Bestselling artist and writer Hazel Soan presents a concise and approachable guide to portrait painting, with simple exercises and step-by-step demonstrations.
Whether you are using watercolour, oils or acrylic, Lean to Paint Portraits Quickly explains the key elements of catching a likeness in portrait painting in a mixture of mediums. The book is filled with easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step exercises that can be digested in a short period of time, and written in an accessible way for all artists to learn about portraiture.
This concise book begins with Catching a Likeness: how much accuracy is needed and what to look for in the features of your sitter, it then moves on to Composing a Portrait: painting from Life or from Photo, measurements between features and considering background and lighting. Next comes Head and Shoulders: how to construct basic anatomy while considering the angles, expression and creases of the face. In Facial Features, Hazel deconstructs the portrait and explains how to approach painting each individual feature before exploring the rest of the figure in Full Body Portraits. Finally, Hazel looks at the nuances of painting children, groups and animals.
Illustrated with Hazel's magnificent, colourful paintings, and with exercises and demonstrations throughout, this book is the perfect way to master how to paint portraits - quickly.