Step by step process of face/portrait painting

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Step by step process of face/portrait painting

• By Ramyasadasivam

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Steps for doing oil painting

• Structure of the face
• Placement of features
• The first layer of value for our reference
• Adding value perfecting my hair
• The power of highlight

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Overall view
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The Structure of the face
Nothing is as important as the shape of the face.
You would have heard people around you saying
"she has an oval face, lengthy forehead so she is
good to be a model". How do they arrive at a
conclusion that the face is oval? We all have an
artist in us. You may be right about the shape of
the face. Even if you are wrong about it, just go
for it. Trust your instincts. I think she has a
oval face.
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 Placement of features
Every vertical measurement of a feature is
important in a portrait. But how do I do that,
how do I measure without touching the person
sitting in front of me, well it comes only in
practice. You yourself would have made comments
about the features of celebrities like she has a
such a big nose, what a wide mouth??, I don't
like her for that fact that she has inexpressive
eyes. These maybe arrogant comments in layman
terms, but when it comes to portrait drawing this
is the judgement we rely on to place our
features. In this case, it is not offensive to
comment that she has a big forehead. Of course,
she does have a big forehead but that is what
completes her face. That is why she is one of the
best models. To me it always felt like a big
forehead completes the face perfectly.
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The first layer of value for our reference
 select a midtone, a first layer of reference
with which I build the rest of the layers. Skin
is a beautiful creation. It has blood, flesh and
several veins underneath. It has the capacity to
reflect any light under which it is placed. As I
have always been saying, a perfect painting is a
good amount of balance between the darkest value
and the highlight. The same formula applied for
the portrait drawing as well. I am trying to
darken wherever required, but I would like to go
step by step so I do not ruin it.
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Adding values perfecting my hair
As we draw a portrait, as we keep adding values,
the portrait gets closer to your subject. You may
lose it if you overdo it. So keep it slow. When
you keep it slow, you can gradually go back to
your previous step until which your portrait
looked like your character. Hair is an essential
part that has the capacity to get your portrait
30 - 40 close to your subject. When it comes to
hair, select a midtone and keep adding values
wherever required. Remember that hair is a
pattern which has a lot of randomness and there
is a pattern in the randomness of hair. Try to
capture it... How would you capture it? If you go
strand by strand ? No.... Create the randomness
using kneading eraser.
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The power of highlight
A portrait gets life only with the vast variety
of highlights you place. A kind of highlight that
needs to merge totally with the skin and another
kind of highlight that stands out of the skin. I
would like to call the highlight that stands out
as reflection of light. It is nothing but the
reflection of light from the light source that
falls on our subject. Skin has the capacity to
reflect light and it can do it very well, believe
you me.
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Finished version of Olivia Wilde