Watercolor Faces and Portraiture: Essential Techniques

Hi and Welcome to Watercolor Faces and Portraiture: Essential Techniques.

Included in this course: 9 Different Portraits with Sketching Exercises

BONUS: 1.5-hour workshop included - mastering layering in portraiture. This bonus workshop featured in the final lecture will show you how to build detail and depth in your portraits.

Portrait painting is challenging for both beginners and advanced painters. By the end of this course, you will be able to easily turn any photograph into a realistic portrait. Learn my portrait painting process and show off your vibrant portraits to the surprise of your friends and family!

In this course, we will mainly focus on how you can use the gridding technique to create accurate portrait drawings that will form a strong foundation for your painting.

You will build your confidence in using essential watercolor techniques to paint a portrait. There are many things to keep in mind when painting skin - the wetness of the paper and brush, the exact colour you are mixing, how much water to use, and when to paint into a wet area. I'll show you how to focus on all these elements at the same time.

We'll go through numerous demonstrations to make sure you can paint any portrait easily using my process.

I'm going to simplify the portrait painting process for you by showing you:

• My two-step process in painting a watercolor portrait - keeping colors fresh and vibrant.

• How to sketch and paint 9 different portraits, based on 9 reference photos.

• How to use the grid technique to transfer a photo of a portrait onto watercolor paper.

• How to quickly draw faces and portraits from a reference photograph freehand.

• How to paint subjects in various poses and lighting conditions.

• How to layer paints to add color and details.

• How to use essential watercolor techniques in the context of painting portraits, such as wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry.

• How to determine a light source and the correct use of values in painting.

• What essential paints, paper, brushes, and drawing materials you will need.

This is a feature-packed course, and I have included many demonstrations to provide you with more opportunities to learn how to paint different subjects.

So if you're ready to boost your portraiture skills, join me in this course and let's get painting.

Assignment:

Your course project is to draw and paint your own watercolor portrait using the processes and techniques covered in this course! Pick two or more of the portraits shown in this course, and try to paint each portrait demonstrated by following along with the demonstration. Try to spend as much time as possible on the drawing until you are happy with how it looks. If you're feeling adventurous, how about changing some of the facial features or trying some different color combinations?

If you've completed the portraits featured in this course, find a reference photograph of a person whom you'd like to paint. Consider trying to paint a family member or a loved one as you will be more familiar with their facial details and feel a personal connection towards the subject. Using the techniques and processes shown in this course, transfer the reference photo over to your sketchbook or watercolor paper, and paint with watercolor.

Materials:

Use any pencil, watercolor paper, paints, and brushes you have available. I recommend:

• Mechanical pencil (0.5mm)

• 100% cotton watercolor paper or sketchbook

• Watercolor Paints: Hansa Yellow, Permanent/Perennial Red, Ultramarine Blue

• Watercolour Brushes - mop brush and a variety of round and flat brushes.

Getting Started:

Review the course demonstrations first. There are various portrait sketching and painting exercises, as well as four main portraits for you to practice with. You can also download the tracing templates to transfer over your portrait drawing if you wish.

Sharing Your Work:

Share your final portraits and progress shots with the course by uploading them to the Q&A or discussion section on Udemy. If you have any questions or need more tips, please let me know. I'm happy to help.ed