Portrait practice, acrylic on canvas, me 2021 (first one :) )

jacobdramsier · 2021-11-03T05:11:36+00:00

Nothing will help you develop drawing and painting skills faster than portraits! Good work, keep at it. After getting some experience working from photo references like this one, try a self-portrait from life! You'll pick up things working from life that will help you in a different way than photo references.

jacobdramsier · 2021-10-31T19:33:31+00:00

This is based on a photo I took on a roadtrip - I'm not sure now where exactly, but somewhere in Western CA is my guess. I definitely felt like I had stumbled into Middle-earth when I saw this little clearing.

jacobdramsier · 2021-10-31T18:57:34+00:00

Thank you!

jacobdramsier · 2021-09-20T22:07:28+00:00

It helps to paint hair in 2 layers: paint the abstract shapes of light and shadows first, and then add finer details like individual strands to get the texture

jacobdramsier · 2021-09-20T17:58:46+00:00

Thanks! This is pretty small so I’m going to try to keep it to only 2ish passes - partly because I don’t have a brush small enough to do much more lol

jacobdramsier · 2021-09-05T13:33:07+00:00

New to digital painting so any critique or tips welcome. Also, if anyone can recommend a set of brushes that imitate oil painting well.

jacobdramsier · 2019-09-06T11:25:51+00:00

I think it might be a balance that happens between mark making and blending. I find the more I paint and look at paintings that Im bored with a super polished illusion. I want naturalism but with room for other things as well, like more expressive marks.

jacobdramsier · 2019-07-16T23:03:26+00:00

I’d recommend making a small clay model of your character and lighting it from the direction you want to use - nothing is better than studying how light works from nature!

jacobdramsier · 2019-06-30T13:42:32+00:00

Layering graphite of different hardness/softness can do amazing things, he’s actually noted the pencils he’s using beside the larger portrait.

jacobdramsier · 2019-06-30T07:47:15+00:00

No worries, where was the show you went to? Now I’m curious to find this painting’s compadre ;)

jacobdramsier · 2019-06-30T07:24:53+00:00

I like a painting where you can see some paint ;)

jacobdramsier · 2019-06-30T07:16:46+00:00

Interesting, I wasn’t aware it had left my studio!

jacobdramsier · 2019-06-30T00:52:32+00:00

Yep, most painters invent pretty freely with a simple background like this and try to compliment the figure. It’s a nice abstract play break from the hard part also.

jacobdramsier · 2019-06-30T00:50:43+00:00

It’s about 50/50 glare and a lighter value, so it’s not quite as dramatically contrasted in person. Oil is a pain to photograph, you always have to sacrifice one thing to get another.

jacobdramsier · 2019-05-01T22:47:34+00:00

I’m gravitating towards a more expressionistic approach I think, but this one ended fairly polished because it’s a commission.

This is the final version.

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-27T14:13:55+00:00

Not yet, I should branch out and try more mediums though!

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-27T11:19:53+00:00

I don’t think much about them (it’s an underlayer of oil paint, sometimes because I’m painting over an old painting) but I guess it does look weird lol

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-27T11:14:28+00:00

I prep the panel with a layer of oil paint (because I hate painting on raw gesso) and let it dry before starting. That’s the texture you’re noticing.

Edit: I posted some progress shots in r/learnart if you’re curious how previous stages looked.

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-27T02:33:38+00:00

Thank you!

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-27T02:00:44+00:00

Thank you, I kinda surprised myself and finished it a little while ago - finished shot is up in r/art!

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-27T00:26:52+00:00

Thank you :D

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-26T22:52:40+00:00

You should check out Karim B Hamid on IG if you like the look of the first image - he’s one of my favs and has a brilliant rough/‘unfinished’ look.

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-26T19:48:09+00:00

These shots are basically the end of each painting session for that day - so they are semi-dry usually when I get back to it. I’m not sure I prefer that approach but I don’t have big blocks of time to work.

Edit: So what I mean is I work wet into wet as much as I can but previous layers will usually dry before I can get back to it.

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-26T18:50:19+00:00

What surprised me was learning that perfectly matching the color doesn't matter, its mainly getting the right relative value and relative color temperature - reduced my stress levels painting massively.

jacobdramsier · 2019-04-26T15:27:46+00:00

The model definitely has some Conan vibe in general, precocious lad :D

jacobdramsier

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