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Vibrant Portraits 🎨 Process Breakdown
🕑 Added 2024-07-25 08:39:12 +0000 UTCI know this looks different from my usual stylized work! I believe practicing various styles, esp more realistic ones, is crucial to keeping my skills sharp and versatile.
In this post, I'll quickly guide you through my color-focused process for painting a vibrant portrait:
Step 1: Initial Sketch
Start with a loose sketch to capture the basic proportions and shapes of the face using simple lines and geometric forms. I also try to roughly figure out where my primary shadow shapes will be.
Tip: Keep it light and loose; this is just the foundation.
Step 2: Blocking in Undertones
Beneath our lines, block in the undertones and establish primary shadow shapes. This sets the foundation for the overall color harmony. In this portrait, I wanted to play up the "olive" skin tones, so don't be afraid to really saturate here!
Tip: Use broad strokes to cover large areas and define shadow regions.
Step 3: Introducing Warm and Cool Tones
Branch off from the undertone colors, introducing warm blushes and cooler grays. For contrast, use a cool highlight against the warm "olive-y" skin tones.
Tip: Pay attention to how warm and cool tones interact to create a natural skin tone- The key to skin tones is controlling temperature!
Step 4: Blending and Refining
Carefully blend the colors and refine the edges to achieve a smooth, cohesive look. Pay attention to the smaller, subsequent forms as you render
Tip: Use smaller brushes for blending and refining edges to ensure a polished finish. I prefer to not over-soften my edges, else it can look too "digital"
I hope this was helpful, happy painting y'alls 🤙
