3DTotal - Portraiture - Painting Portraits From Photographs PDF

3DTOTAL.
COM eBooks Series

Male Self-Portrait Female Child
Chapter 01 | Page 04 Chapter 02 | Page 12 Chapter 03 | Page 26
Mike Lim (Daarken) Nykolai Aleksander Richard Tilbury
Male Caricature Female Self-Portrait Female Caricature
Chapter 04 | Page 32 Chapter 05 | Page 42 Chapter 06 | Page 50
Jason Seiler Charlie Bowater Guillermo Ramirez
MALE SELF-PORTRAIT
Chapter 01 | Mike Lim (Daarken)
Portraiture Chapter 01: Male Self-Portrait
shadow shapes on their face, so if you are using face and for the shadows I can just block in
Portraiture - Chapter 01: a camera be sure to turn the flash off. The last large shadow shapes. Since I am doing this
Male Self-Portrait thing you want is a subject that is all blown out. digitally I can just open my reference in
Software used: Photoshop Photoshop and paint next to it. I would avoid
Finding willing subjects to sit for you or allow color picking from the photo because you want
Gathering Reference you to take their photo can be tricky sometimes, to train your eye to see colors, plus color picking
The first thing I do when painting a portrait is but you always have yourself available as a from photos can be deceiving because if you
to gather my reference. Even for concept work model. May I also suggest that you leave self- zoom in really close on a photo you can see
I try and find some type of reference, be it portraits out of your portfolio and only use them that there are many other colors that you can’t
costume ideas, texture swatches, inspiration for for practice. The last thing a client wants to see see zoomed out. You may also want to change
the color palette, just anything that will get my when looking through your portfolio is your face some of the colors, depending on what you are
mind rolling. Getting the right type of reference staring back at them! going for in terms of mood and style.
is extremely important if your goal is to paint

someone’s likeness. You may think you know The Line Drawing The trick to painting a likeness is all in the
what someone looks like, but do you know every In a previous tutorial I explained how to paint a structure of the face. The little details aren’t
nuance well enough to paint them from your male portrait from memory using large shapes as important as the overall head shape and
memory? Most likely not. I suggest painting from and silhouettes, but in this tutorial I am going structure. If you can get someone’s brow right,
life when at all possible. Painting from a photo to start off using line. In school they taught us or their eye socket shape right, you are well
can flatten out the forms and cause distortion how to paint portraits in oil by first laying out all on your way to painting a good likeness. If you
from the lens. When you have a live subject of the major landmarks in line. If I were doing squint your eyes you can focus more on the
you can see exactly how the light interacts with this in oils I would first draw out the structure large shapes instead of the details.
the planes of their face. That being said, I am using burnt umber that was thinned out with
going to paint my portrait from a photo! Make turpentine. I only really need to worry about When I look at my photo, I am looking for the
sure that your subject has some interesting drawing in the details for the light side of the large shadow areas and the shape they create
www.3dtotal.com page 5 Chapter 01

Chapter 01: Male Self-Portrait Portraiture
(Fig.01). Typically when I start drawing a 3/4
view I will start with the brow of the far eye and
work my way up the forehead. I can then come
down and block in the large shadow shape
for the eye socket and the large shadow area
under the cheek on the left side of the face (the
viewer’s right side). There is a large area of
shadow under the nose, so I can knock that out
in a few large strokes as well.
Right now I am using a rectangular Chalk brush

at 100% Opacity. The way I change my Opacity
is by how hard I press on the tablet. To do this
go to Window > Brushes and make sure to click
the box next to Other Dynamics. Under other
dynamics make sure you have Opacity Jitter set
to Pen Pressure. I like using the Chalk brush
because it has a little bit of texture and it acts eye (Fig.02). If you noticed, I am just blocking in There are also some general rules that you
more like an actual paint brush, allowing you to the large overall shape and not all of the details should be aware of when painting a face.
knock in the various planes. When I say “planes” inside the shape. Like the eyes, I don’t have the Generally there is one eye width between the
I mean direction changes in the form. eyeball detailed out or the iris, only the general eyes; the corner of the eye starts at the edge of
outside shape. Try to be as accurate as possible the wing of the nostril; the corners of the mouth
Once I have the large shadow shapes in place when painting these shapes. Really look at the line up to the middle of the eye, and so on.
I can go in and start blocking in the details, like model and try to understand what the forms are These are good rules, but they are not always
the shape of the nostril and the shape of the doing. true. I know from painting previous self-portraits

that my eyes are actually 1.5 eye widths

apart. Also, be sure to check the angles of the
individual features (Fig.03). Hold your pencil
up and measure the angle of the eyes, or the
angle of the mouth. Don’t worry too much if your
painting doesn’t look exactly like your subject,
it will come together as you begin to add color
and value.
Tricks of the Trade

Working digitally has a lot of perks that you
should be sure to take advantage of. The Undo
button is your friend, although some might
beg to differ. Some argue that having an Undo
button so readily available causes artists to wrapping around the form as much as I had find it by going to Edit > Copy Merged. Now,
become lazy or it might cause them to lose their hoped, so using the Warp tool to wrap them with your selection still selected, hit Paste (Ctrl +
edge. Sure, not being able to undo causes a around the form a little more is a quick and easy V for PCs or Command + V for Macs). This will
person to become more vigilant in their choices solution. Don’t think that this is a perfect solution paste all of the merged layers into a new layer
and their drawing/painting ability, but it all comes though; you can only warp something so much that you can modify. Using the Move tool I can
down to the end result. Is your illustration better until it starts to look weird. move my ear down. If you just want to make
because you were a purist and never erased minor changes use the arrow keys to move your
anything, or is your illustration stronger because Once you have things close to where you want selection.
you recognized your errors and you corrected them, you can go in and fix your mistakes
them? I am sure that subject will be debated manually. My ear is a little too high compared Behold! Color!
until the end of time. to the photo (Fig.05). Since I have my drawing The single most asked question I receive is how
on several different layers, I need to find a way do I add color to a black and white painting. First
There are also several tools that will allow you to to move them. Doing a Copy Merged will merge of all I would like to dispel the belief that adding
fix your mistakes without having to repaint large all of the visible layers in your selection and spit color in Photoshop is achieved by a simple click
areas. The Warp tool allows you to warp areas them out in one nice, happy layer. Just select of a button. Sure you can add color using a
by pushing and pulling dots that are situated in the area you want to move with the Marquee color layer or an overlay layer, but chances are
a 3x3 grid, almost as if you were modifying a tool and then hit Ctrl + Shift + C, for PCs, or it won’t look very good. Usually I start by adding
3D object (Fig.04). Some of my features aren’t Command + Shift + C, for Macs. You can also color through the use of a color or overlay

layer, but then I build the color up using several wanted the face to pop, so I decide to make This will bring up a number of choices, but we
different layer modes, color balance, and levels the background more blue/green. You’ll notice are going to select Color Balance. The great
(Fig.06 – 07). Once that is achieved you have that I’m using the background color to carve thing about adjustment layers is that they don’t
a good starting point, but not an ending point. in on the face. As I paint I do a lot of push and actually change your painting, so if you don’t like
After you have the base colors established you pull with the paint, the same way I would if I the changes you can just delete them and your
will need to go in and paint opaquely on top was using oils. The shirt and neck aren’t as painting will be back to normal.
of everything the old fashioned way (Fig.08). important, so I make the background get darker
I throw down big specular highlights on the towards the bottom in order to pull the focus to Chip Away
forehead just so that I can gauge my value the face. The face is a little on the green side, The basic structure and color palette has been
range and make sure that my other lights aren’t so I want to change that by using an adjustment established, so all we need to do now is to refine
brighter than that highlight. I’ll go in later and layer (Fig.10–11). On your layer palette click on the painting, one step at a time (Fig.12). Using
make it even brighter as well as push the darks the half black half white circle near the bottom. the Liquify tool and the Warp tool I can pull the
so that my painting pops a little more.
In the reference picture you can see a lot of

bluish light on the left side of the photo. That
light is coming from the computer monitor. After
playing around with adding the blue light in the
painting, I decide against it and go with a more
traditional look. If you are using a reference
don’t be a slave to the reference, know when to
deviate or when to stick to the reference.
Right now I am trying to stay pretty loose with

my brush strokes. I won’t add little details until
the very end. I also stay zoomed out so that I
can see the entire painting. This allows me to
see how each element relates to another and
also helps me avoid getting bogged down in
the details. Since the face already has a lot of
yellows and oranges, I didn’t want to keep the
background a brownish color (Fig.09). I really

eye sockets and nose out a little bit since they
seem like they are pinched in a little too much.
I also rotate the ear counter clockwise and the
mouth clockwise. For the facial hair I use a
Speckle brush instead of painting in each hair by
hand. Don’t go too overboard with specialized
brushes because they can end up looking “too
digital” or they can make repeating patterns.
Usually I will add facial hair on a separate layer
so that I can go back in and erase out parts that
repeat too much.
Flipping your image often will help you

recognize your errors more easily and give you
a new perspective on your painting (Fig.13).
Taking regular breaks can also give your eyes My image is also looking a little fuzzy, so I think you like. Comparing my painting to the reference
a rest so that when you come back you can see I will sharpen it up a little. Make sure that you I can tell that the angle of the cheeks is wrong.
things that need to be fixed. I have mine bound have your entire image on one layer. If you The angle of the bottom of the nose is a little off
to Command + F. To make your own shortcut don’t, just select the entire canvas by hitting too.
you can go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. Click Ctrl + A (or Command + A) and then do a Copy
the arrow next to image and then scroll down to Merged (Ctrl + Shift + C or Command + Shift + Most of the time I only use the default Round
Rotate Canvas > Flip Canvas Horizontal. You C) and Paste (Ctrl + V or Command + V). Now brush, so sometimes my paintings can look a
can then enter your own shortcut and hit Accept go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. You can little “digital” and clean. Whenever possible I
and then Ok. play with the settings until you get something try to use custom brushes to add in little hints

of texture here and there (Fig.14 – 15). You

can also add texture overlays over the entire
image. Grab a texture you like and add a new
layer. Paste that texture into the new layer so
that it fills the entire canvas. Next change the
Layer Mode to Soft Light and drop the Opacity
down to 30%. You don’t want to overdo the
texture because it will defeat the purpose and
make your painting look fake. My value range
isn’t quite what I want, so I add a Color Dodge
layer and paint into it using a dark gray. Using having to repaint anything. It is a great tool upper class woman, you might want to make
a neutral color will preserve the colors of your for concept artists that need to make changes her look a little more elegant by lengthening her
painting. Also, don’t pick a gray that is too light, quickly (Fig.16 – 17). Select the area you want neck. Again, it just depends on what you are
otherwise you will blow out your painting. to change and then go to Filter > Liquify. The trying achieve with your painting. I guess that
far eye is too small, so instead of using the sometimes when working on a self-portrait you
The Liquify tool is an awesome tool that will Transform tool I can use the Liquify tool to feel the need to cheat a little and take off a few
let you change your painting quickly without make a more seamless change. Once you hit pounds or edit out some wrinkles. Don’t fall into
Liquify there will be a number of new icons on the trap, make it fat!
the left side of the screen. The one we want is
the fifth one down. It will allow you to increase Poke a Stick in it
the size of things. Once I have that selected I The hardest part is knowing when you are done.
can change the brush size using the Brush Size If you feel that you’ve accomplished everything
option to the right. All I have to do is tap down that you set out to do and you are happy with
on my tablet to increase the size of the eye. the result, don’t stop, because you still have 5%
Once I have the changes I want I just click Ok. more to go. Step away again and come back to
it later. I can almost guarantee that you will find
Make it Fat something you will want to fix or change when
After coming back to the image I can see you come back to it. When I came back to mine
that the face and neck look way too skinny I noticed that the mouth was too far forward and
compared to the reference (Fig.18). In order to the colors were not where I wanted them to be.
“fatten” up the face I flatten the image, select I added more blues, reds and purples since the
everything, and then hit Ctrl + T (Command + T) skin tones were still a little too yellow/green. I
to transform it. I then pull the side handle bar out only put two hours into this painting, but I felt
and boom, instant fatness added. For the neck that it was in a place that I felt comfortable with
I just paint it in the old fashioned way and add calling it finished (Fig.19 – 20).
in a little bit of a bluish rim light on the back of
the neck. Another important aspect of painting I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned a
a portrait is knowing when to exaggerate or pull thing or two about painting portraits. Thanks!
back certain features. If you were painting an

Mike Lim (Daarken)
For more from this artist visit:
http://daarken.com/
Or contact them at:
daarkenart@daarken.com
Intro Text
FEMALE
Chapter 02 | Nykolai Aleksander
Portraiture Chapter 02: Female
Portraiture - Chapter 02:
Female
Software used: Photoshop
The skill of portrait painting is about as old as

painting itself. Humans have always loved to do
portraits and document in pictures what they see
around them. And it’s no different today, only
now we have lots of gadgets and technology to
help us capture what we see before committing
it to canvas, so to speak.
Painting a portrait from a photo (or life, for that

matter) has, first and foremost, nothing to do
with art. It’s a mechanical skill. It’s eye-hand
coordination, translating what you see in front of
you through your brush onto a surface of your
choice. If done well, it becomes an art form,
and if you add your own interpretation, it can
become art.
That said this workshop will look at the Eyeballing your photo you may want to either reduce the
fundamental basics of painting a portrait from As the name suggests, we can simply sketch canvas size to match the photos dimensions, or
a photo. I chose fellow artist Beste Erel (http:// out the composition by eye (on a new layer), increase the size of your photo, so the grid really
lllaurore.deviantart.com) for this, and the frequently looking at the photo reference to will be the same in both. It goes without saying
particular photo I’ll be using as reference is make sure we get the likeness right, or at least that for the sketch, you add a new layer.
perfect for what I would like to go into. Also, the proportions of the key features within the
I felt it’s from an interesting enough angle to face. Measuring has been known to help with Tracing
keep me, and hopefully you too, challenged and this. Some refer to this as “freehand” sketching, The magic word that thou shalt not utter lest you
hooked. but others use that term when there are no want to incite the wrath of various groups of fine
references involved at all, so it‘s a bit of a toss- artists out there, who believe that even using
As always, I’ll be working with Photoshop CS up what it actually means. It is good practice to a reference is sacrilege. Thankfully, they will
(still haven’t upgraded… my bad) and a Wacom do this on a regular basis to train yourself and not be reading this tutorial. Tracing is another
Intuos 4. keep your hand-eye coordination sharp. one of those very old methods of getting stuff
done. In the traditional art world, people use
Let’s Paint! The Grid projectors or light boxes to achieve this. Back
We have our photo (Fig.01), and we have a A great little tool used by old masters and new in the days of the Renaissance candles would
new canvas open in Photoshop. Now there are artists alike. It’s said to have helped Rembrandt be placed so they threw a shadow outline onto
several ways to begin with a portrait like this: figure out depth and proportions, and can be the canvas, or the preliminary sketch for a piece
seen in various Da Vinci sketches as well, was perforated along the lines with a fine needle
mainly to help with perspective. The best thing and then the paper was placed on the canvas
is that it’s really easy to do! All you need to do is and covered in fine charcoal dust, which would
place a grid layer over the photo and the same go through the holes and stick to the canvas.
grid over your empty canvas, and off you go -
using the grid as a guide for feature placement In the digital world, you just need to drag the
(Fig.02). If your canvas is much bigger than photo onto your canvas, transform its size to

Chapter 02: Female Portraiture
reference, as I find it’s a more intuitive way of Of course, you could just use the colors exactly
working, rather than a precise one. But that’s as you see them in the photo, but that isn’t
just me. always such a good idea - like in this case. Also,
choosing your own color palette will stop the
Whichever method you use, it doesn’t matter, work from being a direct “photocopy”, which in
because when it comes to painting, one thing most cases is rather boring to do anyway and
still holds true: if you don’t know how to paint, pointless too, unless it’s for practice.
don’t know about light and shadows, colors and
form, it really makes no difference how you get Filling the background of the canvas with a
the sketch done, or how perfect the line art is, greyish green that I actually picked off the
however big you want it to be on the canvas and you can still screw up the painting. background of the photo, I start to choose the
reduce its opacity by half. Then you add a new main colors I want to use. I already know what
layer and trace the photo. Once done, remove So, with the sketch done let’s start painting! I want to do with Beste, and feel that for now a
the photo from the canvas and you’ll be left with limited palette of mostly muted dark and cool
a line drawing. I like to start in color right away. Some tones will be a nice base to start with (Fig.03).
people prefer doing a value painting first then The reason I like to start off with such muted
No Sketch overlaying it with colors later, but it boggles colors is because it’s easier to make them pop
Of course, you can ditch the idea of a line my mind and when I try it, it always comes out later through various means than to mute fully
sketch altogether and start straight with color, looking really dull and flat. Choosing the right saturated colors without losing depth. And as
starting with blocks of it and almost sculpting the colors is important, as they will set the mood as you can see, I’ve also adjusted the composition
features with paint as you go along. I personally well as compliment (or clash with) your subject. of the sketch slightly.
find this method easier when I don’t have a

Adding a new layer under the sketch, I start by
blocking in everything with a Hard Round brush,
with Opacity at Pen Pressure. I tend to play with
the colors in that I use very little pressure as
well as manually adjusting the Opacity, and thus
apply paint thinly layer by layer. It would be the
digital version of what’s known as glazing. The
color variations you get by doing that are usually
very interesting (vid.01).
Once I’m happy with the first approach, I decide

to duplicate the layer I’ve been painting on to
get a slightly more solid look and then merge the
two layers (Fig.04).
I continue as before, same brush, same

settings, to refine the features a little more. I
found the Smudge tool does the trick when
blending and smoothing the colors, when used
with a speckled or otherwise rough-edged or
irregular shaped brush tip, with Strength Jitter
set to Pen Pressure, Angle Jitter to 50% and Now comes the part where you just keep may have missed before or even leave the work
Scattering to around 30%. This prevents it from refining and refining and refining, while keeping alone for a day. You‘ll see I‘m working on the
being smeary, and adds a very subtle texture one eye on the photo reference to make sure hair a little bit as well, and at this point I just use
in places. At this point I can already reduce the you get it right. Sometimes it helps to flip the the same standard Hard Round brush for this as
opacity of the sketch layer, too (Fig.05). canvas (and the photo) to see things that you I am using for the face (Fig.06a – 06b).

Having pulled the face off the canvas a little brush (my favorite rectangular one) adds instant depending on what gives me the best results.
more, I have a better idea of what I want to do texture (Fig.07). As I want to see what the whole image would
in the background. More often than not with look like if adjusted, I duplicate and flatten it,
portraits, they don’t need elaborate background Before I continue refining the details of the then do some test adjustments. Once I like one,
scenes. Some simple shadows and highlights face, I want to pop the colors a little. At this I apply the same adjustments to the canvas that
tend to do the trick, as this keeps the focus stage, I tend to do that using Levels, Variations I’m actually working on, one level at a time. Here
nicely on the person depicted. Using a custom or Curves, or a combination of the three, I’ve used Levels as well as Variations to up the
contrast and adjust the colors slightly (Fig.08).
Next up, I mainly smooth out the hair base and

shoulder area, again using the Standard Round
brush and Smudge tool. The background gets
a bit more attention too, this time with a custom
brush that’s somewhere between speckled and
blobby (Fig.09).
At this point, the portrait looks decent, but way

too smooth, which is due to the Smudge tool
usage. Some people like it like that, and that’s
cool. I don’t, so this is not so cool. For me, this
is just the perfect base to work from.
Before I continue refining things, I’m going to

take a big rough custom brush, add a new layer
and go wild with random brush strokes. The
reason for the rough edged brush is it will add
some very subtle texture into the mix (Fig.10a).

You will see that I’ve mainly used the warm

darker colors, and there’s a reason for this: it will
bring life into her face without losing the green
and blue tints. Once satisfied with the mess, I
set the layer to Softlight (and adjust the Opacity
if needed or add some more color), then merge enough that constantly looking at the reference face a plastic look that - unless you’re designing
the layer with the portrait layer (Fig.10b). will reduce the chance of mistakes happening; a Barbie Doll - you may want to try and avoid.
after all, you are painting a real person, and You may be able to see single hairs in the
And from here it’s back to refining things still you’ll want the person to look like themselves. photo, and of course in real life, but in a painted
using the Round brush with the same settings portrait what works well is creating the illusion of
as before, though when needed I switch the I often see eyebrows and eyelashes painted far hair (vid.02 & Fig.11a).
Size Jitter to Pen Pressure. I cannot stress too precisely, hair by hair. This tends to give a

For the lashes I add a new layer, as that gives
me more freedom to erase bits and soften them
as needed with the Smudge tool. And don’t be
scared of stray lashes! They add realism to the
whole. Once happy with it all, I merge the layers
with the portrait layer (Fig.11b).
Time to move on to the lips and nose now. They

don’t need that much refining, but I’ve noticed
a few flaws that I want to iron out. You’d be
surprised how some small details really change
the look of a person (or their expression, for that
matter), so paying close attention to this can be
very beneficial.
In this case, I just work a bit more on the texture

and volume of the lips, still using the Round
brush as before (Fig.12a – 12b).
Happy with the face for now, I review the

general composition and decide that she
needs more space, namely to the right. And
I do like the fact that the shoulder is cut off in
the reference on the left, so I’m going to do
the same. Grabbing the Crop tool, I am going
to kill two birds with one stone: cropping the will automatically only let you go as far as the want, in and outwards (Fig.13b). This process
part on the left, and extending the canvas to canvas edges (Fig.13a). Once you have that, saves you the time of having to use Image >
the right. When first applying the Crop tool, it you can adjust the crop on whichever side you Canvas Size in the main menu. The final crop

will use your current background color to fill the
new space you’ve just created (Fig.13c).
Obviously, the background has to be adjusted
now, so I do that first. I fix the hair a little,
erasing some of it on the left (Fig.14) and then
have a look at the shoulders.
Something about the shoulder area still bothers

me, probably because most of the definition
that would be there, such as collar bones and
neck, is hidden by the hair. Now, I don’t want to
change the hair in any way, as I think it’s one
of the lovely things about the reference photo
- it frames her face beautifully. So I’m going to
change her top and get rid of most of the skin
that is still visible, while filling in the gap that was
left by the cropping at the same time. At this
point I also decide to pop the colors some more Right, the hair. Again, here is a part of a portrait
by adjusting the levels and adding another, that many people seem to struggle with; they
stronger shade of green to the background either paint the hair too washy and blurred, or
(Fig.15). far too detailed, hair by hair. Now, if you look at
the reference picture, you can see how her hair

is in bundles or strands and there’s only a very
few stray single hairs floating about. And that is
what we’ll mimic in the painting.
As I’ve already painted the base of the hair, I

can instantly concentrate on getting some more
detail into it. The easiest way to go about doing
that is using a speckled brush with Opacity
and Flow set to Pen Pressure, and Size Jitter
switched off. Adding a new layer, I pick one of
the lighter colors from the hair that I’ve already
painted and set about adding the blotchy mass
that is going to be the hair, blending it ever so
slightly with the Smudge tool here and there
(Fig.16a).
I continue to add some more definition with a

speckled brush on yet another layer, but reduce
the Opacity and Flow manually as well as

leaving it set to Pen Pressure (Fig.16b). The I just keep at it, working on finer and finer Once that is done, I can look at the skin texture.
layers get merged quite frequently and new sections of the area I selected to refine, This is the really fun part, because the effect
ones added, but that’s just how I work. If you while the other parts of the hair get less you can achieve with some simple texturing
prefer to keep all the layers separate, that’s fine attention, though I am still working on them is amazing. Female faces generally seem a
too. Just keep an eye on the file size, as it can too. Sometimes you can get some really nice
increase quite dramatically if you keep adding effects by duplicating a layer, moving it a bit
new layers without merging any of the previous and setting it to Color, Overlay or Softlight. Also,
ones. don’t worry about it if you draw a hair “out of
line” - hair has kinks and curls and generally
Now that the basic hair-do is laid down, I can flies off sometimes. Having those irregularities
start to really refine some areas. I don’t want to in it makes it look more realistic than a perfectly
go into detail all over, just around the part of the ordered hair-do (Fig.16d).
hair that’s obscuring part of her face, as well as
the small braid. I’m still using a speckled brush Happy with the hair, I go back to the face for a
at this point, with settings as before, but a much few last touch ups. I feel the lips need a bit more
smaller size, as well as another custom rough work, so I set about detailing them with a small
edged brush with Size, Opacity and Flow Jitter Round brush, with Size Jitter and Opacity set
set to Pen Pressure, and Angle Jitter at 25%. to Pen Pressure and Hardness to about 50%.
I also employ the Smudge tool quite a bit to Of course, I also use the Smudge tool with the
soften up some of the strands, giving the illusion same settings as before to blend, but sparingly
of soft flowing hair (Fig.16c). (Fig.17).

lot smoother than male faces, due to a smaller pore size and the use of
make-up, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have any texture at all. It
just should be a lot more subtle than if you were painting a male portrait.
Beste told me she likes freckles, even though she doesn’t have any, which
is great, because that gives me some additional texture to work with. First
though, just the normal skin texture.
The various brushes I will be using range from several speckled ones to
a custom photo texture brush that I’ve had so long that I don’t remember
what the original photo was of, but it most definitely was some kind of
stone, probably marble (Fig.18). If you wonder why I would rather use that
than one of the many “skin textures” that are out there, it’s quite simple:
they may work for 3D characters, but I find that actual skin texture makes
painted skin look even faker. But that’s just me.
Adding a new layer for each texture, I select the brush and make sure
all Pen Pressure settings are switched off, while the Angle Jitter is set to it where needed, or apply the Gaussian Blur filter. It’s the same procedure
something like 50% - this will ensure that the texture is even all over in for each texture layer - sometimes more, sometimes less - until it looks
intensity to begin with, but doesn’t look repetitive. I apply the texture all right to me (vid.03 & Fig.19a - 19i).
over the face, and then erase the areas that wouldn’t have any, such as
the eyes and nostrils, and a little on the lips too. Then I set the layer either The last thing I do in any painting is some targeted softened edges, or
to Softlight or Overlay and reduce the Opacity as needed. I use the Eraser additional lighting - in this case particularly around the hair on the right.
to remove some more of the texture in places, and the Blur tool to soften I add a new layer, pick the color from the background and using a large

Soft Round brush gently paint over the edge layer to Overlay or Softlight to get some nice settings for this obviously gives you different
of the hair (Fig.20). For additional lighting (if color popping effects. Playing around with this results.
needed) you do the same thing, but set the is usually best, as using different colors and

And that’s pretty much it. All I do now is adjust the background contrast
to my liking (usually with levels), then flatten the image and adjust it some
more with Levels and Variations, cropping and adding more additional
lighting layers if needed, which of course will be flattened too.
Done!
In Closing
Portraits like these are fun to do, because you can take them as far as
you want to take them, and change everything or nothing at all. It’s in
your hands. Fact is, people love having their portrait painted because it
is slightly more special than just having a photo taken, and it provides
good practice to keep your observational skills sharp, no matter if you’re a
beginner or not.
So, grab some photos of your friends and family and get going! (Fig.21).

Nykolai Aleksander
http://www.admemento.com/
Or contact them at:
x@admemento.com
Intro Text
CHILD
Chapter 03 | Richard Tilbury
Portraiture Chapter 03: Child
Child
Introduction
This tutorial required a portrait to be painted
using a photo as a reference and so the first
decision that needed to be made concerned
the subject. I decided to paint my son Gabriel
and so picked up the camera and tried my
best to persuade him to sit still while I took a
few pictures. I photographed him from different
angles in order to get a variation in the lighting
and in the end opted to use the photo seen here
in Fig.01.
I also photographed him from the opposite side,

but most of his face was in direct light and so did
not look quite as good as this angle where there
was a more interesting play of light and shadow.
I liked this particular photo compared to the
others partly because of the light, but mainly
because of his expression which looked
strangely melancholic; probably caused in no
small part by my asking him to sit still for what
seemed like an endless period of time! Anyway
after taking a series of photos and some
consideration I went for this one and could get
on with the painting.
Blocking In
When it comes to digital painting the canvas
proportions are not crucial as you can always
extend the frame later or alternatively trim
it, which is a luxury unavailable to traditional
painting without re-stretching. I opted for a a mess on the background to get rid of the white quickly pick the light, mid and darker tones
traditional portrait ratio and then began to make void. I always keep the character separate from whilst roughing in the general tones. You could,
the background so that I can experiment with in fact, use the photo directly to establish your
the color schemes independently. I used an palette, but it will not be good practice for your
array of brushes when blocking in, which ranged eye and so I prefer to do it the old fashioned
from the standard Hard Round brushes to Chalk way; after all we do not want an identical copy.
ones that incorporated a Dual brush.
Whilst working on the initial stages I like to
Fig.02 shows two details which use different reduce the size of the canvas so that I get a
brushes alongside a color palette in the top good overall impression of the painting and am
left corner. I created this palette so that I could not carried away with detailing. Fig.03 shows

Chapter 03: Child Portraiture
the typical view of my workspace with both the In the middle stage you can see that I have may still look wrong if the eyes were missing.
photo and the canvas at about the size I use to provisionally added in a value for the white These are what I think of as the foundations and
begin with. area of the eyes. I have also blocked in the from here I usually begin the process of building
highlight catching the lower eyelid together and refining the painting.
Fig.04 shows the progress from the initial block with the shadow around the eye socket. This
in through to putting in the features. I find it is intermediate stage is used to sketch in the eyes, Adjusting and Refining the
always good practice to work on the image as nose and lips so that I have a clearer idea about Features
a whole and develop each area of the canvas the overall proportions and their relationships. The background looked a little too messy and so
at a similar pace. This way it is easier to see If any part of a portrait is wrong it will have an I made this look more uniform first of all. I then
which areas may be wrong or need alteration. I impact on the whole face and how we perceive copied the eyes onto a new layer and used the
could see at this point that the proportions were it and so it is important to balance everything Transform tool to re-position them and change
inaccurate, but I find it is much better to have carefully. You can see in the final stage that all the scale.Fig.05 shows the modified version on
something on the canvas. After all it is easier to the features are now in place and how much the right with some guidelines to better show the
change something when it is in front of you as more successful the image reads as a result. I changes. The angle of the eyes has changed as
opposed to existing purely in your head. During find it far easier to see where something may well as the relationship between the left eye and
this phase I used the color palette to block in be wrong if all of the components are in place. If the nose.
the volumes and get a sense of the light in the you were to paint a perfect mouth and nose they
photograph.
I find the best way of tackling any painting that is

based on “real world” observation is to establish
early on the key areas of dark and light. In this
case there is a distinct shape created through
the face and hair that marks the boundary
between the highlights and shadows (see red
lines).
I often squint my eyes and try and get a

simplified view of what I am looking at, as
this encourages a keener focus on the main
structure and proportion of the subject as
opposed to any details.

The thing to remember about portraits is that
the smallest of changes can have a seemingly
big impact on both the likeness and expression.
I noticed that the right eye looked too small
compared to the near one (left image in Fig.06)
and so I used the Edit > Transform > Scale tool
to address this. I also saw that the mouth shape
was wrong, with too much shadow between the
lips and no curvature to the upper lip.
There are two main ways I change things in

a painting and one is by copying and pasting
selections and then using Transform tools, such
as Scale and Rotate, before blending these
back in using the Eraser and some brushwork.
The other method is by way of the Warp tool,
which is equally useful but I advise doing this on
a duplicate layer because if you are not careful
you can end up with some obvious distortion.
So far I have been adjusting just the features of

the face as these are the more crucial elements
but the hair and shoulders needed to catch up a to add some definition. Most of the hair is in this and the highlights required some finer detail.
little. I created a new layer temporarily and then, shadow when looking at the photo and so can Fig.07 shows the image beforehand (left) and
using a finer brush, painted in some strokes be broadly blocked in, but the transition between the result of this additional layer.

Chapter 03: Child Portraiture
This is generally the pattern I followed from
here on in; creating new layers for additional
refinements and detail, and then flattening
everything once I was happy. Fig.08 shows one
such version with a smoother transition between
the light and dark tones.
You will also notice that I have altered the

background, which remains as a separate layer.
I kept a darker area to the right-hand side and a
lighter band behind the head in order to create a
contrast and play of light against dark. To reflect
the warmer tones of the face and hair I also
added in some reddish tones to help balance
the portrait with the background. You will hear many artists say how valuable it is Another aspect which was not wholly accurate
to flip their canvas horizontally from time to time was the width of the hair and neck, which looked
Final Stages in order to reveal any problems that they feel are too big. Using the Warp tool I pulled in the left
In some ways I could have stopped the painting there but cannot detect. I am no different in this edge, which made the neck look more slender
here, but there were still a few improvements respect and do this frequently throughout the and the area of hair somewhat smaller. Fig.11
that could be made. Fig.09 shows a more process. In Fig.10 you can see in the right-hand shows the portrait beforehand (left) alongside
refined version of the t-shirt, although this could version that I have scaled up the left eye slightly, the result of this subtle transformation.
have been left, which often lends a fresher which looked wrong once I flipped the canvas.
quality to a painting as well as giving the viewer This almost concluded the portrait barring a soft
a better glimpse into the processes. Perhaps One thing to be aware of is that a camera is highlight below the nose and a slight tilt of the
more significant is the change to the angle of the liable to distort a person due to the lens and lips. Here is the final version which I hope has
chin, which is now sharper, and the shape of the so when painting from this type of reference done my son justice (Fig.12).
right pupil and lens, which has a more elliptical you may need to adjust proportions in order
shape. The nose has also been modified slightly to account for this. I think in the end that you Richard Tilbury
with a more defined change of angle as it slopes may need to balance what you see with what For more from this artist visit:
up towards the forehead. All of these changes you know and use a little artistic license if you http://www.richardtilburyart.com
are indeed modest, but collectively create an feel the painting does not look right. Or contact them at:
important difference to the overall portrait. rich@3dtotal.com


MALE CARICATURE
Chapter 04 | Jason Seiler
Portraiture Chapter 04: Male Caricature
Male Caricature
Introduction
I have done many tutorials and step-by-step
guides on creating and painting caricatures, and
each time I share a different technique of how
this is done. This may frustrate some, but I do
not have a set way or formula that I stick with.
The same things are important each time, like
shape, likeness, and values, but the approach
may differ. In the end what matters is the final
piece.
The Painting
As a subject for this tutorial I chose my friend
Ben, who is the owner of Deluxe Tattoo in
Chicago. He has a great face and I thought he
would be perfect for this demonstration. When
I start a caricature of someone, one of the first
things I do is make sure that I have more than
just one reference picture to work from. I went to
Ben’s shop and took about fifteen or so pictures
of him, from various views and angles. This
gives me a solid idea of what his head looks like
in 3D. I also have a few skulls that hang out with
me in my studio. My favorite skull to sketch with
is a small skull that fits comfortably in my left
hand as I draw. I bought it at AnatomyTools.com
for those of you interested. I don’t always draw
caricatures or portraits while holding a skull, but of what lies beneath the skin and muscles. When starting this piece, I first thought I would
every once in a while it really comes in handy. So having a small skull that you can hold and do a finished line sketch similar to the style and
It is important when sketching a caricature that tilt with one hand while you sketch is a real look of a sketch I recently did of my friend Brian
you understand the structure and foundation advantage. (Fig.01). But as I began sketching I felt it would
be more interesting to show how I draw and
paint caricatures under the tight deadlines that I
have to deal with on a weekly basis.
To get warmed up, I decided to draw a few

quick thumbnail sketches, as seen in Fig.02.
These sketches were done in two to five
minutes each, with the exception of the sketch
on the far right. The purpose for these quick
doodles is to familiarize myself with my subject.
Sometimes it is a challenge to put down the

Chapter 04: Male Caricature Portraiture
exaggerations and shapes that I see in my head
with a drawing or sketch done only with line, as
was the case with this caricature. When under a
quick deadline I don’t usually spend much time
sketching the accuracy of the features. Instead
I put down a basic shape, and merely suggest
where the features will go. Then I begin to block
in the shapes with broad brush strokes. I cover
ground much faster this way and can easily
make adjustments whilst I paint.
But before I get into that, let me explain what

I look for when starting a caricature. First ask
yourself, what is the shape of your subject’s
head? For example, Ben’s head seems to have
the shape of an upside down egg. Next I’ll ask
myself, where is the weight on Ben’s face?
Meaning, does he have a higher forehead which
would mean that the weight is in his forehead?
Or does he have a smaller forehead and a
larger chin? In this case, I decided that the
weight on Ben’s face is in his forehead. In fact,
he doesn’t have much of a chin at all. If you look
at Fig.03, you will see that I created a rectangle
which goes around Ben’s head. I then put in a
few horizontal lines, first starting with the top of
his head, then with one going through his eyes,
another just beneath his nose, one through his
mouth, another under his mouth, and the last
under his chin. This diagram shows the head
divided in a way that will help make your choice
of exaggeration easier, and help distinguish
the relationships between the features. This look at Fig.03 you will see that Ben has quite but the space where the nose lies is quite long.
isn’t something that I normally do; eventually a big forehead, mostly due to the fact that he Also, if you look at the space from the bottom of
caricaturing will become natural and you will has a receding hairline. Notice how there isn’t a his lip to the bottom of his chin, you will see that
begin to draw and exaggerate with feeling. If you big distance between the nose and the mouth, he doesn’t have much of a chin at all.
For another example of this I took a picture of

myself and did a ten minute sketch, see Fig.04.
Similar to Ben, I too have quite a big forehead.
But you will also notice a few differences, such
as a shorter nose, and the space between my
nose and mouth is slightly less than that of
Ben’s. The space from my bottom lip to chin is
greater than the space between Ben’s lip and
chin. Understanding these relationships will give
you a good place to exaggerate from.

Going back to Fig.03, after establishing where to I believe there are three things that are the you achieve greater likeness as well as the
put the weight and placement of features, I now most important to get right in order to create humor that is necessary in a caricature. After
question the shape and size of the features in a strong and accurate likeness. Head shape, all, caricaturing is exaggerating the truth, or
relation to one another. For example, how close eyes, and the mouth. If any of these are wrong, understanding the truth of what you are seeing
are the eyes, are they small, sunken, or are they the caricature’s likeness will no doubt suffer in your subject and then pushing it further.
large? What shape are the eyes, what shape is greatly. I mainly focus on the eyes and mouth.
the nose? Are the nostrils large or small, do they If you get the eyes wrong you can kiss your Back to creating my caricature of Ben, if you
have large or small wings? Does the subject likeness goodbye, and the mouth is just as take a look at Fig.05 – 06 you will see the
have creases or wrinkles on their face, and if important. Think about it like this. When you gradual steps that I saved while blocking in
so what kind of shapes are they creating? Don’t talk with a friend or watch someone on T.V., with a round paintbrush. After sketching the
forget about the ears – how big are the ears in where do you look? I know that I look at the thumbnails, I realized that I wasn’t capturing
relation to the nose and the rest of the face? person’s eyes quite a bit and when they talk I what I was seeing in my head, so I decided to
What shape are the ears? Take a look at Ben’s watch their mouth. What is fun though with both move things along by painting in shade and
ear in comparison to my own. You can see just the eyes and the mouth is that they both can be values rather than spending more time drawing
how different ears are from one person to the used to enhance expression and character. By with line. I use this time to establish my values,
next. accurately exaggerating the eyes and mouth using black, white, and a couple of lighter grays

that fall in between. I set my brush to 90% flow
and 90% - 100% opacity. At this stage I am
only using a round brush, and only painting with
larger brushes. There is no need to use smaller
brushes or to zoom in for that matter – don’t get
caught up with details until later on. As I have
decided to draw with large paint strokes rather
than thin lines, it means I can capture both
drawing and values all at the same time which
saves time. At this point I am still painting all
in one layer. I usually create a new layer for a
small palette of values that I select from while
painting. Once I have enough values painted
into my painting I won’t need the palette, and I
delete the layer. To select my values from this
point on I use ones that already exist within my
painting, and if I have to make any adjustments I
make them in the color picker.
If you look at the progression of my value

painting in Fig.05 – 06, you will notice that I
made a lot of changes to structure as well as
the placement of Ben’s features. My first feeling
was to give Ben a much larger forehead, but as
I painted I began to realize that I was neglecting
the size and unique qualities of his nose. To
fix that I quickly painted the eyes higher on the
head and extended the length of the nose. It’s
not that Ben’s forehead isn’t important, but as I
developed the shapes I realized that it was his
nose that needed more attention. You may find
it helpful to create a list showing the order of chin. Once you have the main idea of how your look for the darkest darks and the lightest lights.
importance. In Ben’s case the list would be as subject’s face works, you can then decide how Once I have those established, I block in a few
follows: larger nose that takes up most the face, far you would like to push the exaggeration. For mid tones. You can see that my last version
large forehead, small mouth, and basically no this demonstration my purpose wasn’t to make of Ben in Fig.06 is still very basic; there are no
fun of Ben, but instead capture his essence. So real details, only suggested detail. The face and
I decided to exaggerate less. For further options values are close enough to move onto the next
of exaggeration, I did a three minute doodle of a stage: painting and finishing in color. The time
more exaggerated Ben (Fig.07). that I have spent so far on these first steps is
about thirty minutes.
Values are the lightness or darkness of a
color, rather than the actual color itself, and By this stage (Fig.08) I have prepared a rough
at this stage of the painting I am preparing black and white value painting, with enough
a foundation of values to build off of once I values and structure to move on to the color.
begin using color. When blocking in my values To begin painting in color I create a new layer
I slightly close my eyes, blurring my sight so above my value painting, and fill it with an
that the detail of what I am looking at is softer. I orange-like brown, specifically 20% cyan, 66%

magenta, 67% yellow, and 1% black. I choose
this color randomly, depending on how I’m
feeling at the time. My reference pictures felt a
little cool in temperature and I wanted a warmer
painting. Next, I change that layer mode from
Normal to Color. Now the orange-like brown is
transparent, changing my black and white image
into a monochromatic block-in. Next, I extend
the left side of my painting, to create a palette
and area to mix and create my colors. A lot of
what I do is by feeling, and I know that the most
important thing to get right is the values. It’s
been said that if the values are right, you can
pretty much paint with any colors that you want.
To create my palette I select the flesh-like colors
that were created by layering the orange-like
brown over my value painting. Next I select a
few more colors that I feel I will need for the
painting, like reds and greens as well as black. It
is important that the colors I choose harmonize
with one another. For example, I won’t choose a
bright red; instead I’ll pick a red that shares the
same values and tones as are seen in Fig.08,
and likewise with any other color I choose.
Next I create a new layer (Fig.09a) and fill it with

75% gray. I then go into my filters and select
Add Noise. After this I select Blur More, set the Photoshop brush. Years ago my friend Bobby
layer to Soft Light and bring the opacity down Chiu at Imaginism Studios created a really nice
to 26%. There is no set way of doing this; you texture that can be used with any brush that has
will have to mess with these settings to get the the same texture as real paint. I don’t know how
look you desire. The reason I do this is to give to create brushes, so Bobby was nice enough
my digital painting a slight texture that helps it to share this texture with me. So occasionally
feel less digital and more traditional as this is I will add this texture to brush #24 to give my
the look that I prefer to achieve. Without this digital painting a texture like that of a traditional
Noise layer the painting would still look nice, painting. I adjust the levels of opacity to my
but it would look too slick for my taste. This isn’t liking. Sometimes I want a lot more texture,
something that I do on all of my paintings, but other times, just hints of it (Fig.09b). I also use
I would say that I do it on most of them, some another brush quite a bit, and to tell you the
with more noise, and others with just a touch. truth, I don’t even know where this brush came
After this I create another layer that is placed from. It is similar to brush #24, but a bit more
above the orange-like brown layer and under brush like, I call this brush “my favorite brush”.
the Noise layer. This is the layer that I will begin You can see in Fig.09a that I have begun to
to paint on. Up to this point I have been using block in the painting quite a bit in comparison to
a round brush, but at this stage of the painting, Fig.08, mostly using my favorite brush with a bit
I begin to use brush #24, which is a standard of paint texture added.

At this stage I am still squinting my eyes quite important areas of the skull to keep in mind as needed. You can see by comparing Fig.10 to
a bit and focusing on the values, but I am also I paint, such as the Superciliary crest (or brow Fig.11 that I began to mess around with his
concentrating on color temperature. I prefer ridge), Temporal line, Zygomatic process of the shoulders, and in Fig.11 I have now started to
to keep it simple, so I quickly block in a cooler frontal bone, the Zygomatic bone, the Orbits, work on his eyes using a smaller brush. It is
gray-like green into the background. and of course, the Nasal bone. If you don’t important to note that I have not yet zoomed
understand what I am talking about, I suggest in to detail the eyes they are still more of a
As I do this I purposely let some of the red from you invest in a few human anatomy books, suggestion than anything else.
the background show through here and there; because I find it very important to understand
this helps the painting feel more traditional than what it is that you are painting. In Fig.12 I decided to increase the size of the
digital. My colors at this stage are basic browns canvas size and add more space around Ben’s
and flesh-like colors to cool and warm where I continue the same process of adjusting the head, adjusting the composition as well. I also
it is needed. At this time I also start to define face in Fig.10 – 11, adding more layers of felt that Ben’s forehead could use a bit more
the features and structure of his face. I locate paint, and making adjustments where they are work as well. This brings us to Fig.13 – 14.

There are not many things that change between

these images, but you can see that I continue to
draw and adjust the structure and likeness while
trying to mix accurate values and color. Also in
Fig.14 I start to detail and develop Ben’s eyes
(Fig.14a – c).
Up to this point I have only used large brushes

and have painted from a distance. To paint
the eyes I zoom in and begin to use smaller
brushes, but my technique hasn’t changed at
all, the only difference is that I have to now slow
things down a bit in order to focus on the details
of the eyes. This is the part of the painting look, instead I wanted to end up with an image there are all sorts of soft edges, and a lot of
where you need to be patient. I can easily spend that looks realistic yet painterly. I enjoy brush subtle changes in color and value? In the photo
a couple hours just painting eyes, but for this work and work hard to create brush strokes that reference in Fig.14b, you can see that there is
painting I wasn’t interested in a photo realistic are pleasing to the eye. You may notice that a variety of colors. Don’t let this overwhelm you.
To simplify I again squint my eyes and as the
photo blurs, the colors unify and pull together.
Those are the colors and values that I focus on.
Continuing on to Fig.15, you will notice that I

develop the areas around the eyes a bit more
but also begin to work on the nose, mouth,
and ear. I don’t stay in one particular area for
more than a few minutes or so. Rather than
just finishing one of the features, such as the
nose or mouth, I prefer to move back and forth
between the features. This way I can see how
the painting is coming together as a whole. This
is important as you don’t want to overwork one
area over another.

Moving on to Fig.16a, I no longer have a need every single pore and crease, I merely make freckles on, and then randomly paint in freckles
for the palette of colors that I created on the suggestions. This is the fun step, painting hair. of all sizes and shapes. Once I am finished, I
left side of the painting. From this point on, I I love painting hair; there is always an select the Eraser tool and lightly pass it over the
will use the Eye Drop tool and eye drop colors opportunity to add humor and character just freckles until they are softened into the skin. I
that already exist within the painting, and adjust in how you paint the hair. For the majority of felt that his hair still needed a little more work,
the values by going to the color picker. You will the steps, you will notice that the hair and so I created another layer for hair and repeated
notice that I have begun to add details such as facial hair were solid shapes of color. I always the steps I mentioned for Fig.17, adding more
pores in Ben’s nose (Fig.16b). wait until the end of a painting to add details hair to the back of his neck as well as to his
such as pores and little hairs. I start detailing beard and neck. Once the painting is in a place
For this I switch back to a soft round brush. only when I am happy with my colors and the where I feel it is finished, I like to zoom out so
Remember, my intention isn’t to create a photo values, and when the eyes, nose, mouth and that I can see the painting from a distance and
realistic painting, but instead a painting that ears are finished. To paint the hair, I created see how it looks at a smaller size. I will also flip
feels and looks more like a traditional painting. a new layer above my main layer and switch the painting horizontally as well as vertically to
So instead of getting in there and painting to a soft round brush. I make sure that Shape see if anything strange catches my eye. After
Dynamics is clicked on giving my brush a point. my approval, I sign the painting and call it a day.
After selecting the colors that I want to use for
the hair, I begin painting in small hairs on top I am so honored to have been asked to do this
of what I have already blocked in. After I put step-by-step. I do not consider myself to be a
a layer of this down, I select the Blur tool and master of anything; instead I think of myself as a
set it to about 20% and then lightly pass it over student for life. I will continue to work hard and
the layer of hairs. I then select the Eraser tool, to push myself to learn new and better ways
turn opacity to at least 50%, and make a light to create my art. It has been a passion of mine
pass over the hairs. What this does is soften ever since I can remember, and I hope that what
the hairs slightly and push them back a bit into I have shared here will inspire and re-fuel your
the painting. Repeat this process a few times to passion for art, whether you are interested in
create depth (Fig.17). caricature or not.
To bring my painting of Ben to a close, I make Jason Seiler

a new layer and set it to Multiply (Fig.18). I For more from this artist visit:
continue to use a soft round brush, but click off http://www.jasonseiler.com/
the Shape Dynamics option. To create freckles, Or contact them at:
I eye drop the color of skin that I will paint the jseiler@jpusa.org

FEMALE SELF-PORTRAIT
Chapter 05 | Charlie Bowater
Portraiture Chapter 05: Female Self-Portrait
Female Self-Portrait
Reference
When tasked with painting from a photograph
I’m opting for a self portrait. It’s always better
to paint from life as and when you can, forms
can become a little distorted in a photograph
sometimes. However, it’s not always possible
or convenient to have people sit for you and
photographs are certainly a great aid. I’ve
tried to pick an interesting photograph, there’s
something about this that doesn’t quite look like
me but I love the strong light source enough to
pick it anyway! (Fig.01).
(You can create straight lines simply by holding round brush. So that’s what I’m using, a basic
Sketch down shift during a brush stroke). After that I’m hard round standard brush that comes with
I don’t always start out with a sketch, but when roughly sketching the rest by eye. You can use Photoshop (Fig.04).
painting from a photograph (and a self portrait grid methods if you feel more comfortable with
no less) it helps to be a little more accurate. them, but personally I try not to get too wrapped Base Colors
Sometimes I begin by just blocking in basic up in perfecting a very basic sketch. It’s looking When it comes to choosing your colors whilst
shapes and forms, in this instance however, pretty bloody ugly at this stage, but the basics painting from a photograph, I think it’s best
I’m starting with a very simple guide. are covered so I can move onto coloring! to avoid using the color picker. Photographs
can become very pixelated and the colors
This is Brushes can be distorted, randomly picking a color
to help measure out where the main features There is an absolute plethora of different custom won’t give you a true representation of tones,
should be, eyes, nose, mouth etc, and it’s just a brushes available in every corner of the internet especially with skin for example! So use your
layer of lines positioned over the main features, and whilst some of them are great, I’ve always own judgement and try and get as close to a
then duplicated (Fig.02 – 03). thought you just can’t go wrong with a basic tone as you can, it doesn’t matter at all if it’s not
completely spot on.
Throughout the process of this image I’ll be

adding in so many different colors it won’t matter
by the end. The next step is to addin some
very basic tones on a normal layer below the
sketch (the sketch itself is set to multiply which
essentially makes it transparent) (Fig.05).
From this point onwards, everything is painted

above the sketch and base colors. My paintings
are always flattened eventually so I don’t get
too cluttered up with layers. A lot of the time
however, I will paint new sections on a new
layer. I’m not a purist! If I screw something up,
it’s not too much of a disaster.

Chapter 05: Female Self-Portrait Portraiture
As for working with or without lots of layers, it’s
a personal choice, just go for whatever you’re
more comfortable with. I’m starting to block in
some very crude highlights at this point to help
bring out the form of the face (Fig.06).
Try not to worry if your painting doesn’t look

very much like your subject at this point, it’s
a very early stage and things definitely come
together better later on. Right now, everything
looks pretty messy, the stokes are very visible
and blotchy, but it’s really just about finding the
right colors and form, try not to get too wrapped
up in making anything perfectly smooth at this
point.
Colors
One of the questions I get asked an awful lot,
is how do I ‘know’ what colors to pick. In all
honestly I don’t know, I just try and pay attention
to my surroundings and pick colors that seem
right. Working from a photograph gives me
a good guide and is easier than going from
intuition. 90% of the time however, chances are
I won’t be completely happy with the color I’ve
chosen and I’ll end up changing it anyway. The
color palette at the beginning of a painting and
the end result are two very different things. So, if
you’re not happy with your color choices to start
with, don’t freak out. Photoshop is your friend
and certainly has it perks (Fig.07 – 08).
One tool which is pretty much invaluable to me

is color balance. I normally make a duplicate of
the entire painting and then tweak the colors if
I’m not happy, which is all the time. It comes in
very handy if you want to make very slight or
very drastic color changes to a painting. It also
really helps to unify the colors if things aren’t
quite matching up (Fig.09).

You’ll probably notice the tones of my painting

gradually change throughout a painting.
Sometimes I’ll hop back and forth deciding on
the right tones, I’m very indecisive like that!
Chipping Away
Once I have base colors and light sources
established, I spend the rest of my time just
chipping away at the details and carrying on
with that until everything is refined. During this
process I rarely stay on one section for too long,
I hop between different features just to make
sure I don’t get too bored working on the same
section for too long. It also helps to come back
to sections later you’ll notice more mistakes that
way. It’s also apparent that the painting has a
much smoother look now. It was quite blotchy to
begin with but things have gradually smoothed
out through the process of refining the painting
(Fig.10 – 12).
Layer Modes
Throughout a painting, I end up using a mixture
of a couple of different layer types. They’re
predominately Normal and Overlay. I obviously
don’t need to explain normal, but overlay comes
in very handy. It’s a great way of really ramping
up the contrast in this instance. My photographic
reference has a very strong light source.
So I’m throwing in some overlay layers
throughout the painting. I’m painting in a much The opacity of the layer varies a lot for me, gently add in a brighter tone to highlight
brighter skin tone on the right side of the face, depending on what looks best. Experiment with the structure of the face a little more, cheek,
applying more of the same tone but on an layers every now and then and see what looks brow bone etc. I’m using a light green because
Overlay layer. This really helps to bring out the good! (Fig.13 – 14). Overlay can create very saturated colors. If I’d
contrast and the glow caused by the sunlight. It chosen a skin tone, the end result would be
also helps to add to that very bright red / orange The darker side of the face is still looking a little bright orange. Green won’t cause this affect
you can see when skin comes into contact with flat compared to the sunlit side. To counter and generally works very well in skin tones too
sunlight. this I’m going to use another Overlay layer and (Fig.15).

Flip!
Another way of keeping on top of too many
slip ups is to regularly flip your image. Working
from a photograph means I know which way
my image will end up, but it’s still very useful
to flip things every hour or so.
Mistakes always stick out once flipped, so it’s

much easier to fix them throughout, rather than
reaching the end of painting and realizing it
looks awful flipped the other way!
(Image > image rotation > flip canvas horizontal)
(Fig.16).
Blending
I’m pretty sure the one question I’m asked
the most, is how I blend. I always struggle to together, in my opinion that approach paint strokes and they will naturally blend.
answer because I never ’actively blend’ two completely sucks the life out of a painting, it If you are struggling, try using a brush with a
colors together. My way of blending is gradually ends up looking very muddy, so don’t worry if softer edge. Although I wouldn’t suggest using
layering up color, stroke after stroke in various things look a little rough, just keep going! Pick airbrushes (personal choice!) a brush without
tones until they’re almost seamless (Fig.17). a tone that bridges and compliments the colors hard edges may help with the blend. It might
I’d never recommend trying to blur colors you’re trying to bring together, keep dabbing on also come in handy to lower the opacity of your

brush a little. Sometimes 100% opacity can

be too much. Whilst I don’t generally alter my
opacity from 100% at any time, it’s more about
finding your own way of working and what
produces the best results.
Hair
Still using the same basic round brush, block in
the basic shape of the hair. Then, in the same
manner as everything else, start building up the
lighter tones. I try not to paint hair as a group
of individual hairs entirely, but rather paint it in
sections and try to emphasize the way that hair
naturally falls and groups together. Then I add
in individual hairs just to add to that wispy effect
(Fig.18 – 20).
I add in another Overlay layer in a light brown gradual process for me and also very enjoyable,
which gives the hair a nice glow on the side I love details! This is basically cleaning
being lit by the sun. After that it’s a process of everything up.
rinse and repeat. Just keep adding in sections,
highlights and some individual strands until For me refining the details means cleaning up
things start to come together. the lines, such as the jaw line against the dark
color of the hair. I can also at this point focus a
Final Touches / Details lot more on adding details to the eye, eyebrow,
Adding final touches is something that takes nose and lips etc. I’m still using the same brush,
up a major portion of my painting process. It’s just at a much smaller size. I usually zoom in
also something that, in my case, isn’t done in considerably when working on details. Obviously
the ‘final’ stages. Refining details is something it’s far clearer and much easier when cleaning
that I do throughout an entire painting, it’s a very up the details (Fig.21 – 22)

Alterations
You might notice that certain details are not the
same as my reference. One change in particular
is the hair. It was literally a mess! I wasn’t too
keen on painting it like that so use your artistic
license. If you think something will look better
another way then paint it like that! It’s only a
reference at the end of the day, not a script you
need to stick to. Here you can see further
refining has taken place (Fig.23 – 24).
You can see the close up detail in Fig.25 – 26.

The painting is pretty much done at this point.
I’ve cropped the image a little and tried to add
in some brighter colors, pinks and blues to bring
out the blue eyes and the pinkish tones in the
skin. I don’t need to tell you that isn’t based on
the photo reference, but I’m just going with what
I like.
I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and if you

managed to learn anything along the way,
excellent. Above all remember to have fun
and be creative! (Fig.27).
Charlie Bowater
http://charlie140588.deviantart.com
Or contact them at:
charliebowater@hotmail.com


Intro Text
FEMALE CARICATURE
Chapter 06 | Guillermo Ramírez
Portraiture Chapter 06: Female Caricature
Female Caricature
Sketch
Normally I start by drawing forms (without
detailing facial features) that resemble the
characteristic shape of the face that we’re
going to caricaturize. Later I draw these forms,
concentrating more on the three dimensional
shape of the features we are going to
accentuate. It is important to emphasize the
most obvious features without losing the three-
dimensional structure (Fig.01).
Base Color
It is time to begin to color the picture. To do
this we make a new layer above the layer we
sketched. Set this new layer to Multiply mode

(Fig.02). The colors that we are going to use in
this phase are all neutral colors, which basically
means the colors of each area without the lights
and the shadows added. Use a Large brush to
do this and make it a little blurred. Later we will
configure a brush to use to paint the light and
shade, but for now simply fill each area (Fig.03).
Shades
Before adding the shade we need to configure
our brush. Select the brush that appears in Fig.
04 and set it in the following way. In Brush Tip
Shape the Spacing must be 1% and Shape
Dynamics has to be activated with Size Jitter
to 0%, controlled by Pen Pressure and the
Minimum Diameter should be 70%. Also other
Dynamics has to be activated with Opacity
Jitter to 0% controlled by Pen Pressure and
activate the Smoothing. Set the Flow of the
brush to 45% and the Hardness to 50-70%. If
you have selected the brush in Fig.04a you will
only have to change the Spacing, the Flow and
the Hardness. As soon as the brush is formed
create a layer under the sketch. The layer of the
sketch has to be in Multiply mode to allow you
to see the shadow. To do the shadows choose

Chapter 06: Female Caricature Portraiture
a dark color from the photo reference that you
started off with (always have this photo nearby
- Fig.04b). There is no need to go into detail
because later we will paint over all of this. This
is only a guide (Fig.05).
Light
Create a new layer above the base colors layer
where you should paint the areas of light. The
way to paint the lights is the same as in the
previous step. The color that I’m using is a pure
white, and little by little you can add light to the
caricature. Don’t worry about how it is going, as
this is not at all the final result (Fig.06).
Colors Palette in Fig.07. Clearly in our image there are more You will quickly see how the caricature changes
Now we are going to select the colors that we tones than these few, but for now it’s ok. when you paint it using natural colors.
will paint our caricature with. I usually half-close
the eyes whilst looking at the photo to see the Wide Strokes As I said before, there are colors that we don’t
main colors, shade, midtone, light and sheens. In a new layer below the palette start adding have in our palette. For example, the eyes have
In a new layer that is placed above everything, wide strokes. Don’t use the zoom for the time a lot of similar colors that make look real, so we
paint small samples of the tones of each of the being; you can go into detail later. Paint from will select those colors in the photo (Fig.08).
elements of our image. You can see my layers dark to light trying to imitate your photograph.

Portraiture Chapter 06: Female Caricature
the mouth be careful to start from the mouth out Start with the darkest colors of the hair, painting
to the lips, as it is easier and cleaner than if you in wide strokes, and then move on to the lighter
paint the lips first and then the mouth interior. colors. Lower the diameter of the brush little by
little so that it makes the hair look natural. When
Teeth reflect a lot of light, so you have to take we have done this you can paint random hairs
this into account when painting. In the case of to get a more realistic look.
this photo we have two light sources of different
colors and the lips, which give a pink tint to the Now define the background a little and add
teeth (Fig.10). the finishing touches while looking for errors.
For example, in this case I decided to slightly
Detailing the Eyes change the eyes and cheekbones using
When you have done this detail the eyes. As the Liquify tool. This helps us with small
Detailing the Nose when we made the mouth, paint the eyes from adjustments. We would have to redo the area if
Now that we have a color sketch, it is the time the inside out. The eyeball is a bit like a crystal the error was bigger. When you have done the
to start adding details. Zoom into the area you ball - try to show that effect with reflections and last adjustments the work is finished and you
are focusing on to paint it in detail. I usually start sheens. just need to sign it (Fig.13).
with the nose, and begin to paint following the
guidelines of the lights and shadows painted in Also at this point you can move on to the I hope you liked this tutorial!
the previous step. cheeks, forehead and eyebrows that had been
sketched out. When it comes to doing the
You can even add the pores on the nose to eyelashes, create a new layer just above the
give the caricature a realistic appearance. I layer you have been working on. This way you
recommend using the keyboard shortcuts to can make the lashes without worrying about
increase and decrease the diameter of the spoiling the rest. Lower the minimum diameter
brush. Up to this point we have worked with of the brush to 0% and start from the eyelid out,
wide brush strokes; that is because if we started pressing the pen on the base and painting out
to detail from the beginning, we risked losing the towards the end of the eyelash (Fig.11). Then
union of the elements and our caricature would finish the neck and shoulders in the same way
be divided into parts, losing realism (Fig.09). we’ve done everything else (Fig.12).
Detailing the Mouth Hair and Finishing Touches

After completing the nose, I would then suggest To do the hair, create a new layer above the
moving on the mouth. Refining this feature adds eyelashes layer to work comfortably. This time
a lot of realism to the caricature. When painting lower the Minimal Diameter of the brush to 10%.

Guillermo Ramírez
http://grdrawings.blogspot.com/
Or contact them at:
guillermoramirez_@hotmail.com
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COM eBooks Series

is extremely important if your goal is to paint

www.3dtotal.com page 5 Chapter 01

Right now I am using a rectangular Chalk brush

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that my eyes are actually 1.5 eye widths

Tricks of the Trade

www.3dtotal.com page 7 Chapter 01

In the reference picture you can see a lot of

Right now I am trying to stay pretty loose with

www.3dtotal.com page 8 Chapter 01

Flipping your image often will help you

www.3dtotal.com page 9 Chapter 01

of texture here and there (Fig.14 – 15). You

www.3dtotal.com page 10 Chapter 01

The skill of portrait painting is about as old as

Painting a portrait from a photo (or life, for that

www.3dtotal.com page 13 Chapter 02

find this method easier when I don’t have a

www.3dtotal.com page 14 Chapter 02

Once I’m happy with the first approach, I decide

I continue as before, same brush, same

www.3dtotal.com page 15 Chapter 02

Next up, I mainly smooth out the hair base and

At this point, the portrait looks decent, but way

Before I continue refining things, I’m going to

www.3dtotal.com page 16 Chapter 02

You will see that I’ve mainly used the warm

www.3dtotal.com page 17 Chapter 02

Time to move on to the lips and nose now. They

In this case, I just work a bit more on the texture

Happy with the face for now, I review the

www.3dtotal.com page 18 Chapter 02

Something about the shoulder area still bothers

the reference picture, you can see how her hair

As I’ve already painted the base of the hair, I

I continue to add some more definition with a

www.3dtotal.com page 19 Chapter 02

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www.3dtotal.com page 21 Chapter 02

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I also photographed him from the opposite side,

www.3dtotal.com page 27 Chapter 03

I find the best way of tackling any painting that is

I often squint my eyes and try and get a

www.3dtotal.com page 28 Chapter 03

There are two main ways I change things in

So far I have been adjusting just the features of

www.3dtotal.com page 29 Chapter 03

You will also notice that I have altered the

www.3dtotal.com page 30 Chapter 03

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To get warmed up, I decided to draw a few

www.3dtotal.com page 33 Chapter 04

But before I get into that, let me explain what

For another example of this I took a picture of

www.3dtotal.com page 34 Chapter 04

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If you look at the progression of my value

www.3dtotal.com page 36 Chapter 04

Next I create a new layer (Fig.09a) and fill it with