A variety of paints are suitable for drawing a portrait of a person - watercolors, acrylics, gouache, tempera, oil. Depending on what material you have chosen, the technique of working on the portrait will change.
It is necessary
- - paper;
- - pencil;
- - eraser;
- - brushes;
- - paints;
- - palette.
Instructions
Step 1
Sketch it. If you are going to paint a portrait with watercolors, acrylics or gouache, you can draw a sketch with a simple pencil. Before working in color, the pencil lines will need to be lightened with an eraser. If you prefer tempera or oil paints, you will have to start the painting with underpainting. Sketch the work with a pencil on a separate sheet, calculate the proportions of the person. Transfer these calculations to paper or canvas.
Step 2
For a tempera portrait, do underpainting with a tempera shade, which is in all elements of the picture. The shade should be light so that later it can be enhanced or overlapped. For oil painting, it will be more convenient to make underpainting with acrylic paints. Add guidelines for the basic shapes and apply a drop shadow.
Step 3
The way you work in color depends on the paint you choose. If it is watercolor, diluted acrylic or gouache, you need to paint over the drawing with wide fills. Start on areas of your body that are not covered by your clothing. Determine the lightest shade that is visible on the skin. Mix the same in the palette. Try to mix in just enough paint right away so you can paint without having to re-match the color combination.
Step 4
Then create a shade of eyeshadow on the skin. Use a wide brush to spread the first color over the drawing. When it dries a little, apply shadow spots. Fill the person's clothes in the same way. After that, paint the face using smaller brushes. Do not draw the face to the end, just apply the main shade and partial shade on the cheeks, temples, chin, next to the bridge of the nose.
Step 5
Take thin brushes and paint all penumbra and your own shadows on the body and head of the person. In this case, it is important not only to convey the shape of the body, but also to take into account the change in shades of both clothing and skin. They affect the color of each other, so on a red shirt, for example, in the shadows, the blue of the trousers will be noticeable. And on the face there will be a warm reddish reflex from the shirt.
Step 6
To make the drawing look vivid, do not forget about the glare. They do not always appear on the skin, but an unpainted section of white paper must be left on the hair and eyes.
Step 7
When working with tempera, you will not have to create large fills, but work "from a piece". That is, with small strokes, completely draw one area and only after that move on to the next. If you are painting a person with oil paints, pay attention to the degree of transparency of the shades that you are going to mix. This information is on the paint packaging. This is especially important when choosing skin color - if you mix transparent paint with opaque, the color will turn out to be heavy, unnatural.
