Portrait Painting Progress

I have added a few more layers since my last post. I had to darken some of the shadows and darkened the eyes. The eyes and the mouth have been two of my biggest challenges. With each new layer added I feel it is beginning to take shape. There are several more layers I want to add before it becomes complete. I will post more as I progress.

The Layering Continues

Each and every layer creates more depth but it is also creating a change in my subjects face. Not so sure I am liking the transformation.

As the last layer dried it looked a little chalky. I went in and added more warmth and deepened my shadows with a cooler tone.

There is much I have to learn before my painting can be considered "realism"... practice, practice, practice!

I will continue posting my transitions as I complete them.

Hair

Creating the Hair and Highlights

I began by mixing burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and ultramarine blue to build the base tones of the hair. From there, I layered in the highlights, letting lighter strokes sit softly over the darker foundation.

Hair takes practice—and then more practice—because its believability comes from multiple layers, even in a piece that isn’t fully realistic. This painting isn’t meant to look photographic, but I still wanted the hair to lean toward realism. To push it in that direction, I etched fine strands around the hairline, adding just enough detail to suggest texture and movement while keeping the overall style painterly.

Color block sections 

Add lights for dimension 

Eyes

Eyes are the soul of a painting. Trying to capture your subject's true essence is no small feat!

When I first began my painting the subject's eyes followed me from right to left. Since that time something happened and I lost it.

One of the things I do along my painting journey is photograph each step. It allows me to go back and see what I liked and disliked. Unfortunately, painting does not allow me to select the undo tab and go back. But having past photos of my work can offer insite of what I may have done wrong so that I can fix my "happy mistake"!

Oily Face

Once the acrylic dries (which only takes minutes instead of days or weeks) I begin using oil. I may not appreciate the length of time oil dries, however, I do appreciate the smoothness of this medium.

As you can see oil creates a smoother finish on the subject's face. The next several stages will be adding one layer at a time. Hopefully, with each layer the portrait will become more realistic. At least that is my goal.

One of the things I anticipate along the way our little mistakes and as Bob Ross states, They are "Happy Mistakes"! Got to love that guy, God rest his soul!

First layer of oil

The Process

This time, I decided to try something a little different. I’d been reading that acrylics can work beautifully for an underpainting beneath oil paints, so I figured—why not? In my last oil portrait, I used oils from start to finish, including the underpainting, and it felt like I was waiting ages for each layer to dry. And since patience has never been my strongest virtue, I was ready for a better way.

Acrylic paints were used to begin the under painting process

And continued with acrylic until
everything was covered 

Oil Painting Of My Daughter

My daughter will be graduating next summer, and one of the things she asked for was a portrait painting—something personal and handmade to mark this milestone.

I started by taking several photos of her near our pond. A full-frontal shot didn’t feel right for the portrait I had in mind. Instead, a slight profile caught my eye. That angle offered richer shadows and a more interesting play of light—perfect for bringing depth into the painting.

Before transferring anything to canvas, I brought the photo into Photoshop. I enhanced the colors in her hair and skin and made her eyes a little more vivid, giving the reference image the life I plan to capture in paint.

To make sure the proportions stayed accurate—and to save a lot of time—I printed the reference as four separate 8×10 images and pieced them together like a puzzle. My canvas for this project is 16×20, so this method helped me scale everything precisely.

I love to sketch, but I’m not as accurate as I’d like to be. Some artists consider tracing or projecting an image “cheating,” but I see it as a practical tool. In the future, I’d love to invest in a projector so I don’t have to keep cutting, taping, and assembling large photo grids just to get the right image. Efficiency lets me put more energy into the actual painting—where the real magic happens.

Sketch on a 16x20 canvas 

Four 8x10 photos stitched