Figure and Portrait Drawing & Painting Lessons
| 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! Happy painting! | |
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Free Figure and Portrait Art Demonstrations
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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 12 x 9" canvas 2001
This is the state of the painting at the end of the first session. With neither face nor hands to slow me down, I was able to bring it along quickly. The neck and back remind me of Ingres and I'm motivated to try and make the work look finished at every stage.
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A painting demonstration in oil on an 18x24" canvas. 1999
In the summer of 1999, Sandra took a workshop from Jim Wilcox in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While everybody went out to paint the Tetons all day, I stayed inside in Jim's Jackson studio and started this painting from a photograph. I toned the canvas with what was probably one of the ugliest oil washes I'd ever made and then I began to draw the form with a brush and some burnt umber...
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A figure painting demonstration in oil on a 24x16" canvas. 1980
I stretched a piece of Fredrix Sarasota linen acrylic primed canvas. I brushed on another layer or two of acrylic gesso to fill the weave a bit. I worked up the drawing in a hurry using several sheets of tracing paper. The first drawing is just a scribble done with a fat carpenter's pencil. I traced off the best lines and refined the drawing on a second sheet...
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A painting demonstration in oil on a 20 x 16" canvas. 2002
I drew in the form using a bristle filbert brush and Gamblin's asphaltum brown on a toned canvas. I added lights made of white with a touch of raw sienna. I then began to add broken color. I continued to refine until I got it the way I wanted. I had to be careful not to paint the life out of it...
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Memories
I don't always have something to say, nor am I always inspired. Painting is enough of a struggle without the added burden of making a statement. Thus, I let the subject speak to me, and I simply serve as the editor and interpreter for my audience.
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Facing the Day
I met Elma at one of my art shows and knew that with her beautiful and strong features she would make a stunning subject for a painting. She and her husband graciously supplied me with some black and white and color photos. This B/W pose seemed to best express the “attitude” I wanted for this character study.
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The Red Scarf
Coming around the corner I was struck by the natural pose and backlighting. I happened to have a camera and equested she hold right there. Several shots were taken at the 1mb setting and this first one seemed to have the most promise. The resolution was increased in PaintShop Pro which helped, but it still was not a professional quality photo.
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Mirra All Dressed Up
Mirra is my new grand-niece. I was very impressed by her liveliness this Fall (2003) and asked her father to send me some recent photos. I held off as long as I could, but finally, I have started a portrait of her "just for fun". (No, no, the picture to the left is not the painting. It's the photo.)
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Contemplation
When I began to develop ideas for this painting, I began with an image I had taken while in the Army, stationed in Vietnam. I was walking down a street in Can Tho, were I was stationed, and I came upon an old gentleman squatting on the corner.