Figure and Portrait Drawing & Painting
| Welcome to the figure and portrait section of CreativeSpotlite.com. Figure and portrait painting and drawing is one of the most difficult things to master. It has been said if you can draw or paint the human body, you can draw or paint anything. We have gathered a nice selection of free lessons on the following pages of which you are sure to learn a great deal from. The art instruction on the following pages has been generously donated by professional artists from all over the world. We are most grateful for their generosity and we hope you enjoy! | |
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Featured Figure and Portrait Art Lessons
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Portrait Painting Demonstration By Karin Wells
There are a LOT of ways to paint a portrait. I use several different methods (and sometimes combine them) depending on what I think is best at the time. Sometimes I even remember to take pictures of the process. This portrait of Gwyneth (20″x24″, oil on linen) won the Certificate of Excellence at the Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition in Philadelphia this year (2008).
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A Painting demonstration in Oil on a 14x20" Panel. - 1983
I prepared a hardboard quarter inch panel by applying at least six coats of acrylic gesso with a brush. After letting it dry for a week, I wet sanded the surface until it was flawlessly smooth. I toned the panel with raw umber oil paint to which I added a bit of alkyd medium and a little turpentine. I rubbed the surface down with a rag until the surface was a medium light value. I let it dry a few days. I started to paint directly, without any preliminary drawing. I concentrated on the central figure...
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Waterfall Demo
To keep the areas wet over the two days it took to paint this image, I worked this painting in sections, doing the figure first. Around the figure I worked just enough paint over the surface to ensure that it would be an easy blend the next day as I worked back into that area...