Portrait on an easel
Portrait painting is a great tradition in art. This is not a skill that comes easily, and most artists may find themselves painting portraits again and again to get the process right. Oil paint is a practical medium to start portrait painting with. The slow drying time of oil paint makes blending easy enough--a real advantage when it comes to producing soft shadows, as would appear on the subject's face.
Instructions
1. Choose a photograph to paint from. Portrait painting is traditionally done from live subjects, but live subjects are problems for their own reasons. Live subjects need to move and change positions. If you paint from a live subject, you are limited in the amount of time you can spend in a single painting session because your subject will need breaks, and changing light conditions will force you to paint at the same approximate time for each different session. If you insist on painting from a live subject, take photographs of your subject, so you can paint/touch up areas even when your subject isn't available. In addition, mark the position of your subject with chalk to make repositioning easy.
2. Draw several studies of your subject before drawing an outline of the subject and a few major features--eyes, nose, mouth-on the canvas.
3. Paint a thin layer of paint on the canvas, covering the entire picture plane. Use a medium or medium-large brush. Don't paint highlights or shadows--only paint the base colors of subjects. To produce a thin layer of paint in oils, mix the paint with turpentine or whatever paint thinner you happen to be using. Compare what you have on the painting to what you see in the photograph. Amend the painting as necessary.
4. Begin to build up layers of paint. Oil paint dries very slowly. After a certain point of painting, you may decide that the painting is too wet to continue. If this becomes the case, the painting will need to sit overnight (or possibly longer) before you can continue. Many painters who work with oil paint find it efficient to have several paintings going at once, so when one painting becomes too wet, the artist can move on to something else.
5. Build up details slowly. Switch to smaller paintbrushes as you start to paint smaller details. When blending areas of paint, like shadows and highlights, with the paint in the background, you may find it helpful to use a dry brush to feather the edges. For shadows on flesh, shades of brown or blue are usually more appropriate than shades of black or gray.
If you find yourself struggling to line up the details in the face, try painting some mapping lines on the face. Mapping lines are lines drawn over the horizontal and vertical axes of the face that allow you to arrange details on the face in a way that is symmetrical. If you still feel like the features of the face are asymmetrical, even after establishing mapping lines and painting the features along them, try turning the piece upside down.
6. Set the painting aside when you feel you are close to being done and don't return to the painting for a few days or more. This will help you gain a fresh perspective on the steps to producing a completely finished piece.
