I am painting a portrait

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Welcome to I am painting a portrait in acrylic

Hi. My name is Cheryl Paton and I like to paint. I've painted some portaits before and they did turn out pretty good. Then I decided to go even further; to paint portraits that were even better and also came about more naturally.

My first portraits were a lot of try this and try that, and paint over that. Well that is what was. I purchased a book, Painting People in Acrylic.

Below ae some highlights of my experiences. My intention is that if you're here to learn something about portrait painting yourself, that you find something helpful and useful in your own painting process, either through something I've said or from the books that have helped me; or if you're here looking for a portrait painter, that you will like what you see, and know that someday soon I too will be painting beautiful portraits for people, and perhaps you too.

Enjoy.

Painting People in Acrylic 

This is the book I'm using. When I was browsing through a catalogue, I saw this book advertsied and recognized some of the techniques that I already knew and liked. That was a big Yes for me.
Paint People in Acrylic with Lee Hammond

Paint People in Acrylic with Lee Hammond

by: Lee Hammond

Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 07/12/2009) Buy Now

Getting started. January 20, 2007 

The portrait book has arrived. I'm up to the part of doing my first exercise, which I'll probably start in two days. I am looking forward to this with welcome anticipation.

Painting spheres, picking the right colors. Feb. 2, 2007 

I've been doing the painting exercises. On the first exercise, I went with my interpretation of the colors according to what I saw in the book. They didn't come out quite right. So I then searched through my paints by color name. That came out a lot better.

The first exercises consisted of painting spheres, following a certain method for shading and highlighting, which was a different method than one I had learned from another book.

Painting Spheres, the early ones. Feb. 6, 2007 

I've painted three different spheres now, a gray one, a beige one, and a red one. The first two were pretty straight forward, as the base colors came straight from the bottle and the colors were opague. On the third sphere, I mixed my own green, and the red was a bit translucent, so the paint behaved differently. It wasn't a major deal, just a bit of adjusting and knowing that colors can behave differently.

Painting more spheres, Feb. 8, 2007 

I have also painted a yellow sphere, a blue sphere and a green sphere. Today I also painted a peach sphere. The peach sphere was the most exciting so far, as it is more skin color. A little red, a little yellow, some white, and burnt umber, voila, skin color.

Yes, it looks pretty good. I've painted skin before, but that was with skin tones that came straight from the bottles/tubes. Doing these processes of mixing my own is making it easier now to understand the colors. I'm looking forward to more.

Grid Method Drawing, Feb. 15, 2007 

I've finished the spheres and have gone on to grid method drawing, where you draw a grid, and then draw in each square what is in the corresponding square from the reference photo.

I've done this method before and wasn't all that keen about it. Since then I did exercises from Drawing on the Right Hand Side of the Brain. Doing that helped to free up some inhibitions. So this time I decided to go for the grid method again.

I did the first drawing and it was kind of cumbersome. I let it sit for a few days and went back and did the drawing again (which was the assignment). The second time went much easier and faster. Wow, it was actually pretty enjoyable.

I drew my next grid and did the next drawing. Oh yeah, it's getting easier. I guess I'm more in the time and place now for grid method drawing being more of a match for me. Yes!

Drawing on the Right Hand Side of the Brain 

This is the book I did that helped me to free up some inhibitions. I highly recommend it.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

by: Betty Edwards

Amazon Price: (as of 07/12/2009) Buy Now

Grid Method Drawings Completed, Feb 20, 2007 

I have completed six different grid method drawings, seven counting the first one done twice. They have ranged from baby to elderly, side view from the back to 3/4's view from the front and full front view. So there has been quite a bit of variety. I just say I'm looking forward to painting. In due time, as the next exercises are getting familiar with painting different facial features individually. The first one is the nose.

Painting the first nose, Feb. 21, 2007 

This nose was monochromatic in gray tones. I did the grid drawing of it and then followed along with the basecoating, and then the adding of lights and darks, which is done before blending. There's more adding of lights and darks once blending is started. I did start to get frustrated and then I affirmed to myself that I can do this. And sure enough I did. The thing about working on a nose though, is that once I got to blending, it is definitely working in parts; the left nostril, the right, the bridge, the underneath, so it is definitely something to keep at while the paint is still fresh.

I also found it easier, once I started blending, to use the reference photo of the real nose instead of the artist's painting of the nose. Then I was using my own interpretations, and that was easier for me.

Some Portrait Paintings on YouTube 

Whether painting realistically or not, it's a good idea to paint the skin first and then add the hair.

Me Painting my lil sis (portrait) (Speed Paint) in acrylic

Runtime: 4:20
15165 views
10 Comments:


Dream a Little Dream (acrylic paint)

Runtime: 3:32
39111 views
0 Comments:

powered by YouTube

Graph Paper 

I desired an easier way to do the drawings. I wasn't thrilled with drawing the graph lines each time on the canvas. Low and behold, I came up with an easier way. First I draw the grid on graph paper; so much easier. Evereything is already there, I just use a straight edge to darken the needed lines. I then make my drawing on the graph paper with pencil, and then I darken them with a marker. Next step - light tracer.
Mead(R) Wireless Neatbook(R), Quadrille Ruled, 8 1/2

Mead(R) Wireless Neatbook(R), Quadrille Ruled, 8 1/2" x 11", 80 Pages

Amazon Price: (as of 07/12/2009) Buy Now

Light Tracer - Light Box 

Once I've darkened the drawing on the graph paper, I place it on the Light Tracer, and the canvas on top of that. Voila, I can easily transfer my drawing to the canvas, and my canvas stays nice and clean!
Light Tracer Light Box 10''x12''

Light Tracer Light Box 10''x12''

Amazon Price: $32.96 (as of 07/12/2009) Buy Now

Painting the second nose - March, 2007 

I easily drew the second nose. Practice is really helping the process. However, I painted this particular nose three times, trying to get the colors just right. Acrylic paint usually dries a bit darker than when wet. And since there is no magic formula, i.e. 2 parts this to one part that, it is all up to interpretation. So this is it. The second nose, and I'm moving on to something else.

Oh, and just a brief tip; if you have a clear plastic sheet or something equivalent, you can paint a dab of your color on it, let it dry, and then compare, as mentioned by Lee Hammond in her book, Painting People in Acrylic. And then make up enough of that paint to last through the recoats and blendings too.

Painting of a boy, April 26, 2007 

After the process of the second nose, I did some other things for awhile. Then yesterday, I decided to paint a whole face, my way. Using the painting on the front of the book, Paint People in Acrylic, as a guide, I did a free hand drawing. The proportions weren't exact, but my intent was just to play with my plan of color. So I laid the base coat down on the whole face, which for this painting I chose the lightest color. I dried that, and then I added the various colors to part of the base mix. I painted in a new area, repainted the base coat next to the new color, and then dry blended the two areas together. I kept doing this for the whole face, and this is what I achieved.

Painting from different views, June 14, 2007 

This painting I'm making for someone, so I did the grid method to ensure proper proportion. Again I laid a base coat down, and then I added a second coat designating my different light and dark areas. That's the stage it is at here. I'll be adding other layers and doing the blendings next.

Also, I found it easier to turn my reference picture and the painting upside down and sideways to see the view from different perspectives. It really did help to see things I hadn't noticed before when I viewed them from different angles.

The baby is done, July 21, 2007 

I finished the portrait of the baby and gave it to the parents, it was a birthday present. They both loved it and the one year old enjoyed looking at it too. One thing to keep in mind is to work from good photos. The lighting in the photos did make the hair appear darker in places than it actually was, but being a surprise gift, it did turn out rather well.

Painting Ellen, August 9, 2007 

Many people have painted portraits of Ellen DeGeneres and I decided to paint one too. On my base coats, I painted in different shades. So the base coat painting turned out pretty well, but it didn't offer me as much freedom in the second coat blending. So although it is looking nice, I like the flexibility of a solid neutral base coat to begin with.

Painting Ellen, the next part, January 29, 2008 

I have fine tuned the painting of Ellen, it's almost done. But in the mean time I took it to our local Michael's, where I'm an instructor, and received the go ahead to teach a photo portrait class. Woo hoo! And when I get Ellen's painting finished, I plan to send it to her. Who knows, maybe you'll see it on the Ellen show.

Painting Jessica, April 18, 2008 

I had sceduled to teach a portrait painting class at a local arts and craft store and chose my daughter, Jessica, as the subject. I approached this painting using my favorite blending technique of base coating the skin with the lightest shade, letting that dry, and then adding successive blending coats. The reference photograph I used is to the right.

Doing the painting as a demo for a portrait class, the whole painting, drawing, base coating, and blending, were all done in about a three hour time span. Below is the finished result after the three hours.

Painting of Jessica

Favorite Portrait Painting Books 

List and/or vote on your favorite portrait painting book.

Favorite Drawing Books 

Add your favorite drawing book and/or vote on your favorite.

Portrait Sketches 

I participated in the Arts and Crafts weekend (October 31 - November 2, 2008) at our local mall and did live portrait sketches, using colored pencils. The sketches took just over 10 minutes to do and the people loved them. It was actually fun working with live models.

Visit my site on Qassia. 

Qassia is a site where you can write intel (bits of intelligence), and receive backlinks to your site.

Qassia

About Me 

Lensmaster CreativeArtist, aka Cheryl Paton, has been a member since January 11 2006, has rated 449 lenses, favorited 36, and has created 118 lenses from scratch. Cheryl Paton donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund and All Golf's Kids. This member's top-ranked page is "Acrylic Painting Techniques". See all my lenses

My Bio

Cheryl Paton is a wife, mother, and positive artist, with varied inerests. Cheryl started her art business, Creative Brushstrokes, LLC, in 2006. Her designs are purchased online at www.zazzle.com/CherylsArt*/ on stamps, t-shirts, aprons, ties, and more.


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Thanks for your comments, rating this lens, and/or for your purchase. 

Like what you see, found something helpful; your comments, rating, and purchases are all appreciated.

Lensmaster

Rachel wrote

Enjoyed your remarks about the use of a grid. Will have to try that. Also admire your tenaciosness. Enjoyed your site your site very much.
Rachel

Reply Posted June 01, 2009

Lensmaster

oilpaintingsell wrote...

Great lens!

ReplyPosted June 04, 2008

Lensmaster

littleliz wrote...

Very enjoyable lens. Keep up the great lens's and the great artwork ^__^

ReplyPosted October 06, 2007

Lensmaster

lovemybob wrote...

Hi neat stuff about the spheres!
I'm the new groupmaster for The Painting Group, where we've got some great new features and discussions.
You should post your ideas on our group site as well.

Robert

ReplyPosted March 21, 2007

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