Hey guys, I hope you all are doing well!
In this video I want to focus
on a couple of things that
may help you improve your painting skills.
I started to make this video with
the idea in mind that I will give
you like a checklist of things that
you can do when you’re, for example,
finishing a painting or drawing, to
improve it (on the spot) or just to
check for some mistakes that you might
have been missing and then to fix them.
I quickly realized though that what I’m gonna
talk about can be helpful every step of the way,
from the very beginning, so feel free to apply/use
these things any way you want at any point.
There are 4 main points I’d like you to consider.
First, simply check the anatomy and proportions.
I assume that if you use reference photos you
compare your painting with them all the time as
you paint, in the same way if you’re painting from
life, you’re trying to replicate what you see.
But ☝There is a couple of other things you can do
to check proportions or
positions of the facial features.
Have you ever watched some digital painting
videos? Many people flip the image every
now and then to see it from a different angle.
You can do the same with a traditional medium.
Look at your painting in the mirror or even
take a picture of your painting on your phone,
flip it and see if it looks good to you and
correct, or does it look somehow.. crooked..
Analyze it and then fix what you need to fix.
Another thing you can do is to
turn the painting upside-down
or simply step away from it and look at it
from afar! The image comes together more and
it also gives you a chance to look at your
work from a different perspective so that
you’ll notice things you’ve not been able
to see before. And that’s the whole point!
Are your values in the right places?
I always pay very close attention to
values when I’m painting. It’s crucial.
Here comes a little lesson on Color Theory:
There are 3 main parameters to describe
a color: Hue, Value and Chroma.
Hue is like the color itself,
red, blue, green, yellow…
Chroma is how pure, intense
or saturated the color is.
For example: A grey color is very
neutral - an extremely low chroma.
This color would be in the
contrary very chromatic.
And Value shows how dark or light the
color is. Its what creates the 3d form
and dimensions in our drawings and paintings.
In my experience many people have
difficulties placing correct dark values,
and of course when darks are faded your painting
looks flat and has no contrast, no depth.
But it can be difficult to identify
correct values in general, period.
Like lights may not be light enough or in some
cases highlights would be exaggerated way too
much. It is a very common mistake and it
takes some practice to get good at it.
The least you can do is to check and make
sure that the shadows are dark enough
and the lights are as light as they should be.
If they aren’t – fix it, this will add so much
more depth to your work. And I believe this
alone can take your painting to the next level.
I wasn’t so sure how to call this one. But..
It’s important to not over-define
features or add too much detail.
Forget about harsh lines and edges if you want
your paintings/drawings to be more lifelike.
In reality there are no sharp edges,
especially if we’re talking about
portraiture, everything is much
softer, more subtle and smooth..
I’d like to stress that I’m not talking
about blending here, there are many styles
of painting where it’s beautiful to leave
visible strokes of paint or styles of drawing
where you leave a distinctive hatching. It
simply comes down to a personal preference.
Here I’m talking about something
else, let me demonstrate:
This is a sketch that I think can be improved.
The eyelashes are overly defined;
we can clearly see the waterline
when in reality it would be much more subtle.
Let’s compare it with a similar sketch.
You see what I’m saying :)
That’s another example.
So make sure you don’t overly
define or outline features..
And it will significantly improve your work.
Lastly, check the hues!
Our skin has so many different tones;
it’s not just one solid color. It is quite
obvious but I’ve seen so many paintings where
people just ignore it and limit themselves in
the variety of colors they use to paint skin.
It, in fact, has so many subtle
hues, some greens, blues, reds..
Here, for instance, you can see the
colors I've been trying to incorporate
into this portrait to make
the face look more realistic.
Sometimes, when I’m almost done
with a painting I like to revise
certain areas and fix some hues if necessary.
There’s a painting technique called
glazing which is basically applying
a thin transparent layer of paint on top
of a dry opaque layer, and it can help
add a little more saturation
or alter hues in some places.
So, pay attention to the
hues and maybe, for example,
add some blush to the cheeks, make the eye color
more vibrant, make shadows warmer and so on.
And most importantly try to “catch” all those
hues and color changes in order to
make your portraits more lifelike.
I’ve been talking a lot about portraiture
here.. but really no matter what you paint,
I’m convinced that it’s better to
include a variety of hues rather
than limit them – that way your paintings
would look more lively and interesting.
To sum up, these are the things that I’m not
just recommending to you, or to beginners
This is what I have to remind myself of.. time
and again after years of painting and drawing,
and this helps me out every time. I
use it as some kind of as checklist.
Thanks so much for all the positive feedback
on my latest videos, it means a lot to me!
Thank you for any support really.
I hope this video was helpful to you,
and I’ll see you next time, byeee
