Painting a Caravaggio-Style Tenebrism Glaze in Acrylic

Add a lighter values on top of the dark instead of carving around them.

Did I ruin it? Painting a Caravaggio-Style Tenebrism Glaze in Acrylic.

I was working on my acrylic portrait of Paul the Apostle praying in my usual way and then… I decided to add a Caravaggio-style tenebrism glaze on top. Why? Well, I already had blocked in the major distinctions in value, but I wanted it to have more depth, and thought maybe a different approach than what I usually do would be fun. Since the image overall is quite dark, I think this approach will work best.

Rather than carving around the lighter values, I can build them up on top of the dark. And this is the way Caravaggio did his dramatic chiaroscuro masterpieces. Why not follow in his footsteps? But who knows how it will turn out? (God does, but I sure don’t.) So, let me know…do you think I ruined it? 🙂

Painting a Caravaggio-Style Tenebrism Glaze in Acrylic

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

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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,

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