Some super easy but not so popular tips can save your time when painting watercolor portraits. We will be listing down some of them below.
Start with the face: Sketch the eyes, nose, and mouth and details like shadows and highlights with a pencil.
Use a kneadable eraser to lift the dark pencil strokes: Make it as light as possible. The excess graphite can make the painting look dirty.
Mix your paints before you start painting: Decide all tones and values you need before you start painting.
Use wet on wet technique to paint the skin: Wet the paper before painting and add darker values following lighter values.
Leave the highlights unpainted: In case you paint over it, don’t use white watercolor to paint highlights. Instead, use gouache or white color pencil or pen for adding highlights if needed.
If the paint dries off while painting the skin, wait till it is completely dried before adding darker values. Once it’s dry, wet the portions you want to paint and add the layers of darker values on it.
Paint the skin first and then add finer details like eyes and lips. In short, work from whole to part. Follow these tips for painting watercolor portraits easily.
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