# Illustrated Portrait in Watercolor | Domestika

> A course by Ana Santos · Illustration · Beginner
> 21 lessons (4h 10m) · 100% of the 4402 student ratings are positive

Learn to combine traditional techniques and digital retouching with Photoshop
In this course, illustrator and artist Ana Santos will teach you the technique she uses to create her wonderful illustrated watercolor portraits, step by step. Ana enjoys the immediacy of watercolors, the spontaneity of results, and how easy it is to mix it with other materials or for mixed techniques.

In this course, discover her methodology, both analog and digital, which she usually combines in her compositions. Using a photograph as the starting point, she will teach you to immortalize expressive looks, melancholic gestures, and how to add organic or imaginative motifs to enrich your design and give it an original look.

This course is complementary to [Experimental Watercolor Techniques for Beginners](https://www.domestika.org/es/courses/482-tecnicas-experimentales-de-acuarela-para-principiantes), also by Ana Santos, in which you can learn to paint with watercolors from scratch and that mistakes can sometimes be the perfect ally.

## Who is this online course for?

Artists, illustrators, designers, and art lovers in general looking for new ways to create illustrated portraits combining mixed techniques.

## What is this course's project?

Create an illustrated portrait combining an analog watercolor process with digital methods to add the finishing touches.

## Requirements and materials

You'll need basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and knowledge of drawing will also be helpful, although not essential, as you'll use a photograph to create your illustrated portrait in this project.

Regarding materials, for the analog part of the course, you'll need watercolor paper of different grades, brushes of various sizes, watercolors, white paint, graphite, colored pencils, a pencil sharpener, and an eraser. For the digital process, you'll use a computer, a scanner, and work with a graphics tablet ideally.

## Content

### Introduction

Hello! I'm Ana Santos, thanks for your interest in my course. In this unit, I'll tell you about who I am, about my work and about some of the artists that I like.

### Materials and search

In this unit, we'll look for inspiration for our drawing and I'll talk about the materials that you need to get you started in the world of watercolor.

### Proportions and getting to know watercolors

In this unit, we'll see a simple way to place elements on faces. Plus, we'll start with our first watercolor brushstrokes. It will be a brief introduction with some little tips and tricks.

### Analog illustration process

In this unit, we'll start to bring our portrait to life with the personal references that we have chosen. I like to choose faces that aren't very well known that have attention-grabbing features and then add personality later.

### Digital image process

In this lesson, we'll compose and retouch our portrait in Photoshop with all the elements that we have drawn. Sometimes, once I have composed my image in photoshop, I work on the original portrait and add elements analogically once I have a clear idea of the composition that works best. 

This part is also very fun because in the same drawing you can make different compositions from your library of drawings and textures files. Let's begin!

## Audio and subtitles

**Audio:** Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish

**Subtitles:** Spanish, English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Turkish

[Illustrated Portrait in Watercolor](https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/206-illustrated-portrait-in-watercolor)