Painting soft edges makes people more human.
Painting people is a challenge, but Canadian artist Patti Dyment offers techniques to help you make your portraits more lifelike. Faces are the first thing a newborn recognizes, she says, and older humans know instinctively when the features of a face or figure are not right. Draftsmanship is critical: You need to base your painting on a sketch of the person before adding skin tones and details.
Sketch a Shape Map
When creating an oil portrait of a person or people, Dyment suggests you begin by making a sketch of the main elements in your composition. Use a charcoal or oil paint to block in the broad shapes of the main figures, background and other major shapes. Add no details yet. Keep the shapes as simple as possible while reworking the sketch until the subject's head, hair and body are in the correct proportion to each other and to the background.
Color and Values
Fill in the large areas with color. Pay particular attention to the values and color. Paint the background, clothes and skin tones in real life hues, correcting the intensity of the color and the temperatures of cool and warm tones when necessary. Colors should be accurately dark or light to create depth and realism. Rework until the darks are dark enough and the lights bright. Once the color values are correct, you can add details.
Refine
Paint people with soft edges, says Dyment. Humans don't have hard edges or shapes in their form, so straight lines and distinct edges don't look realistic. Blend the edges of your subject's figure to create a portrait that looks alive and in motion. Use minimal detail and broad, simple shapes to create a lifelike portrait and allow the color values to create a realistic composition in broad, loose strokes.
Add Details
Details create the focal point, Dyment points out, so choose where you will add them carefully. Make one eye dominant by painting details like shadows and highlights in the eye and it will become the focal point of your portrait. Paint the other eye softer and looser so it doesn't compete. You can also make the smile the focal point by adding details of the muscles around the mouth stretching the lips. Sketch in details of laugh lines around the eyes to keep the face in proportion and create a portrait that looks real.
"If you block in the large shapes in accurate color and value you may be surprised at how little detail it takes to render a lifelike portrait," Dyment says.
