This portrait is my first attempt at Acrylic paint in years, and the first with quality supplies. It was an enlightening experience to say in the least. While very fun, the technique was foreign to my watercolor fingers and, sadly, I cannot say that I completely broke away from my watercolor techniques.
The subject of the portrait is Key (Kim Kibum), a member of the Korean Pop group SHINee. I chose to paint him because 1) he is very talented; 2) I was listening to SHINee's song Sherlock when I conceived the desire to paint; and 3) there were many references to draw from. This picture is not original, and I do not claim it to be. It is merely an experiment that I did in order to become more comfortable in Acrylic.
Color Technique
Because I am so new to this medium, I cannot give as much advice as I can in watercolor because I myself am not sure of Acrylic technique yet. However, I can give advice on colors and color mixing.
I used only five pigments in this entire piece: Cobalt Blue, Med. Cadmium Yellow, Med. Napthol Red, Titanium White, and Carbon Black.
In order to paint a picture in Acrylic, these are the only colors a person needs. Of course, one can use different variations of these colors, as long as they are basically a Blue, Red, Yellow, White, and Black. Almost any color in the rainbow can be mixed from these colors. (NOTE: An exception to this would be iridescent colors, unless your base colors were iridescent.) It merely takes experience and practice to master color mixing.
Here are some of the basic formulas I used in this picture:
Skin -- Red, Yellow, White (a touch of blue or black for shading.)
Hair -- for base mix Red, Yellow, and Blue (very small amount)
- for Shading add Black
- for Highlights add White and more Yellow
Shirt -- for base mix mostly Red with a small amount of Yellow
- for Shading add more red and a dash of Black
Coat -- for base mix Blue, Yellow, and White (small amount)
- for Shading add more Blue and some Black
- for Highlights add more Yellow
Background -- mix Blue and White with a small amount of Yellow (adds brightness)
Stats:
Dimensions -- 8 x 10
Time Spent -- 3 hrs and 45 mins
Paper -- Stretched Canvas
Medium -- Acrylic Paint
Brushes used -- Size 4 square flat brush
Size 0 square flat brush
Liner
Do not claim as your own work. Do not distribute without my express permission.
Sincerely,
KobaltWolf
