Royal-FamilyHow to paint realistic portraits in oil Hello my name is John Allsopp; I’m a super realist painter. Realist is the term given to an Artist who works to produce a near to photographic quality. My intention in this article is to explain some of the secrets about how I paint in realistic fashion. Portrait ArtistPlease remember like every other skill you know about, realism in Art is no exception to the rule of practice. Practice and patience at the end of the day is dedication to your philosophical goal, keep trying new ways to achieve the style of painting you wish to achieve and within time you will perfect your own style of Art.Painting famous peolplePainting famous well know people, needs care and attention to minute detail, after all you are trying to capture someone who is well known, your portrait needs to be recognized immediately.Any realistic type Art needs this instant recognition, realism is alive and well in other artistic subjects including that of wild life, landscape and Seascape painting. Photographic imageMy art is to produce as near a photographic image of my subject, so it will come as no surprise to you when I tell you that I use a good clear photograph of the subject to work from.Many pictures are available on the Internet which are free of charge, if I have a particular idea for a painting, I use photographic libraries to obtain a quality picture, and a 10 x 8 inch photograph is my preferred size. Glass slidesPictures can be bought traditionally printed on photographic paper or as slides that you would use in a projector.I buy glass slides; they are the best to use if you use my method of art creation. My glass slide is placed on a projector, many art suppliers sell these. I use glass because they do not curl or distort the way a plastic slide would, I have plenty of experience of using plastic, and I can now say that glass is much better, they are a little more expensive than plastic, but their properties are much superior. Art projectorsMy glass slide is placed on the projection part of the projector. You can use many different types of material to capture the image, many people use linen canvas which is my preferred material. Art paper can be used too.If you are creating murals for a Childs bedroom the image is simply projected onto the wall where you wish the art to be created. Using a projected imageI simply trace around the projected image with a good quality art pencil, this gives me the outline for my painting.You could buy a large photograph and use tracing paper to produce your painting with this method. Using a projected image allows your painting to be larger than the slide or photograph, however you do maintain perspective this way and it is a good training method for your artistic intentions. There is no magic involved herePractice tracing small area’s of your work, concentrate on an eye or an ear if you are doing a portrait. Do a small part of a boat if your work is nautical or the tail of an aircraft if you prefer aviation scenes.There is no magic involved here, it simply boils down to practice, be patient and you will become proficient at realism, it takes time and effort like everything else in life, try to keep moving forward. Color matchingColor is applied after you have a good realistic traced picture and you are satisfied with the outline.Color matching is crucial to painting, but like the creation of the outline it can be learned it just needs practice and a little determination on your behalf. Color matching tools are available from good art suppliers, they consist of a lens and an area where you apply some paint, which you have mixed to match the area on your painting. The lens has a split image, by pointing the tool at the projected image and by looking at the applied paint you can see if the match is good. DeterminationIf you see the paint you mixed is too dark, apply some white to lighten it.Conversely if it is too light add a little darker color can be applied. Believe me this is great fun and very educational, I got there and there is no reason why you can’t, it just takes time and patience and a little determination to succeed. Blended paintFacial color tone, painting hair is an acquired skill.There are many excellent books under the Art section of libraries in your Town or browse the internet, to help you learn how to build up color to match someone’s face. Painting hair needs several layers of blended paint to represent the tone correctly. A small brush is then used to create detail. Helps your education.Before long you will progress from using projected images, to being able to draw with the aid of a grid placed on top of your picture, this gives an added sense of scale which all helps your education.You can try measuring a part of your picture with a ruler; scale that measurement by increasing or decreasing it to produce different perspective in your art. Realistic paintings.There are many other methods employed in producing realistic paintings.I hope you have enjoyed reading about my preferred method; my intention was to indicate just one of the many ways artists use to produce artwork. Books on the subject are easily sought with a little research. One never knows where your creations will end up; you may have a number of collectors who will buy your work from all corners of the globe. The British Royal family are recognised all over the World. Prince William, is Marrying soon, this is my tribute to him. I attempted to capture the smiling loving face of everyones Grand Mother in my portrait featuring the late, Queen-Mother. Sadly missed, this is my tribute to the Mother of the future King of Britain, Princess-Diana. Our well known and cherished,Her-Majesty-Queen-Elizabeth. Painted in a pose which captures that sense of security and tradition. Orlando Florida Holidays.com home page |