Portrait
A good portrait captures a likeness and a presence. Likeness comes mostly from accurate big shapes and proportions, not from detailed eyelashes.
Step by step
- Light your sitter with one main light from the side and above — classic 'Rembrandt lighting' produces a small triangle of light on the shadowed cheek.
- Block in the head shape, the eye line and the features using the proportions from the Head and Face lesson, then measure what makes this person different.
- Map the big shadow shapes — eye sockets, side plane of the nose, under the lower lip, under the chin.
- Mix skin tones with the recipes in the Colour track; note that faces are often warmer and redder around the cheeks, nose and ears.
- Keep edges soft where the form turns gently and sharper where planes meet or where you want focus — usually around the eyes.
- Stop before you overwork it. Leave some areas suggested.
Common mistakes
- Drawing features as symbols instead of shapes.
- Copying a photo's distortion from a close-range phone lens.
- Making every edge equally sharp.
Practice exercise
Paint ten 20-minute self-portraits in a mirror over two weeks, each with a different lighting setup.