On a roll after painting Theresa yesterday, I painted another face. I was fortunate to have gotten the reference photo, taken in natural light, which is the most important consideration for a painted portrait. The smile is one of the most ubiquitous facial poses we see, but it is the hardest to paint. Smiles are…

Needing to get back to painting some portraits, I picked some of my favorite people to paint. When I start a portrait, it’s always scary because I don’t know it it’s going to turn out ok or not. I usually draw my subject more than once, to get to know the lines in their face.…

Once again I return to this method of painting a face. This is a portrait of my heart side, a man I recently became reacquainted with. This painting method is incredibly useful for learning a face. It helps me see midtones and shadow, and keeps me from painting with the left side of my brain.…