Stylized Portrait Painting with Gouache
A course by Davi CalilPainter, Illustrator, and Comic Artist
A course by Davi Calil, Painter, Illustrator, and Comic Artist
Learn contemporary painting techniques to create stylized portraits from start to finish
If you're interested in the creative possibilities of gouache, painter, illustrator, and comic artist Davi Calil is the perfect person to guide you on this journey. As founder of the comic collective Dead Hamster and winner of the Troféu HQMIX for his graphic novel Quaisqualigundum, his go-to medium for creating uniquely expressive portraits is gouache.
In this course, learn to paint your own stylized portraits using gouache. Davi teaches you how to analyze human facial anatomy and use your observations to create geometric structures. From here, see how to distort and exaggerate the human form simply and effectively for expressive, one-of-a-kind artworks.
What will you learn in this online course?
13 lessons & 13 downloads
Materials
11 minutes, 7 seconds
Start with the movement
13 minutes, 17 seconds
Color theory
20 minutes, 23 seconds
Tonal value
11 minutes, 58 seconds
Painting process
17 minutes, 9 seconds
Reference selection and analysis
8 minutes, 34 seconds
What's included in this course?
Meet Davi Calil and get to know a little about his career in the world of painting and illustration. He also shares the artists and works that have most inspired him over the years.
Then discover the concept of ""pareidolia"" and how to use it to make your paintings larger than life, before covering some basic color theory and how to create a tonal scale.
Next, choose which sculpture to use as your reference. Davi teaches you the principles of stylization and character design to create an expressive portrait in gouache from your chosen image. Move on to explore how to combine opaque and transparent layers harmoniously, and add the finishing touches taking into account color, contrast, and texture.
Finally, get some invaluable tips on finding your signature style as well as how to finance your own work. Now you have all the tools to compose expressive and vibrant portraits of your own using gouache.
What is this course's project?
Paint a portrait with gouache using a sculpture as your reference, exploring traditional techniques, expressive forms, and vibrant colors.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone curious to see where some gouache paints and a few paintbrushes can take them.
Requirements and materials
No prior knowledge is necessary for this course.
For materials, you need gouache paints, synthetic-hair paintbrushes (flat wash and round), paper, a mixing palette, and some basic cleaning products.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
O professor é incrível. Explica todas as técnicas de maneira fácil e muito didática. Os exercícios propostos trazem a possibilidade de praticar os conceitos introduzidos.
- 3 months ago
great course!
- 4 months ago
O curso é excelente, uma didática incrível. Recomendo muito.
- 5 months ago
Una técnica original con muy buenos resultados.
- 7 months ago
Aquí se va más allá de copiar un retrato: el color, la técnica y la teoría se abordan con profundidad y claridad. Davi transmite una pasión genuina que se percibe en cada explicación, y desde el inicio aporta conceptos que enriquecen el trabajo y potencian la expresividad en gouache. El resultado final sorprende y supera las propias expectativas.
Mejorable la edición, que omite pasos clave para comprender las transiciones.
In addition to his creative career, Davi has over a decade's teaching experience and has run workshops in a number of different Brazilian cities. He was also a character designer for Cartoon Network's animated series Haunted Tales for Wicked Kids.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- About Me
- Influences
- U2
Pareidolia
- Materials
- Start with the movement
- Color theory
- Tonal value
- Painting process
- U3
The limits of form
- Reference selection and analysis
- Styling and design
- Production
- Finalization
- U4
Dialogue through painting
- Finding your voice as an author
- Alternative forms of financing
- FP
Final project
- Stylized Portrait Painting with Gouache
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
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FAQs
This is an intermediate-level course, perfect for those with basic drawing or painting skills who want to deepen their knowledge of classic and contemporary techniques in illustration, painting, and original comics.
You’ll need materials like cotton paper, gouache, watercolor, oil paint, various brushes, a paint tube squeezer, palette, and basic painting accessories. A detailed list is provided in the first lessons.
You’ll learn classical and contemporary painting techniques, caricature, independent comics production, use of watercolor, gouache, and oil, publishing and crowdfunding strategies, plus reference analysis and developing your own artistic voice.
The course covers how to plan, promote, and publish webcomics and independent comics through crowdfunding platforms like Catarse, from project setup to audience engagement strategies.
Yes, the course includes modules on plein air painting, outdoor observation, light effects, tonal value application, and depicting different environments like beaches using watercolor and gouache.
Basic drawing skills are recommended since this is an intermediate course, but there are lessons on simplification, facial expression, and structure to help you improve technically.
Yes, you’ll learn color mixing fundamentals, tonal scale creation, use of Goethe’s Triangle, making chromatic grays, complementary contrast, and techniques for toning paper.