I couldn't hold it in. LOL
"I've gone from something that is unrecognizable to having a likeness..."
In this video, my student Lise Stephan shares her experience as a Realistic Acrylic All-Access Member. After just a few months as a portrait painter, Lise is already creating PHENOMENAL, realistic acrylic portraits, and she's just begun! We love having her in the LIVE Weekly Zoom Critique meetings where we get to encourage each other to do our very best work.
"It's only been one year, and to win a juried award..."
Meet Rosemary Carroll, my student who started taking my online classes just last year. She recently has won FIRST PLACE with her acrylic portrait in a prestigious juried art competition! She'll tell you more about her journey as an artist, how she's grown as a Realistic Acrylic All-Access member and how she enjoys painting portraits!
"I wanted something I could do for my grandchildren..."
Watch as my portrait student Tony shares how he is going through some incredibly difficult trials in his life, but it has opened up a whole new world for him in creating art. He has an incredibly positive attitude, and is being helped by the classes in the All-Access Membership. He just wants to use the talent God has given him to experience joy and make a difference in the world around him.
Did you know?
- One year of art school at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (where I attended) is $39,910.00. Your investment into the All-Access Program at the highest level of membership with annual pricing: $997 (And you get to focus on exactly what you want to learn: portrait painting!) A savings of $38,913.00!
- The All-Access Membership monthly subscription is about the same price as a Kolinsky #10 flat red sable paint brush. But it will help you paint much better portraits!
- Because my time is at a premium, I currently charge $125/ hour for personal painting lessons and online mentoring. You can access to my classes and even personal critiques with me (which I reserve for my All-Access students) at a fraction of the price.
Join Realistic Acrylic All-Access today and get instant access to the classes and community!
workshop level
Start your journey to better portrait painting!
Get instant access to all the lessons. Cancel anytime.
student level
Reach your goals as a portrait artist faster with a personal monthly critique!
Get instant access to all the lessons. Cancel anytime.
apprentice level
Take your portraits to a higher level of realism by being personally mentored by me!
$
Get instant access to all the lessons. Cancel anytime.
Questions? Contact me: [email protected] or call/ text: 715-864-9323
If you have any difficulties with links to the subscription page not working, please visit: https://courses.realisticacrylic.com/p/realistic-acrylic-all-access-membership
Join by July 29th, 2023
before enrollment
closes!
100% Satisfaction Guarantee for 30-Days and Cancel at Any Time
If for any reason you don't feel the Realistic Acrylic All-Access Membership is right for you, or something comes up where it just doesn't work out, just let me know within 30 days, and I will make sure you get a complete refund. No hoops to jump through, no questions asked, and no hard feelings. Additionally, you may cancel your membership at any time. There's no commitments. (Though I am committed to helping you grow as an artist while you're a member in the school!)
Top 10 Reasons You Should Sign Up for Realistic Acrylic Portrait School (Written by Courtenay Snauwaert, an All-Access Member)
1. Set-up is foolproof. Matt emails you downloadable files of the photos he is using, complete with multiple grid options if you are following along, as well as supply lists.
2. The classes in your account have tracking capacity, so whether you stop mid-lesson or complete it, you can always find your place within each class.
3. No matter what your skill level, when you are in need of individualized help with your portrait, there is a live weekly meeting (recorded if you can't make it)
4. You will be thrilled to know that you can create beautiful portraits with affordable, accessible materials. Don't have $30 for a single paintbrush or even more for a high-end canvas? No problem. Even your instructor will be using items you can purchase at hobby stores.
5. Matt is an accessible, down-to-earth instructor. It isn't unusual to find him directly responding to posts of students' work, along with the rest of us.
6. "The rest of us" = the friendly RAPS community you will find yourself in. Whether you're looking for constructive feedback, art tips or just some encouragement to keep going, you'll find it here... immediately.
7. Back to Matt. Matt goes above and beyond, consistently. He is generous with his time and truthful encouragement.
8. Matt is a man of faith. He prays a blessing over his students and their work before he begins. Whether you agree with his beliefs or not, you can appreciate that his heart intent is to bless and to honour.
9. And more about your instructor... he's a genuine, unpretentious bloke. He speaks like an old friend and doesn't edit imperfections or mis-steps from his videos. Instead, he takes the opportunity to show us all how to navigate these challenges, ensuring that the mole hills do not become mountains.
10. It's so fun to learn (or to build upon) this painting technique! Trust me, it's a real confidence booster to witness a beautiful, realistic portrait actually take shape just by following step-by-step instructions in real time... and by persevering! You can do this!
BONUS: There aren't words for the gratitude that goes out and comes back full circle if your skills translate to personal portraits for others. So many RAPS members have shared heartwarming stories of embarking on new and meaningful work, gifting memorial portraits and so many things in between. Join us!
workshop level
Start your journey to better portrait painting!
Get instant access to all the lessons. Cancel anytime.
student level
Reach your goals as a portrait artist faster with a personal monthly critique!
Get instant access to all the lessons. Cancel anytime.
apprentice level
Take your portraits to a higher level of realism by being personally mentored by me!
Get instant access to all the lessons. Cancel anytime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Am I able to cancel this membership if I need to?
Do I get access to the all of the class lessons right away?
If I'm not happy with the membership, may I request a refund?
Can I purchase a membership as a gift?
How many critiques do I get as a member?
Is there a discount when I purchase an annual subscription to the membership vs. monthly?
My Promise to You...
Although I can't promise that when you sign up as an All-Access Member that tomorrow you will have a Rembrandt-level portrait on your easel, I can promise that if you sign up, watch a class or two, put what you learn into practice, you WILL see a dramatic change in the realism of your portrait paintings.
It might happen for you in a week.
Or it may take a year.
But, if you stay committed to learning and growing as an artist, I will not give up on you. Ever. And there are many artists in our community who feel the same way.
So, I encourage you again to join Realistic Acrylic All-Access Membership, and discover that you can truly paint a portrait you can be proud of!
