Video

Photo

First, pick a picture of yourself and remove the colors.

It is much easier to create a realistic portrait when you don't have to worry about colors.

Brush

For this painting, I will use this brush, because I believe it reproduces the skin and hair well. And change the opacity to 80%.

My advice is that if you want to use the airbrush, do it only in the details because otherwise, the drawing will be very fuzzy. You need a solid foundation!

Background and Base

Make the outline of your drawing and then start by defining where the eyes, mouth, nose are. Then make the bigger shadows, like the ones on the side of the nose, cheek, and neck...

To the background, choose a light gray, almost in the middle between black and white. Because if you leave the white background when putting the light on the drawing, your eye will try to compete with the background and it will lighten your drawing too much.

 

Light and Shadow

I alternate several times between shadow and light to add volume to the drawing and not make it too dark and then put the light on.

Gradually darken and define the parts of your face. The key here is patience, a portrait can take hours. But it is better to take it easy than to be frustrated later.

 

I did all the drawing in just one layer(I'm lazy), but I advise you to use at least two layers for shadow and light.

For hair and beard, I use a light shade, light, and then a darker shade to give the feeling of one hair is overlapping the other.

 

You do not need to draw wire by wire, I did it on the cheek only and from there the brain interprets the rest.

Fixing Errors

If you have been working on the drawing for a long time, rest for an hour or leave it for another day and see your drawing with fresh eyes. For example, I realized that there were a lot of mistakes in my drawing.

Color

If you want to add color later, create another layer, switch to overlay, and paint! I personally prefer black and white.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes, as you can see I made several mistakes, I cut, I used liquify. But the important thing is to notice and fix your mistakes.

 

I am very happy when I look at this drawing because it may not be perfect, but I really like the result.

 

Well, that's it for today. Remember that your drawing may not be the way you want it now, but it will only improve if you keep practicing!