Painting faces in acrylics may seem intimidating, especially for novice painters. Most novice painters find it easier to work from a photograph than using a live model. Take some of the pressure off by approaching your first attempts at painting portraits as experiments in tones, textures and colors, rather than worrying about making the painting look like the photograph.
Instructions
1. Draw a picture of the face on paper. Then transfer the drawing to a canvas by putting a piece of carbon paper under the drawing and then tracing the drawing with a pencil.
2. Mix a base coat of acrylic paint to cover the entire canvas. This base coat should be flat, and darker than what the finished colors will be. Use one color to cover the face. For white, begin with a warm earth color, mixed from white and burnt sienna, about the same tone as a brown paper bag. For darker tones, increase the darkness from the white base accordingly. Apply the paint thinly, mixed with water or acrylic medium. Putting the paint on too thickly will obscure the lines of your drawing beneath the paint.
3. Mix paint for the dark tones of the face and paint those parts first. Use a mixture of titanium white and burnt sienna. These usually include the space beneath the brows, beneath the eyes, nose, bottom lip and chin. Use small brushstrokes.
4. Apply paint for the lighter tones next. Mix this color by mixing in the same color used for the dark tones into titanium white. Paint the skin past the hairline, then paint the hair last, to prevent any gaps between the hairline and the skin.
5. Apply paint for the highlights of the face after the light tones are complete. Use the same mixture as the light tones, mixed with small amounts of crimson, mixed with acrylic medium. These areas include the cheeks, lips, ears and around the eyes.
6. Mix white titanium and a small amount of red and blue for the whites of the eye. Mix black with a small amount of blue for the pupils of the eyes. Mix burnt sienna and titanium white for the iris of a brown eye. To create darker areas in the iris, add a touch of dark blue. Create a glint in the eye using a small amount of white, as light reflected on the eye.
7. Mix paint for the hair and eyebrows by using burnt sienna and titanium white, and a small amount of red for brown hair. Use black, with a small amount of blue and white, for black hair. Paint the hair in short, thin strokes. Then mix white with small amounts of the paint used in the hair color, with a very thin brush, to add highlights to the hair, where it reflects the light.
