Watercolor Portraits from photo reference: skin tones.

Watercolor Portraits from photo reference: skin tones.

Teaching a portrait course during quarantine can be difficult, art models can't be present and the focus moves to other aspects of the process, in this selection you can see my approach studying skin tones.
At the beginning my need to find attractive and didactic photo references was searching on the web, but lately I've decided to create specific photo sessions with models in order to give something back to the art community especially art models.
The images below are all live demos that I give during my online classes. Don't forget to follow me here and on the web. https://www.instagram.com/michelebajona

When starting a new portrait it's a good habit to prepare some gradient washes and color mixes in order to find the right color palette to represent your sitter and background.
In this case I study mixes for a dark skin tone.
I recommend preparing a color study like this also to warm up and get loose with the brushstroke right before painting your portrait.