Art School: Painting Faces

We're getting close to wrapping up our girls. Today they'll be almost done and will look like people. Yay! We starting from our sketch from yesterday.

Ok, so we start out by painting the whole face and neck. I use Americana buttermilk for caucasians. Fawn is great for oriental or latin ladies. Milk chocolate for lighter skin Africans and Raw Umber for darker tones are good colors to go with for beginners. Mix 'em up a bit if you need to. Go really easy on this and leave it thin enough that you can still see your sketch through the paint.

Next I sort of eyeball where my shirt goes and cut it out, coat it in Mod Podge and smack it on there. Most of my papers come from Paper-source. They are pricier than regular scrapbook paper, but they have such a beautiful selection and the quality is really special. Plus, you only need a little bit so it lasts forever.

Then we paint in the hair.

Sometimes I bring in another color for some highlights. It just gives it a little something. 

Next we bust out the Faber Castell artist pens. They are cheap. You can find them at your local craft store. And I use them like crazy on my faces. So let's get to it.

I turn it upside down (why??) and out line the chin in raw umber. 

I traced my eyelids with a dark brown faber castell pen. 

Same with the eyebrows. Use short little dashes just like little hairs.

Next I outline the lips in a pinkish faber castell pen.

Fill in the lips using a watercolor pencil. It goes on like a colored pencil.

But when you get it wet with a touch of water (or spit if you're a little gross, ha) it turns into a watercolor. Very pretty effect. 

So I do a bit on the cheeks too. 

And once I get them a little wet she's got a lovely rosy glow. It's like my favorite part. 

Then I paint some long black lashes on. I like them a bit unrealistically long cause I have a weird thing for fake lashes. I don't know what's up with that. 

Then we trace out the little nose.

And she seemed like she wanted a few little freckles, didn't she?

And then a few doodles around her shirt. My favorite pen is from Scarlet Lime. 

And we wrap it up with a few streaks with your markers in the hair. I used a walnut brown faber castell for all of her dark bits (hair streaks, eyelids, eyebrows) and raw umber on her nose, chin, and neck. 

That's it for today. Tomorrow we'll talk one of my favorite bits, THE CROWNS!