Introduction to Realistic Oil Portraiture

Bring a character to life one brush stroke at a time and immortalize their face in an oil painting. For Laura Cuadros, self-taught artist specialized in portraits and landscapes, this form of art is also a form of meditation that grounds her in peace and happiness.

Join Laura and learn everything you need to know to paint realistic oil portraits and capture the finer details of the face. Discover how to choose your model, recreate facial shapes and proportions, and paint a work of art from a blank canvas.

Start the course by getting to know your teacher, Laura Cuadros. She tells you about her professional background and artistic influences, especially other painters and what she admires about their work.

Dive straight into the materials and get familiar with different types of brushes, canvas options, mediums, and paint qualities. Discover what factors to consider when choosing your model and study the structure of the face to better understand facial proportions.

Laura then walks you through how to create your first portrait. Transfer your image to your canvas and experiment with mixing basic colors into a color palette and using a simple technique to create more complex tones.

Now it's time to paint! Start by priming your canvas and then apply the first and second layers of colors following your teacher's advice. Finally, learn how to get an impeccable finish using her glaze technique.

To round out the course, Laura shares some of her professional secrets on how to protect and preserve your art using varnish as well as clean and care for your brushes to make them last longer.

Paint a realistic oil portrait by recreating facial features with depth and detail.

Anyone who wants to learn and get started in oil painting.

No prior knowledge is needed to take this course, but some experience in drawing and painting will be helpful for completing the final project.

As for materials, you need an easel, charcoal, and some basic oil painting supplies including brushes, colors, a palette, a canvas, and other materials your teacher will specify at the beginning of the course.