After laying down your lighter washes, it’s easier to see where your first washes can be darker. Using a higher ratio of pigment to water, go back and re-establish the darkest values; in this case the hair and glasses. For hair, pay attention to where the highlights are located. You can often showcase these just by leaving a previous lighter wash visible while blocking in darker values. You don’t need to paint every strand; the value difference will show the viewer that the hair is shiny. Work into the details of the face with a smaller round brush.
Art Inspiration | Inspiration | Art Techniques | Encouragement | Art Supplies
By Nicole Tinkham
Have you ever painted a self portrait? If not, we strongly suggest giving it a try. Here’s why. Working on a self portrait is unlike any other painting you’ll ever do. It can be a challenge but you’re sure to grow as an artist by doing it. You have total control over the subject because you are the subject! You’ll have to really focus in on the fine details and take a good long look at yourself. But don’t sweat it; you can always do it over and over again if you don’t like it the first time. Here are 6 of our top tips for painting a self portrait like a pro to help you get started.
1. Do a preliminary drawing FIRST.
We recommend doing a preliminary drawing first before taking paint to your canvas. This will help you get your proportions right and allow you to make the necessary changes. Here are just a few tips to getting proportion just right, something many artists struggle with when doing portraits:
* The space between the eyes should be the length of one eye.
* The edge of the mouth should be aligned with the pupil of the eye.
* The tops of the ears should be aligned to the eyebrows.
* The bottom of the ears should be a little lower than the bottom of the nose.
2. Lighting is everything when doing portraits.
We know how important lighting can be when working on a painting or any artwork for that matter but it’s especially important when doing portraits. The correct lighting will help you achieve contrast. For portraits, we recommend placing a light on one side of your head a little bit above the head. This will give you the perfect shadows on the face.
3. Use a mirror in addition to a photograph.
One challenge that you may face is your set-up. You can work from a photo but we also recommend using a mirror. Why a mirror? In the art world we prefer to work from real life and only use photos when we need to. When doing a self-portrait, using a mirror is as close as you can get to working from real life. Be sure that your mirror is positioned next to your canvas where you don’t have to twist or move around a whole lot to see in it. Consider using a second mirror so you can paint more of your face. This gives a 3D effect.
4. Show yourself as you really are.
This will probably be the most difficult part of painting your self portrait. You want to show yourself as you really are. That means every wrinkle, blemish, and crooked tooth. We often want to forget these things and choose to not see them but in the case of improving as an artist you must see things as they really are. You will only improve your skills as an artist if you really focus on this.
5. Have fun making different expressions.
When doing self portraits, the possibilities are endless. You are free to play around, get a little goofy, and make any expression you can come up with. For this, you may want to use a camera and work from a photo. Take a bunch of different photos and when considering which one to work with look at what the expression portrays. How do you want your painting to feel?
6. Just get started
Self portraits can be intimidating but the best way to get over your fear of starting is just to do it. Remember that if it doesn’t turn out how you had wanted, you can always give it another go. Keep going and keep practicing. There are always new techniques to try so don’t give up after your first one. You will eventually nail this and have a killer self portrait!
Take a deep breath. You can do this! Remember to make it your own personal style. Your self portrait can be fun and colorful. Paint in a way that excites you and makes you want to do another. It is a painting of you after all so make sure it reflects your own unique personality. Tell us, what are some of your best self portrait painting tips? Leave a comment below and we’ll add it to our list.
But if you do it right, painting a portrait in watercolor can yield amazing results! Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.
To start painting anything in watercolor requires a little planning and patience. Whether you’re painting from a photograph or from life, it helps to establish your composition first. Knowing how much of your subject you will be painting will make things much easier down the road. I’ve cropped this photo down from a “landscape” format to include just my subject’s head and shoulders, and to match the dimensions of my paper.
If you are painting from a photograph, it can be useful to transfer your image using a grid.
Step 1:
Draw out the subject lightly in a hard pencil, such as a 4H. Pay close attention to the dark and light shapes in the head and face rather than the finer details. You’re going to be working from general to specific and the details will come later, so use a big round or flat brush, not a small rigger or liner for these washes.
Step 2:
Block in the darkest values first using dark washes. Avoid using black, but instead, combine Burnt Umber and dark blue for anything exceptionally dark. It helps to squint your eyes while looking at your subject to help isolate the dark values. Don’t worry that these washes aren’t as dark as they could be; you will have a chance to darken them more later.
Tip: It is important to let each layer of washes dry completely before laying down any new wash that might come in contact with a previous wash. This is especially important when laying down light washes, as they can pull in dark pigment from an earlier wash and become muddy.
