This video is absolutely invaluable. Iv been painting drawing portraits almost 40 years on and off and I learned a LOT from this. This is a video any artist should watch 30 times. Something I'v noticed is once you can draw a face freehand and get it 90% right. Even if you stop for a long time, you brain does not forget how to eyeball it. I find it easier to get it right every time if you don't take it too seriously and draw fast but focus on what you are doing. Don't be lazy, Look where your lines go, don't guess. I also want to add. People DO NOT KNOW what they look like. People just have an idea in their head. You can do an ok freehand portrait and they will be in love with it and show everyone. You can take a photo home and trace it perfectly and they might look at you with a blank stare when you reveal painting and say "well it looks kind of like me". People only believe what they believe and you can't change their mind. Paint them how they want to look if someone is paying you.
Wish. I had seen this lesson when I firsts could pain't; it would have prevented my trashing every one I worked on. Thank you so much. Only did a self portrait that I kept; black outline; totally! So appreciate this schooling now.
I do portraits of people in the train. My sketchbook is a pocket Sudoku leaflet and I use the space at the buttom. Like that I am totally unnoticed by the fellow passengers. I draw the form of the head placing the eyebrows and the nose. Afterwards the mouth and ears. It takes me about 2-3 minuts. Sometimes they look like the person sometimes not but I am having much fun :o)
I was a makeup artist for 40 yrs. and now I do portraits. You helped to make me understand why it comes so natural to me! I (like most "cosmetic gals" as you called them) have had a long love affair with the mirror. Our job is to make faces look their best & play up the good & play down the not so good. Maybe that's why I'm successful at portraits, huh? Well, that & my love of drawing.
This is a pretty good introduction to portrait painting with a lot of insider tips! I'd add only two things. Firstly, it is very important to learn head construction (Loomis and Michael Hampton have the best systems, imo). Instead of measuring all the proportions of the head individually, it is best to rely on a construction method, with which you need only relative measurements as they appear to each other. This also eliminates problems when your model changes their angle/posture. Secondly, the head is all about the eyes (just as Stefan points out), but also about the cheekbones. As long as you nail these two, with a proper head construction, the rest will fall into place on its own. Sargent's portraits are so good, because he was obsessed with construction methods and dynamic geometry.
Martin Sobr also Martin I find doing a gresaille first to be extremely useful saves you so much time later trying to figure out tonal values with colour
I tried to learn the Loomas method and it totally boggled my mind. My brain was in circles. I went back to quickly eyeballing my dimensions and it's way easier for me and everything just works out every time. All faces have basics that you learn and it's like riding a bicycle, you don't forget. Maybe i'v just been doing it like that so long is why it's easier for me. I got fast at it as a teen virgin (1970's) when many of the girls in high school wanted me to do figure drawings of them after they seen ones I did of other girls and I got Really fired up each time I drew one and I knew it had to be perfect so they would be happy and I just could not believe they were even modeling for me. That drive made it become natural to eye baLL face/ body dimensions quickly. Too bad my old portfolio was destroyed in a flood. Despite all that, this guy has taught me A LOT. He taught me to forget my doubts in my techniques because I was self taught. we did not have computers or videos or even other artists to look at. Later years my family gave me a drawing book and one copy of a watercolor artist magazine and that was all she wrote when I seen what other artist did. I could teach a monkey to do realist portraits. People take it way to seriously. Once you get face shape right and placement of basics added to face, you roll with the shadows and try to draw as few lines as possible on the face. I also think if you get those eyes basically done right. Everything else falls into place. Once you can see the persons eyes looking at you, You can see their soul and everything else is really easy and natural. Thats just my way. I could be wrong. I think the loomas method is for cartoon drawers. I see NO place for it in realist portraits. Being and ex Carpenter and Ex Architectural drafter does give me a good understanding of dimensions/ measurement though so maybe that is what makes it easy.
@@joesurfer9754 Totally agree! I just put a few marks on where the eyes and ears go or the cheeks and hair line on the top and things just fall into place. I can't seem to do any of the "methods" and perhaps it's b/c deep down I know that every person is different. After I've stared at it long enough I can almost do it by heart many more times. I do have to watch that I don't get careless though. Also, my collection a drawings from my college days was left in someones storage unit and caught fire. Dang! All those drawings I could have used to make portraits from. Recently, I have started to put color to my portraits and I chose pastel. I wouldn't be able to afford all the things that one must have to do oils but that would be my next choice. As he said, acrylic painters wish to make their paintings look like oil - I will be the first person on the planet that will make my pastels look like oil layed on real thick with all the shadows of the brush strokes and everything. ha, ha I guess I'll be alive for a looong time. Love to listen to Stefans vids while I go about my housework. I learn some - when the vacuum is off and the dishes are done. His voice is soothing and the class is lively. Thanks Stefan
Portraits are something I've been avoiding! Time to roll up my sleeves and practice Portraits! This video actually helps encourage the try, so thank you. I like the fact that's it's good to "mess up". Have fun, take risks, practice, do, and watch the improvement!
Paused, backed up, and took notes. Looking at 6 points made to study. Never done it, but at 28 I am finally pulling the trigger and learning the hardest thing I know of, painting. Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom through these videos. You have no idea how valuable these are for someone who never got the opportunity to go to art school and learn the technical details. THANK YOU STEFAN! *Deep gratitude*
These videos are really enriching for me, these kind of things, that any other teacher couldn't explain to his students. I really appreciate these lessons, Thanks Master!
I always thought self portraits was an advanced thing and could never get courage to make one. But this video has definitely charged me to do one now. Thanks for the great advice here. Also no one has ever told me about the one eye thing and if I think about it, it makes sense. I can't wait to watch rest of your videos now. Thanks again :)
Stefan has a point, however, some people have symmetrical face and look the same in both mirror and reality. . The ideas about painting hand and facial features are really insightful. I am going to try it soon. So glad I found this channel.
Just discovered your channel while trying to research limited color palettes. Great content and also as a bonus, super relaxing presentation style. Thanks!
For anyone curious: One reason portrait mistakes are easier to see in a mirror is because humans have left-gaze bias. So our brains tell our eyes to look at the right side of a person's face instinctually once it's recognized as a face. And the reason closing one eye helps is because two eyes creates 3D stereopsis vision, one eye is a 2D image that you can transfer to a 2D surface (your painting).
So much great information, thank you. I just started practicing portraits. Your advice to not paint people you know makes perfect sense. I have chosen a character from a famous movie as my last subject. Sure, I don't know that person, but naturally I want the painting to look perfectly like that actor. As I now realize thats a high expectation.
I have a lady who wants me to paint her deceased daughter from a photo. I have known the family all my life, and am looking for all the info I can get on how to get it right, as I don't want it to be a bad experience for her. I have done some portraits of children, but her daughter was in her mid 40's when she passed. She wants it on a 16x20 canvas, so I will make sure that the actual portrait is not larger than life size. Thanks so much for the info, and the suggestion for color choices. Glad to see another video from you, too!
This makes so much sense. I had a self-portrait module at Art College which was disastrous. I painted what I saw in the mirror and my tutor looked and said `Oh my G@d, you need to do, look, just, this' and with that she picked up a brush and started `correcting' my painting. Eventually it looked nothing like me, to me, from my view of me. To her it did. Big lesson here. Thank you for your very informative video.
Tough crowd. I've binged your videos and oftentimes, you make a joke and I'm cracking up over here while the class is silent. I love the way you think about art and explain practices. There are some things I have never heard before, even as a Fine Arts graduate. You've definitely become a staple in Art videos to remember.
I was watching your video on UTub on how to draw and paint a portrait, it was very interesting and I learned a lot of very good information. Thanks for sharing your information. I hope I can watch more of them.
My first self portrait looked like a ghost, it took many years to get really used to painting reasonable flesh with warm and cool shadows and it was my family, mostly the grands who were my subjects & yes, it took a lot of practice to capture a reasonable likeness, but now I usually can get a likeness of most people I paint. The biggest trick is measure, measure, measure.
Thank you Stefan! I enjoyed your video very much. Glad to see you. I haven't seen a video from you in a long time. Now I look at my portraits and think of a different way of painting them. Can you do one on animals as well? Always looking forward to all your videos.
I have really enjoyed watching this video. I've only ever drawn my self portraits, graphite and charcoal. This has motivated me to do a painted self portrait. I love painting portraits and always working on improving my skills.
About the mirror into a mirror thing, for a true image left to left, and right to right... is made a lot easier by two things: 1) a BIG set of mirrors 2) The mirrors are reflective topside, or else known as "front reflective mirrors" not reflective backed, so as to take away the double image and blur that occurs when the mirror refracts on itself. But, not many people have 2 grand lying around for a self portrait. These mirrors are not cheap. I have set up two full length mirrors and played around with them, it is possible to see yourself correctly, and see yourself from a view that you cannot see without two mirrors, such as a 3/4 view, which is nice. What is not really easy, is lighting. To access the view of both mirror, your proximity to the mirrors needs to be within about 4-6 feet, and dramatic light on you will not allow decent lighting on your work.
It would be nice if you would show us how to make some proportional dividers. Maybe out of wood. with point cut on ends. I also wish you would explain the thalo yellow green and alizerin crimson you were talking about. I find color the most time consuming to plan (Im watercolor, get one chance). That hand stuff is invaluable. I always thought I was fudging it by painting them that way. Now I know thats what everyone is doing. ( was self taught before videos and computers. No teacher).
Hey Stefan, the funny thing is I dont paint with oil, I dont duplicate anything while painting, and I only paint weird abstract stuff... But I super duper love your videos :)
You touched on something with sketching.... Sketching and portraiture is really more a discipline, as you are essentially transferring an image. The discipline is engaged during the observation more than the denotation. It took a while for me to derive at that.
You're truly amazing...I love this video. I've never done any portrait in oils but, want to so badly! Fear of screwing up and wasting a canvas is what's keeping me. Money has a lot to do with it as well! I mainly oil paint landscapes and taught myself how as well as drawing portraits of famous actors using pencils, then I eventually worked my way up to using Prisma color pencils with paint thinner. I totally love the part where you explained about drawing the eyes (how one is always off).LOL!!! I struggle with that and teeth!!! Teeth are the worst for me.LOL!!! So, I still have a lot to learn! Thank you for your videos.
Loved your portrait tips. Several years ago, I did portraits of people in my small town , 30 of them in a year, including a self portrait and had a book done on Blurb.com, "Portraits of Grand Detour". The interesting thing was that my children said how I looked so sober in my portrait. My response was, similar to what you commented, "But, I was concentrating!" I need to recheck them, because I'm sure they probably were all slightly larger than life. Hmm! I found the hardest portrait was of a beautiful young woman. Enjoy all your tips!
Some professional artist may disagree and say you may actually want to paint people you personally know vs someone you don’t. The reason being you may look at it and say “darn this doesn’t look like them” you know one your deepest of hearts it’s better to continue and finish than to not. You’re also learning about your surroundings that way just depends on your perspective.
As a young single mom, I tried to draw my kids. No matter how many times I tried, they always came up older than they were! It was aggravating. Then one day, my kids, my best friend and I went to the Mall of America, and there were portrait artists there. I engaged one who had done quite good work. He got frustrated drawing my kids. No matter how he tried, they ended up looking older! aha! I felt quite vindicated! I never had this issue drawing the kids of other people. Weird, as they grew older, they looked just like all of the pictures previously drawn. And I agree usually...get the eyes right, you get the portrait right. Unfortunately, my kids' eyes were too old, I think. Now as they are adults? No problem! Geese, can't wait for the grandkids, lol!
You mention Pthalo Yellow Green as a must-have color to use for portraits. Is there a certain brand you use? I looked online and see Pthalo yellow green in one brand and Pthalo green yellow in others and they don't look alike.
@@StefanBaumann I gave it a try and, wow! You're right! That green and alizarin crimson combo with white made a sensational flesh color. I was skeptical, but now I'm a convert.
@@StefanBaumann LOL You made my day. Yes, I'm pretty sure I've watched every one of them. They have helped me a lot as an artist and as a teacher. I should probably switch to my other account. I think my Alonzo the Armless user name has outlived its usefulness.
I was thinking of Chuck Close, too, because I have an ambition to go HUUUUUUGE with my paintings one day, LOL! BUt that kind of massive exxageration is not attempting to be lifelike in scale, I think it is when it is "just" off by less than double in scale that it is problematic, after that biger and bigger is an artistic effect, Like Chuck Close's paintings and Jeffrey Koon's crazy stuff
I was watching one of your vids on what every painter needs to know re: oil, acrylics and pastels (oh, and watercolor-boring - that's probably why I forgot it.) Although, I didn't know that Sargent, is that John Sargent, created his masterpieces with watercolor??????? Nevertheless, while I listened to the previous video I was drawing a portrait from a tutorial of Cuong Ngyuon (Koo-When) and when I came to this particular video I was doing something else and listening while working and I kept looking up where I had put my finished drawing and sure enough, I had made her nose too long. I hate you! Just kidding but I am getting a lot out of these videos even though I wouldn't and haven't chosen oil painting. I chose pastel because I am tired of graphite. I can draw what I see but I love color so here I am.
You don't mention if this is oils or acrylics. Do you teach both, or shall I concentrate on one? Currently I paint in acrylics an have for many years. I've often thought about trying oils, but the expense of starting over has stopped me!
Stefan i send to you my full respect, i wish i knew about you a long time ago. either that or i wish i never heard of you, im just kidding. but my work is very much "pre-Stefan" or "post-Stefan". whats the CENTRAL FOCAL POINT!!!!!! AND PAINT EFFECTS NOT THINGS!!!!!!! I LOVE THAT SHIT!!!!!!! thank you for opening my eyes, i cant thank you enough. such a game changer, i had no idea how in the dark i actually was. and Stefan, quiet literally, brought me to the light. i think i might put that on a shirt, and if i make money on it ill send you a percentage. PAINT EFFECTS NOT THINGS! WHATS THE CENTRAL FOCAL POINT! WHATS THE CENTRAL FOCAL POINT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? love & respect
Dam dude I love you, Why are you not in my classes, I love to inspire artist and I would love to see you work please send me some photos and keep in touch I want to see your progress StefanBaumannartist@gmail.com
Portraits may only show the external part of the body. Only body is not Self? Movements on the surface of the body may show the movement of the Soul? Reason and emotion? See with idea and see without idea? Idea instructions come and go. Instructions can be recalled. Seeing with dividers in the mirror is tricky. Train yourself just to see proportion without any thing else. Just use the divider as means of checking proportions and crystallising? When you see a square you also know it is a square? Trust your sight and mind? Measuring with mind is not so difficult. Trust. drawing is seeing and selecting. Teach yourself with practice. Place feel your pencil or brush on the surface, that is contact. Lift off see the point or mark. Evaluate it? Then knowledge comes of space; place again the pencil or brush; lift off again and see again; evaluate these positions of feeling, seeing. These are the first simple effects never lose that simplicity? The mark is dimensional and of feeling light or heavy. Let marks, points to be of use?
If you want to be able to look at yourself in the eye and get the orientation that others see, you could use a webcam set to mirror image to do your measuring/construction - while using a mirror to get the color/value/etc. from life. Just to be clear, the webcam isn't used to take a picture, you'd work off your screen live.
Why is it a sin, so to speak, to do a portrait larger than life-size? I have made large portraits that have come out well. I'd like to learn. Please let me know.
Why won't the camera man show the last portrait. The camera is mostly to the right of Stefan showing the empty easel. You should fire that camera man. Ha ha
This video is absolutely invaluable. Iv been painting drawing portraits almost 40 years on and off and I learned a LOT from this. This is a video any artist should watch 30 times. Something I'v noticed is once you can draw a face freehand and get it 90% right. Even if you stop for a long time, you brain does not forget how to eyeball it. I find it easier to get it right every time if you don't take it too seriously and draw fast but focus on what you are doing. Don't be lazy, Look where your lines go, don't guess. I also want to add. People DO NOT KNOW what they look like. People just have an idea in their head. You can do an ok freehand portrait and they will be in love with it and show everyone. You can take a photo home and trace it perfectly and they might look at you with a blank stare when you reveal painting and say "well it looks kind of like me". People only believe what they believe and you can't change their mind. Paint them how they want to look if someone is paying you.
I have to sleep now! I've been binge watching your videos. 💤
Its been hrs. You're a phenomenal speaker
Ha, I do it, as well, he's so entertaining while informing us!
These videos have given me the courage (and tools) to paint my portrait. Thank you Mr.Baumann
Wish. I had seen this lesson when I firsts could pain't; it would have prevented my trashing every one I worked on.
Thank you so much. Only did a self portrait that I kept; black outline; totally!
So appreciate this schooling now.
I do portraits of people in the train. My sketchbook is a pocket Sudoku leaflet and I use the space at the buttom. Like that I am totally unnoticed by the fellow passengers. I draw the form of the head placing the eyebrows and the nose. Afterwards the mouth and ears. It takes me about 2-3 minuts. Sometimes they look like the person sometimes not but I am having much fun :o)
really new to portraits, really good idea to start doing self protraits
I was a makeup artist for 40 yrs. and now I do portraits. You helped to make me understand why it comes so natural to me! I (like most "cosmetic gals" as you called them) have had a long love affair with the mirror. Our job is to make faces look their best & play up the good & play down the not so good. Maybe that's why I'm successful at portraits, huh? Well, that & my love of drawing.
Pj Lewis ml
This is a pretty good introduction to portrait painting with a lot of insider tips!
I'd add only two things. Firstly, it is very important to learn head construction (Loomis and Michael Hampton have the best systems, imo). Instead of measuring all the proportions of the head individually, it is best to rely on a construction method, with which you need only relative measurements as they appear to each other. This also eliminates problems when your model changes their angle/posture.
Secondly, the head is all about the eyes (just as Stefan points out), but also about the cheekbones. As long as you nail these two, with a proper head construction, the rest will fall into place on its own.
Sargent's portraits are so good, because he was obsessed with construction methods and dynamic geometry.
Martin Sobr also Martin I find doing a gresaille first to be extremely useful saves you so much time later trying to figure out tonal values with colour
your so right
@Martin I am so grateful for a comment like this. A true gem. Thank you.
I tried to learn the Loomas method and it totally boggled my mind. My brain was in circles. I went back to quickly eyeballing my dimensions and it's way easier for me and everything just works out every time. All faces have basics that you learn and it's like riding a bicycle, you don't forget. Maybe i'v just been doing it like that so long is why it's easier for me. I got fast at it as a teen virgin (1970's) when many of the girls in high school wanted me to do figure drawings of them after they seen ones I did of other girls and I got Really fired up each time I drew one and I knew it had to be perfect so they would be happy and I just could not believe they were even modeling for me. That drive made it become natural to eye baLL face/ body dimensions quickly. Too bad my old portfolio was destroyed in a flood. Despite all that, this guy has taught me A LOT. He taught me to forget my doubts in my techniques because I was self taught. we did not have computers or videos or even other artists to look at. Later years my family gave me a drawing book and one copy of a watercolor artist magazine and that was all she wrote when I seen what other artist did. I could teach a monkey to do realist portraits. People take it way to seriously. Once you get face shape right and placement of basics added to face, you roll with the shadows and try to draw as few lines as possible on the face. I also think if you get those eyes basically done right. Everything else falls into place. Once you can see the persons eyes looking at you, You can see their soul and everything else is really easy and natural. Thats just my way. I could be wrong. I think the loomas method is for cartoon drawers. I see NO place for it in realist portraits. Being and ex Carpenter and Ex Architectural drafter does give me a good understanding of dimensions/ measurement though so maybe that is what makes it easy.
@@joesurfer9754
Totally agree! I just put a few marks on where the eyes and ears go or the cheeks and hair line on the top and things just fall into place. I can't seem to do any of the "methods" and perhaps it's b/c deep down I know that every person is different. After I've stared at it long enough I can almost do it by heart many more times. I do have to watch that I don't get careless though.
Also, my collection a drawings from my college days was left in someones storage unit and caught fire. Dang! All those drawings I could have used to make portraits from.
Recently, I have started to put color to my portraits and I chose pastel. I wouldn't be able to afford all the things that one must have to do oils but that would be my next choice. As he said, acrylic painters wish to make their paintings look like oil - I will be the first person on the planet that will make my pastels look like oil layed on real thick with all the shadows of the brush strokes and everything. ha, ha I guess I'll be alive for a looong time.
Love to listen to Stefans vids while I go about my housework. I learn some - when the vacuum is off and the dishes are done. His voice is soothing and the class is lively.
Thanks Stefan
Portraits are something I've been avoiding! Time to roll up my sleeves and practice Portraits! This video actually helps encourage the try, so thank you. I like the fact that's it's good to "mess up". Have fun, take risks, practice, do, and watch the improvement!
Glad it was helpful!
Paused, backed up, and took notes. Looking at 6 points made to study. Never done it, but at 28 I am finally pulling the trigger and learning the hardest thing I know of, painting. Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom through these videos. You have no idea how valuable these are for someone who never got the opportunity to go to art school and learn the technical details. THANK YOU STEFAN! *Deep gratitude*
your so welcome Nikeeta
These videos are really enriching for me, these kind of things, that any other teacher couldn't explain to his students. I really appreciate these lessons, Thanks Master!
The hand tip was pure gold. Thank you!
This was a very helpful lecture. Thank you!
I always thought self portraits was an advanced thing and could never get courage to make one. But this video has definitely charged me to do one now. Thanks for the great advice here. Also no one has ever told me about the one eye thing and if I think about it, it makes sense. I can't wait to watch rest of your videos now. Thanks again :)
Stefan has a point, however, some people have symmetrical face and look the same in both mirror and reality.
.
The ideas about painting hand and facial features are really insightful. I am going to try it soon. So glad I found this channel.
Just discovered your channel while trying to research limited color palettes. Great content and also as a bonus, super relaxing presentation style. Thanks!
thanks
So grateful for all these valuable information thanks alot fo sharing👍🏻👍🏻
Keep it up! Looking forward for more videos from you, don't stop!
there is more to come
This video series is what I do for my lunch each day. I so look forward to it.
Learned so much, more than anywhere actually... Thank you!
thanks
Another great inspirational vid. Thanks. Have now updated my profile pic with my first self portrait 😊
thanks
great video I like what you said about the eyes and the teeth I always paint it white thanks for info
watching youtube pays off
For anyone curious: One reason portrait mistakes are easier to see in a mirror is because humans have left-gaze bias. So our brains tell our eyes to look at the right side of a person's face instinctually once it's recognized as a face.
And the reason closing one eye helps is because two eyes creates 3D stereopsis vision, one eye is a 2D image that you can transfer to a 2D surface (your painting).
Good point thanks
And then we look at the painting with two eyes, or one? Should I take an eye patch with me to the Louvre?
Thank you :than217 -I was NOT aware 👏👏👏✌
I will forever remember to close one eye 👍 that is such game changing advise.
Can't wait for this!
In the past when I had to do a self portrait I would put the mirror next to my canvas. That way there wouldn't be so much movement of the head.
good advice
So much great information, thank you. I just started practicing portraits. Your advice to not paint people you know makes perfect sense. I have chosen a character from a famous movie as my last subject. Sure, I don't know that person, but naturally I want the painting to look perfectly like that actor. As I now realize thats a high expectation.
it is
I have a lady who wants me to paint her deceased daughter from a photo. I have known the family all my life, and am looking for all the info I can get on how to get it right, as I don't want it to be a bad experience for her. I have done some portraits of children, but her daughter was in her mid 40's when she passed. She wants it on a 16x20 canvas, so I will make sure that the actual portrait is not larger than life size. Thanks so much for the info, and the suggestion for color choices. Glad to see another video from you, too!
there are more coming
Fantastic advice, very helpful advice. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for sharing this! Some great points here.
your welcome
Great lesson
I love this UA-cam channel.
I'm glad you do
This makes so much sense. I had a self-portrait module at Art College which was disastrous. I painted what I saw in the mirror and my tutor looked and said `Oh my G@d, you need to do, look, just, this' and with that she picked up a brush and started `correcting' my painting. Eventually it looked nothing like me, to me, from my view of me. To her it did. Big lesson here. Thank you for your very informative video.
I was shopping yesterday and the person in the mirror was twenty years older than me.
Tough crowd. I've binged your videos and oftentimes, you make a joke and I'm cracking up over here while the class is silent. I love the way you think about art and explain practices. There are some things I have never heard before, even as a Fine Arts graduate. You've definitely become a staple in Art videos to remember.
Thanks for the kind words I will do the next videos with you in mind. Good luck !
I was watching your video on UTub on how to draw and paint a portrait, it was very interesting and I learned a lot of very good information. Thanks for sharing your information. I hope I can watch more of them.
My first self portrait looked like a ghost, it took many years to get really used to painting reasonable flesh with warm and cool shadows and it was my family, mostly the grands who were my subjects & yes, it took a lot of practice to capture a reasonable likeness, but now I usually can get a likeness of most people I paint. The biggest trick is measure, measure, measure.
Great I love to watch Stefan ,important tips and clear explanation ,I wish to seat there and have a lesson.Thank you for sharing
Thanks
I like your work and video also
Thank You , nice to hear that.
gosh,, wonderful information,, thank you so much for sharing. : )
I have watched several of your videos, and have learned so much!! I wish you ran your classes out of South Florida. I would sign up in an instant!
Thank you Stefan! I enjoyed your video very much. Glad to see you. I haven't seen a video from you in a long time. Now I look at my portraits and think of a different way of painting them. Can you do one on animals as well? Always looking forward to all your videos.
good idea
I have really enjoyed watching this video. I've only ever drawn my self portraits, graphite and charcoal. This has motivated me to do a painted self portrait. I love painting portraits and always working on improving my skills.
good for you
good for you
What a fantastic lecture
Great Class! Thank you for posting.
Unreal. I love your videos, Stefan.
Thanks
Thank for sharing. Very useful! Regards
your welcome
I wish I am one of your of students. I love your videos. Thank you very much!
you could consider my phone coaching
I ｗｉｌｌ ｃｏｎｓｉｄｅｒ ｔｈａｔ！
wow! amazing insight! thanks for sharing.
Just discovered your amazing teacher and artist
Portrait, really all painting and drawing, from life is a totally different "animal" than from photograph. Always interesting videos Stephan!
thanks
About the mirror into a mirror thing, for a true image left to left, and right to right... is made a lot easier by two things: 1) a BIG set of mirrors 2) The mirrors are reflective topside, or else known as "front reflective mirrors" not reflective backed, so as to take away the double image and blur that occurs when the mirror refracts on itself. But, not many people have 2 grand lying around for a self portrait. These mirrors are not cheap. I have set up two full length mirrors and played around with them, it is possible to see yourself correctly, and see yourself from a view that you cannot see without two mirrors, such as a 3/4 view, which is nice. What is not really easy, is lighting. To access the view of both mirror, your proximity to the mirrors needs to be within about 4-6 feet, and dramatic light on you will not allow decent lighting on your work.
Stefan, did you ever get your students to paint a portrait of you. Strong features, great skin tones and a mature handsomeness to boot !!!
Peace.
Yellowstone Falls is perfect--feel like I'm right there.
Very interesting and eye opening, thank you
It would be nice if you would show us how to make some proportional dividers. Maybe out of wood. with point cut on ends. I also wish you would explain the thalo yellow green and alizerin crimson you were talking about. I find color the most time consuming to plan (Im watercolor, get one chance). That hand stuff is invaluable. I always thought I was fudging it by painting them that way. Now I know thats what everyone is doing. ( was self taught before videos and computers. No teacher).
Best explnation about how to paint noses, hands , mouths.Now I can see what I was doing wrong for years. THANK YOU! Konnen Sie Deutsch sprechen?
your welcome
Very useful and engaging stuff!
Very helpful. Thanks.
Hey Stefan, the funny thing is I dont paint with oil, I dont duplicate anything while painting, and I only paint weird abstract stuff... But I super duper love your videos :)
You touched on something with sketching.... Sketching and portraiture is really more a discipline, as you are essentially transferring an image. The discipline is engaged during the observation more than the denotation. It took a while for me to derive at that.
You're truly amazing...I love this video. I've never done any portrait in oils but, want to so badly! Fear of screwing up and wasting a canvas is what's keeping me. Money has a lot to do with it as well! I mainly oil paint landscapes and taught myself how as well as drawing portraits of famous actors using pencils, then I eventually worked my way up to using Prisma color pencils with paint thinner. I totally love the part where you explained about drawing the eyes (how one is always off).LOL!!! I struggle with that and teeth!!! Teeth are the worst for me.LOL!!! So, I still have a lot to learn! Thank you for your videos.
Your so welcome
you are my first instructor. now i can figure out what's really going on.😘
Thank you for sharing
Thank you for sharing.
welcome
🙏🏻 thank you! 🙏🏻
Loved your portrait tips. Several years ago, I did portraits of people in my small town , 30 of them in a year, including a self portrait and had a book done on Blurb.com, "Portraits of Grand Detour". The interesting thing was that my children said how I looked so sober in my portrait. My response was, similar to what you commented, "But, I was concentrating!" I need to recheck them, because I'm sure they probably were all slightly larger than life. Hmm! I found the hardest portrait was of a beautiful young woman. Enjoy all your tips!
your welcome
Some professional artist may disagree and say you may actually want to paint people you personally know vs someone you don’t. The reason being you may look at it and say “darn this doesn’t look like them” you know one your deepest of hearts it’s better to continue and finish than to not. You’re also learning about your surroundings that way just depends on your perspective.
As a young single mom, I tried to draw my kids. No matter how many times I tried, they always came up older than they were! It was aggravating. Then one day, my kids, my best friend and I went to the Mall of America, and there were portrait artists there. I engaged one who had done quite good work. He got frustrated drawing my kids. No matter how he tried, they ended up looking older! aha! I felt quite vindicated! I never had this issue drawing the kids of other people. Weird, as they grew older, they looked just like all of the pictures previously drawn. And I agree usually...get the eyes right, you get the portrait right. Unfortunately, my kids' eyes were too old, I think. Now as they are adults? No problem! Geese, can't wait for the grandkids, lol!
This is good
Does a proportional divider have any advantage over a pencil and your thumbnail?
those are some awesome easels behind him
I like them
You mention Pthalo Yellow Green as a must-have color to use for portraits. Is there a certain brand you use? I looked online and see Pthalo yellow green in one brand and Pthalo green yellow in others and they don't look alike.
Thalo is a grumbacher paint the other is WIndser
@@StefanBaumann Thanks! Greatly appreciated. I'm eager to try that hue and do a self portrait soon.
@@StefanBaumann I gave it a try and, wow! You're right! That green and alizarin crimson combo with white made a sensational flesh color. I was skeptical, but now I'm a convert.
I had you at HELLO! you have been watching my videos for a long time
@@StefanBaumann LOL You made my day. Yes, I'm pretty sure I've watched every one of them. They have helped me a lot as an artist and as a teacher. I should probably switch to my other account. I think my Alonzo the Armless user name has outlived its usefulness.
I know you said don't go bigger than life, but what about Chuck Close's "Mark"?
I was thinking of Chuck Close, too, because I have an ambition to go HUUUUUUGE with my paintings one day, LOL! BUt that kind of massive exxageration is not attempting to be lifelike in scale, I think it is when it is "just" off by less than double in scale that it is problematic, after that biger and bigger is an artistic effect, Like Chuck Close's paintings and Jeffrey Koon's crazy stuff
helpful!
Great
I was watching one of your vids on what every painter needs to know re: oil, acrylics and pastels (oh, and watercolor-boring - that's probably why I forgot it.) Although, I didn't know that Sargent, is that John Sargent, created his masterpieces with watercolor??????? Nevertheless, while I listened to the previous video I was drawing a portrait from a tutorial of Cuong Ngyuon (Koo-When) and when I came to this particular video I was doing something else and listening while working and I kept looking up where I had put my finished drawing and sure enough, I had made her nose too long. I hate you! Just kidding but I am getting a lot out of these videos even though I wouldn't and haven't chosen oil painting. I chose pastel because I am tired of graphite. I can draw what I see but I love color so here I am.
You don't mention if this is oils or acrylics. Do you teach both, or shall I concentrate on one? Currently I paint in acrylics an have for many years. I've often thought about trying oils, but the expense of starting over has stopped me!
Stefan i send to you my full respect, i wish i knew about you a long time ago. either that or i wish i never heard of you, im just kidding. but my work is very much "pre-Stefan" or "post-Stefan". whats the CENTRAL FOCAL POINT!!!!!! AND PAINT EFFECTS NOT THINGS!!!!!!! I LOVE THAT SHIT!!!!!!! thank you for opening my eyes, i cant thank you enough. such a game changer, i had no idea how in the dark i actually was. and Stefan, quiet literally, brought me to the light. i think i might put that on a shirt, and if i make money on it ill send you a percentage. PAINT EFFECTS NOT THINGS! WHATS THE CENTRAL FOCAL POINT! WHATS THE CENTRAL FOCAL POINT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
love & respect
Dam dude I love you, Why are you not in my classes, I love to inspire artist and I would love to see you work please send me some photos and keep in touch I want to see your progress StefanBaumannartist@gmail.com
If using the proportional divider, couldn't you just touch the mirror with it?
as long as you stand in exactly the same spot and don't lean in or back...
Portraits may only show the external part of the body. Only body is not Self? Movements on the surface of the body may show the movement of the Soul? Reason and emotion? See with idea and see without idea? Idea instructions come and go. Instructions can be recalled. Seeing with dividers in the mirror is tricky. Train yourself just to see proportion without any thing else. Just use the divider as means of checking proportions and crystallising? When you see a square you also know it is a square? Trust your sight and mind? Measuring with mind is not so difficult. Trust. drawing is seeing and selecting. Teach yourself with practice. Place feel your pencil or brush on the surface, that is contact. Lift off see the point or mark. Evaluate it? Then knowledge comes of space; place again the pencil or brush; lift off again and see again; evaluate these positions of feeling, seeing. These are the first simple effects never lose that simplicity? The mark is dimensional and of feeling light or heavy. Let marks, points to be of use?
one rubber band + two pencils =proportion . Thank you to my 6th grade art teacher Mr. Peter Jeter.
I am obsessed with mouths....I am often drawn to doing a portrait because. Of the smirk or softness of the mouth combined with the twinkle of an eye.
@stefan baumann Do you speak German also?
I'm very pleased to.anounch another workshop at mt. Rashid along side Steven bowman. East oak art studios press! Check out for.glazing instructikals!
Great waistcoat
13:35
I did three self portraits and they all look like my grampa. Who is that old guy?
LOL
I guess you took a loooonnng time to finish them.
I just made one. There is only one feature there - intensity. I look like a serial killer in front of his prey...
You can never look yourself in the eye in the second mirror.
If you want to be able to look at yourself in the eye and get the orientation that others see, you could use a webcam set to mirror image to do your measuring/construction - while using a mirror to get the color/value/etc. from life. Just to be clear, the webcam isn't used to take a picture, you'd work off your screen live.
Sarandos Klikizos Careful though, all lenses warp. I am not aware of a way around this.
Or I'm always moving :D
why shouldn't you paint a portrait larger than life size?
It looks odd
Only narcissists do that:)
Why is it a sin, so to speak, to do a portrait larger than life-size? I have made large portraits that have come out well. I'd like to learn. Please let me know.
Why won't the camera man show the last portrait. The camera is mostly to the right of Stefan showing the empty easel. You should fire that camera man. Ha ha
That's a shame, looked like a good painting from the little fragment I saw. And I never knew that about galleries, interesting.Thank you.
I lost my electricity, from the Tornado
did you find it yet?
Why self portraits? Who else is nuts enough to sit for me?
Sambo in the snow...WTF
Too much lecture
What a load of crap.
Here I am doing my first self portrait on a 60 inch wide canvas 🤦🏻🥲 lol.