Portrait in watercolor for beginners: a phased drawing lesson. Portrait with oil paints for beginners In the section: Lessons in painting with oil paints

Instruction

Make a sketch. If you are going to paint a portrait in watercolor, acrylic or gouache, you can draw a sketch with a simple pencil. Before working in color, the pencil lines will need to be made lighter with an eraser. If you prefer tempera or oil paints, you will have to start the painting with an underpainting. Make a sketch on a separate sheet, calculate the proportions of a person. Transfer these calculations to paper or canvas.

Make the underpainting for a tempera portrait with a shade of tempera, which is in all elements of the picture. The shade should be light, so that later it can be strengthened or covered. For underpainting it will be more convenient to do with acrylic paints. Mark the main shapes of the figure and apply a drop shadow.

The way you work in color depends on the paint you have chosen. If it is watercolor, diluted acrylic or gouache, you need to paint over the drawing with wide fills. Start with areas of the body that are not covered by clothing. Determine the lightest shade that is visible on the skin. Mix the same in the palette. Try to immediately mix in enough paint so that it is enough for the drawing and you do not have to re-select the combination of colors.

Then create a shade of shadows on the skin. With a wide brush, spread the first color over the pattern. When it dries a little, apply shadow patches. Pour the person's clothes in the same way. After that, paint the face using smaller brushes. Do not draw the face to the end, just apply the main shade and penumbra on the cheeks, temples, chin, next to the bridge of the nose.

Take thin brushes and draw all the penumbra and your own shadows on the torso and head of a person. At the same time, it is important not only to convey the shape of the body, but also to take into account the change in shades of both clothing and skin. They affect the coloring of each other, so on a red shirt, for example, the blue of the trousers will be noticeable in the shadows. And on the face there will be a warm reddish reflex from the shirt.

To make the drawing come alive, do not forget about the glare. They do not always appear on the skin, but on the hair and eyes it is imperative to leave an unpainted area of white paper.

When working with tempera, you will not have to create large fills, but work “from a piece”. That is, with small strokes, completely draw one area and only after that move on to the next. If you are drawing a person oil paints, pay attention to the degree of transparency of the shades that you are going to mix. This information is on the packaging of the paint. This is especially important when choosing a skin color - if you mix a transparent paint with a opaque, the color will turn out to be heavy, unnatural.

Many dreamed in childhood to learn how to draw well with paints on canvas. But not everyone has this dream come true.

Perhaps there was no time for art school, or there was not enough talent, and over time you abandoned this idea, devoting yourself to more necessary things. But if you still cherish the desire to learn how to paint in watercolor, the following recommendations may be useful to you.

Watercolor is the paint preferred by most artists. There are many painting techniques with these paints, with which you can create beautiful drawings even without special skills. A little lower we will look at how to paint a portrait in watercolor in stages.

Tassels

In order to make a portrait in watercolor, you need to have several brushes. You may not need some of them in the future, but on early stages it is better to buy them. Some artists use only one brush, but this requires some experience.

Everyone chooses a set for themselves. Some prefer brushes with artificial bristles. Natural wool, for example, goats, also has good reviews. Such brushes are popular in China.

Whichever brush you choose, it will take you some time to get used to it.

Drawing

If you are a beginner or have little experience, it is recommended to sketch the future painting with a pencil before starting work with watercolor.

I must say that some people prefer to work without a sketch, as sometimes pencil lines show through in the final picture. And some are just more comfortable.

But in cases where maximum similarity and detail is required, it is better to draw the base with a pencil.

Watercolor

When the pencil drawing is acceptable to you, you can begin to apply the first coat of watercolor paint. Use classic colors: blue, red, yellow, blue, brown.

The mixture of blue and gray colors works well for the background. If you need to depict a person in different positions, start applying paint from the head. And then, while the paint is drying, make the background.

Apply the first coat of paint to the rest of the drawing. When everything dries, proceed to the second layer. Remember that when the painting dries, it will look lighter as the part is absorbed into the paper.

Lastly, add shadows and deepen the features of the face. It is very important to be careful at this stage so as not to spoil all the work done.

Portrait painting tools

Now, using an example, we will analyze how to draw a portrait in watercolor.

To get started, prepare the following materials:

Pencil B or HB.
Watercolors in the following colors: Cadmium Orange, Natural Sienna, Cadmium Yellow, Cobalt Blue, Lamp Black, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Vermilion, Carmine, Ultramarine Blue or Violet, Gummigut, Natural Umber.
Brushes: medium, thin.

Drawing a portrait together

So, to draw a portrait in watercolor in stages, follow these recommendations.

Here is a portrait of a girl in watercolor. According to this principle, with a little practice, you can draw portraits even from nature or from memory.

How to paint flowers in watercolor

Flowers surround us all the time. They give us beauty and inspiration, delight our eyes, and bouquets of flowers are the perfect gift.

And the painted portraits of flowers in watercolor will become a wonderful decoration for your wall. The technique of drawing flowers is not much different from the portrait. It is advisable to make a sketch with a simple pencil, and then apply watercolors of the desired shades layer by layer.

Do not forget to do shading to give volume and depth to the image in the picture.

If you dream of learning how to paint a portrait in watercolor, but are afraid that you will not succeed, first put aside your fears and start reading this article. Here are simple and clear guidelines that will help you pick up your brushes and paints and start creating.

What materials will be needed

Before you start painting a portrait in watercolor, you will need to prepare the necessary materials for this:

preliminary work

2. Now we begin to paint a portrait in watercolor. And the first thing that will need to be done is to apply a light, transparent underpainting to the paper with paints. For the face, we dilute cadmium orange or ocher with water (the paint should be very watery, pale). We paint over the face with wide strokes, in place of the glare, the paper should remain untouched. Then we select other colors and brush through the hair and clothes, also leaving the lightest places untouched.

3. Now you need to do the eyes and lips. What eye color does your model have? Choose the right paint, dilute it with water to a pale state and paint over the iris of the eyes in the portrait. Do the same with the drawing of the lips.

4. We apply shadows on the face. To do this, we add a little burnt sienna to our diluted pale cadmium or ocher. Shadows at this stage should also be applied very lightly, not at full strength. In fact, they should only slightly differ in tone from the first paint layer. Please note that therefore you need to monitor the shades that are reflected on the skin of the model's face. For example, on the one hand, warm light from red curtains can fall on the face, glare from clothes of cold tones can be reflected on the chin, etc. This must be taken into account and try to display in the portrait using additional colors.

5. Next, we begin to understand the shadows more carefully. We are looking for the darkest places on the cheekbones, on the lips, on the sides and wings of the nose, near the hair, etc. It is with the help of shadows that the face is modeled, volume is given to it. Main principle in watercolor: always move from a lighter tone to a darker one.

6. We are looking for the lightest intermediate tones between shadow and light. On the face, where the light falls on it, there are also darker and lighter places. We follow the play of light and try to repeat it on paper.

7. We work with hair and clothes on the same principle as with the face.

8. On final stage When working on a portrait, you need to take the thinnest brush and use it to finish small details and lines: individual strands of hair, eyelashes, lip line. Always remember that when working with watercolor, even in the darkest places, the paint should remain transparent.

9. Work on the background is best done in parallel with the entire portrait, but you can leave this for later. The main thing is that the background should not be worked out more than the face, but negligence is also inappropriate here.

Conclusion

We hope you have learned in general terms how to paint a portrait in watercolor. Well, now it's up to practice, because only direct work with will give you self-confidence, as well as the necessary experience and skill. Creative success to you!

Learning to draw a portrait from a photo is better in black and white. Print the photo in black and white, it is advisable to print the photo in the size that you plan to make the drawing, but this is not necessary. After you have printed the photo, draw it into equal squares measuring 3x3 cm, try to draw with even parallel lines! Use a ruler.
Next, draw a sheet of paper or cardboard into squares of the same size, in case you want to draw a portrait of the same size as the original photo. If your format is larger (as in the photo), then draw the sheet into larger squares, for example 4x4 cm, but the number of squares must match. Next, number all the squares in the photo and on a blank sheet in the same order.

(to the first photo) We start to make a pencil sketch, here you will start using squares, do not try to redraw the whole picture in general. Look at each square as a separate picture and copy the main lines, the numbers will help you navigate the drawing.

It is best to work on a vertical inclined plane, for example, on an easel, but if this is not possible, then it is possible on a horizontal one, in which case try to move away from the drawing from time to time and look at it from afar, it is easier to see perspective errors.
At the sketch stage, you do not need to draw small details, pay attention to the main components of the drawing and copy them as accurately as possible. Work with an HB or 2HB medium hard pencil. Try not to stain the paper with numerous erasing of the pencil, then the paint will lie flat.
(to the second photo) Let's move on to working with paints. To work with acrylic, you do not need a lot of water, it is needed in the same amount as when working with gouache. Prepare brushes of different sizes, the wider the choice, the better, but even 2-3 brushes are enough. First, mark for yourself the darkest places and the lightest areas, paint over them, as shown in the figure. Next, start softening the transitions from white to black.

(to 3 photos) Carefully watch the change in hue in the photo and complement it, then work on the lips, eyes and nose with small brushes. Be patient, do not start drawing for more than an hour without a break. If you made a mistake and made the wrong stroke, then wait until the paint is completely dry and apply the desired layer on top, acrylic covers the previous tone well, even dark. When dry, acrylic remains the same color as when applied, it does not fade like gouache, keep this in mind when applying the tone. Do not overdo it with water otherwise the picture will “leak”. Acrylic washes off hands with water, but not very well, so try not to get too dirty.

If you dream of learning how to paint a portrait in watercolor, then put aside all fears and doubts and, using this step by step lesson drawing for beginners, boldly take the first steps towards the realization of this dream. Available recommendations with step-by-step photos will help you easily learn the basics of drawing a portrait of a girl with watercolors.

Tools and materials

To paint a portrait in watercolor, you will need the following materials:

watercolor paper;
pencil;
eraser;
watercolor;
brushes with a thickness from one to four (it is advisable to exclude the use of synthetic materials and give preference to natural ones: squirrel, pony);
a glass of water;
palette

How to Paint a Portrait in Watercolor: A Step by Step Guide

1. First you need to build a face with a pencil on paper. For convenience, it is best to take a photo from which to paint a portrait. In order to correctly perform the construction, it is necessary to measure the angle of inclination of the head, the height and width of the head, the ratio of the parts of the face in relation to each other.

When building, it is necessary to monitor the pressure of the pencil - the lines should be light, non-greasy. After the portrait is completed with a pencil, you should erase all the auxiliary lines that were used to build the face, leaving only the main lines - the outline of the eyes, nose, lips, hair, face oval.

2. The next stage of work will be the watercolor application of the initial "framework" of the color component of the portrait. First of all, it is necessary to register the darkest, as well as prominent places in the portrait to obtain volume, but you should not get carried away with any particular area of the face, you need to register the entire portrait with a thin layer of watercolor.

Advice! To apply large-scale shadows, you can use brushes numbered 2 and 3, for drawing small details (eyes, lips) it is better to take thin brushes - numbers 1 and 2.

At this stage of the development of the drawing, it is good to use the technique of applying spots, to register the entire portrait with local colors. To better see which shade you need to apply to a particular area of the face, you can slightly squint your eyes.

In this process of work, you can not blur the contours of the shadows, but you need to be careful not to darken the bright parts of the portrait. The first layer of watercolor should be thin. Watercolor must be well diluted with water.

3. After the first layer dries, you can do a more detailed drawing: apply a light layer of the background (brush number 4 is suitable for this) and fill in watercolor all the white places in the picture (hair, clothes).

Important! The final detailing is still far away, however, at this stage of work, watercolor should be applied more accurately and jewelryly than at the beginning of work.

Prescribing dark places, it is necessary to slightly blur the edges between the color spots with a damp brush, forming them into a single soft shade. This procedure is necessary to achieve a realistic image. For this study, a brush number 2 is suitable.

On a note! It is worth knowing an important rule that you should not prescribe dark places with pure black.

It may seem that black dominates in the darkest place, but you should not use this color in its pure form without first mixing it with another.

To understand what color you need to mix black with, you need to look at the photo, squinting your eyes. Also, so that this color is not too active, you can prescribe it in a thin layer, and cover it with another color on top.

4. The technique of writing in watercolor is a technique for gradually darkening a drawing by superimposing layers on top of each other. But it is worth remembering that a watercolor portrait should first of all be “airy”, so the main thing is not to get carried away in overlaying layers. The final detailing (drawing the eyes, mouth, hair) must be done at the end of the workflow.

Before the final detailing, for the effect of realism, you can slightly blur the edges of the contours of the face (eyebrows, lips) with a wet brush. The same technique is good to use for drawing hair, so that they look more realistic. The background can also be worked out at the final stage of writing a portrait.

Advice! In order for the background to turn out with a smooth transition (from dark to light), you should make a tonal stretch. To do this, you need to dilute the paint well with water.

Artist Victoria Lemtyugova shared artistic secrets on how to paint a portrait in watercolor with the readers of the Wings of Inspiration project.