6 Free Drawing Portrait Tutorials to Improve Your Technique

Boost your portrait drawing skills with these free tutorials. Improve your technique and take your art to the next level.

1. 5 Common Mistakes Beginners Make in Portrait Drawing - Tutorial by Matt Smith

Take your illustration skills to the next level alongside award-winning artist Matt Smith. In this tutorial, he shows you 3 common drawing mistakes to avoid, and teaches you how to overcome these errors with some useful sketching hacks.
If you enjoy this tutorial, be sure to check out Matt's online course Fundamentals of Portrait Drawing with Pencil.

2. How to Draw a Portrait with movement - Portrait Tutorial by Carne Griffiths

Ink can create dynamic and stunning portraits, but what about if you added tea and alcohol into your mix of materials? In this portrait painting tutorial, Carne Griffiths shows you how to draw a female portrait full of life and movement using a photo as reference.
If you enjoy this tutorial, be sure to check out Carne's online course Experimental Portraiture with Ink, Tea and Alcohol

3. How to Make a Self Portrait with Chalk Pastels - Tutorial by Dominic Bodden

Chalk Pastels can add beautiful color and texture to a self portrait. In this tutorial, Dominic Bodden explains you which are the 3 types of chalk pastels and how to use them to make a self portrait.
If you enjoy this tutorial, be sure to check out Dominic’s online course Dramatic Portraits with Pastels, Collage, and Photoshop

4. iPad Tutorial: How to Draw an Eye using Procreate Pencils - Paul Ryding

Take your portrait drawing to the next level by perfecting the window to the soul: the eye. British illustrator Paul Ryding will first teach you how to trace a photo of the eye in Procreate, and then explain how to shade and detail your image with 6B and HB pencils.
If you enjoy this tutorial, be sure to check out Paul’s online course Modern Portraiture with Procreate: Stylize Your Subject

5. Drawing Tutorial: 3 Different Ways to Start a Portrait - Gabriela Niko

Love portraiture but never know how to start? Using an image of singer Billie Eilish as a reference, portrait artist Gabriela Niko shows you three different techniques to help you begin drawing your portrait.
If you enjoy this tutorial, be sure to check out Gabriela’s online course Portrait Sketchbooking: Explore the Human Face

6. Discover how to add a personal touch to your oil painting - Tutorial by Alan Coulson

Discover tips for adding an expressive personal touch to a realistic oil portraiture, with Alan Coulson, a self-taught portrait artist from the UK. Although his portraitures are realistic, he likes to add a personal touch to them so that they don’t end up looking like an exact replica of a photograph.
If you enjoy this tutorial, be sure to check out Alan’s online course Realistic Oil Portraiture: Conveying Detail and Expression

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