How To Freehand Sketching Can Improve Your Painting

What is the best way to get better as an acrylic portrait artist?

Is it by learning a new skin tone recipe? Is it by getting a new glazing medium? Or is it by watching a bunch of time-lapse videos?

All of these things can help, but what will get you the fastest results is to go to the foundation: accurate drawing. Most painters spent months or even years doing drawings before ever picking up a paintbrush. There’s just something about drawing that works wonders for your painting skills.

I think part of it is that it bypasses the other concerns of handling paint: mixing colors, brush technique, drying times, etc. You only have a few simple tools: your pencils, paper, and an eraser. And you work in monochromatic so it forces you to think only about your form and shading.

I set up the photo on my Kindle Fire, right next to my paper and started working. Now this drawing is definitely not fancy since it’s just a sketch done in under an hour, but I try to draw freehand often, to keep my skills sharp. I’m still learning, and trying to improve my skills.

Here is a a free training session showing how I drew the 11″ x 14″ pencil portrait, from start to finish, in about 45-50 minutes. In this video, you will learn:

• How to decide how big to make the face and get the initial proportions
• How to accurately position draw the shape of the features by working loosely at first and getting specific later
• Techniques for shading in the face to give it dimension
• Why it’s important not to blend too much
• And more!

Have a blessed day,