Secrets of Shading White Clothing in Acrylic

Clothing can be challenging to paint.

In this video tutorial, I’ll show you advanced techniques for making your clothing, especially white clothing, look super-realistic in acrylic. 

Here’s 3 of my best secrets for painting realistic shading on white clothing:

Secret #1: Be sure to paint the darkest values on the clothing as BLACK, or a value very close to that. Too many artists assume that white clothing will be light, and even the shadows will be much lighter. Not so. In the absence of light, even white clothing will appear black. 

Secret #2: The shadow color on white will change depending on the environment around it. White picks up the colors of whatever is nearby. If a person is seated outside, the blue sky will affect the color of the shadows, making it appear cooler in tone. Their arms, legs, or any other areas of flesh may make the white shadows appear warmer. 

Secret #3: Your main job is to OBSERVE the specific shape of the wrinkles in the clothing, from your reference photo (or from life) and replicate the shape you see. Don’t over-simplify it or over-complicate it. If you do this enough, all over the clothing, step back and you will see that it looks realistic!

I share a whole lot more in the video, so watch it til the end. And be sure to check out more of my work below…

LEARN MORE

•  Sketching Your Painting Accurately
• Beginning a Pet Portrait in Acrylic
• The Mystery of Realism in Painting
• Apply A Burnt Sienna Glaze to a Portrait
• Learn How to Sketch a Portrait Freehand in 45 Minutes
• Adding highlights to your acrylic painting
• 5 Excellent Reasons to Use Aluminum Foil
• Paint Realistic Wrinkles in Acrylic
• Painting Clothing in an Acrylic Portrait
• Paint a Cloudy Sky Acrylic  
•  How to add Semi-Opaque Highlights
• How to Enhance the Contrast in Your Acrylic
• How to Add Glaze to Your Acrylic Painting
• Paint Realistic Reflections on Eyeglasses in an Acrylic Portrait
• Build Up Depth on Your Acrylic Portrait Backgrounds
• How Do You Do Layers With the Glazing Technique?
• Learn How to Paint Wrinkles in Acrylic

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

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.

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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,

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 know, and I’d be happy to help!