What Makes Portraits Challenging | Painting Walkthrough

[@pattyhall7162]

I am glad you touch on the challenges of how really great masters of portraits can tell a foto from still life portraits and to really do as many still life paintings so that when you relied on a foto you can implement the different planes and different shadows of still life that you don’t always see in 2 dimensional foto , thank you

[@sylvianblue]

This really helped me: when you see a face you know in the distance, you will not be able to see the details of their eyes, mouth etc, but the way the light and shadow falls on their face (around their features) will still show you that it’s them. This is a good way to think of the painting…not concentrating on the details but painting the shadow and light. Does that make sense?

[@jerrychan1471]

I love the way that you encapsulate the emotions of the sitter! I can feel the subject's vibrant effervescent positivity and enthusiasm. What impresses me so much is your fearless approach to painting, your agile and expert adjustments to the painting seem so effortless as the painting progresses.

[@funny3272]

Chelsea Lang it's more about sculpting than to draw. Think of it like this drawing as a picture and painting as a sculpture. I hope this helps. It's been easier for me to do a painting like you do by freehand instead of sketching a drawing and then painting upon it. And your technique is beautiful. 😊

[@michellemorton8278]

Your teaching is as masterful as your art! Thank you for sharing your skills so beautifully!

[@kmdhuri8664]

Awesome free hand wonderful portrait painting.

[@Tocqueville2023]

The best way to learn is what Chelsea does. I especially like her idea of a painting each day for a month. Her terminology of iterative progress is eye opening. Not mixing on the canvas is also a great help. Thank you Chelsea!

[@drbob528]

Chelsea ... My admiration of your technique as a portrait painter increases with each of your video clips that I watch. To create an image of such charm, warmth and accuracy without a pencil stroke in sight surely requires a special skill set. Whether from life or photograph, at my current level of ability I would find it impossible to paint a quality picture without guidelines. Your commentary is very helpful and I'll certainly look for more of your work. Many thanks.

[@revampthis949]

This is extremely valuable information. It would be good to see an example of a work that was painted from a photo versus painted from life. If you ever can show an example in the future, that will be great. And beautiful work by the way.

[@rebeccagutierrez1960]

You are such an excellent painter.

[@juancarlosverdugosanchez4296]

Hi Chelsea, you are right on your comments. I am painting from the photo of one of my nieces from facebook and I have difficulty painting the mouth. I paint more landscapes than portrait. I need to paint more portraits like you say, that we need to challenge ourselves. teeth are difficult.

[@MeGeorgeSand]

You have a quick stroke when painting.Without predrawing. Very Good

[@paul_domici]

What a great video!!! I started drawing from photos during the pandemic and started enjoying it much better than drawing from life! I can take my time and do a much better job!

[@theemeralddragon2283]

Hi Chelsea, i found your channel through paint coach just FYI. Wanted to say i find your content exceptional and I'm so happy to find your channel before it blows up big time!! All the insight, particularly around the process and cultivating a healthy painting habits has set me on an encouraging path. Thankful for what you're doing!

[@joerich3675]

chelsea, while what you spoke about was very informative and real and true, the artist in me wanted to hear HOW you get those brushstrokes in to create a cheek, a nose bridge, the lines around the mouth that droop down, the dark crease of the lip, etc, some of these things, I know, while others have always been confounding and a blank spot I cannot seem to grow in. It would have been nice if you had almost all instruction, the other points you make are very good, but I was longing for more. Thank you for Caring with a Capital C. much love.

[@ElizabethSampson]

I love this! You captured such a beautiful expression ❤️

[@ChelseaLang]

Thank you Elizabeth!

[@saraht4973]

Super advice and beautiful painting!

[@sueq3049]

I love painting faces,too. Your tips are so helpful. Thank you. I spotted your cute cat lounging in background!

[@rodmanjohnson9593]

Great painting . . . and a beautiful cat in the background too!

[@afafyounaki7143]

Great one,,thanks 👍 👌 👍

[@JaneThomas58]

Love your work, Chelsea!

[@JillMaurer]

Beautiful portrait Chelsea! I love her expression! xoxo

[@ChelseaLang]

Thank you so much, Jill! :D

[@travisnobleart]

I know this is an old one, but that painting is amazing.

[@africo9104]

Hi Chelsea. I've looked at your making of the Schmid colourcharts 3 times now. I want to do them , but decided to wait for your new once you mentioned you are going to do with your new colours. Have you any idea when you will do them ? Thanks for all your beautiful videos.

[@Dita66]

I do portrets now from photos. Started, when I was much younger, from life with models. But when I see my life portraits (children) you see some staring or something. Not so alive and from a photo you can do all sorts of portraits. So for me, portraits from photos is now favourite

[@dorinases]

Thank you for the nice videos :) do I need to learn how to draw in order to paint portraits?

[@yoshiekoshikawa1854]

Chelsea, thank you for sharing your thoughts and skills with us, they are the most inspiring. I have a question, how do you determine the colors of the background of each painting?

[@watercolorhomie146]

Well back to the drawing board lol 😆 thank you for your amazing advice

[@jimmylamar9118]

Would you please tell me where did you get your art notebook from

[@richardjamesdigance3838]

You have to absorb the essence of your subject whilst observing the person or photo and your painting grows from that process. Just producing an exact image by measuring and creating a precise detailed drawing before applying paint often produces "a likeness" that lacks SOUL ! Your approach of slowly developing the portrait by building up layers of paint is a gradual organic process that produces usually a truer sense of the person and not just a "precise likeness".

[@Komorebidreams]

What about doing both- short sketches from life for shadows and form in addition to Photos when possible.

[@phoolaram208]

very nice art 💖💙

[@jenniferalvheim8116]

Thank you for this video.

[@shahzadqurashi7728]

So nice and beautiful

[@Joekatbetances]

Good job

[@lisengel2498]

I really admire your technique and to watch your process, but I think that another important quality of painting a face an catching a likeness, is to catch the vibrational feeling of subtle movements, rhythms and maybe that needs a looking “ from the whole body” …..😊🎵💜🎶🦄

[@purbashamishra6255]

It’s really interesting how you made no outlines and just went with putting in “planes” of paints. I will try this out and see if I can paint my friend using this technique.

[@shahzadqurashi7728]

Kindly show your color palette also while mixing

[@cynthiamarston2208]

Do you cover brush strokes? There are some painters who go over the brush stroke made again and again. Your speed up demo suggests you rarely do more than one or two and then only rarely. I know this is off subject. Mark Carder is really demonstrative of the spare strokes and I want to get like that especially it is wet on wet. I forget. Do you mix colors on the go or ahead of time? Primarily I mean. Of course on the go happens. I want to be able to do that ahead of time mixing but I mix on the pallet as I go and I feel stumped how to know ahead of time the tone color etc without seeing things in relationship on the portrait. I mean we do apply paint in relationship to what is next to it all the time. Maybe it just takes experience more than anything …. Right?

[@mariadagloriasantosdeolive1593]

Belo demais

[@cindiwoodruff]

Years ago, when I worked for restoration places, our rule was to not seal an oil painting until at least one year drying time had passed. Are you sealing the painting at the end and do you think you have to wait a long time?

[@stephenroten233]

I think it depends on the type of varnish. Gamvar is safe to use right away because it allows the painting to dry underneath and won't crack, but if you use damar varnish you need to wait.

[@heritageartacademy4287]

Nice

[@ankith05]

What do you use as a medium for oil paintings

[@steztoyz]

Your camera light changed at 3:18 and it threw all the colors off.

[@melodypitcher4438]

I would love to paint my children but found it so hard to get the likeness right, and I struggled to get the dark and light planes in faces right because I've not been trained in this before. Is there a general rule for this?

[@suhyeneiddrisu6771]

What kind of liquid was poured onto the painting at the end?

[@ChelseaLang]

That's Gamvar Gloss varnish, which I apply after the painting is fully dry to the touch. It helps protect the paint layer while also bringing out the dark colors. :)

[@laurarosser1747]

It might be a good idea to practice drawing a portrait with a brush and paint rather than a pencil all the time. 13:18 13:18 13:18

[@radvlad1431]

The shadow of the cheek on the right side of the nose down to the chin is too dark 🧐

[@donnyprima4361]

It,s very nice..ada sedikit kritikan pada pipi sebelah kiri,sepertinya rambut menyatu dengan pencahayaan gelapnya.seakan rambut menempel di pipi.secara keseluruhan bagus.👍

[@JustMeYouSee]

Can you paint a picture of my daughter? 😍

[@sp9138]

Thank you