How to paint a self portrait

1.    Self portrait reference

-    Select a high-contrast photo of yourself and print it out

-    Tape tracing paper over the printout and trace the outlines, facial elements, highlights, and deep shadow areas

-    Grid up the image with as many equally sized grids as needed for accuracy

2.    Gridding technique

-    Transfer the grid onto the canvas, scaling up the grid sizes to suit the chosen canvas size (e.g., doubling the size of each grid)

-    Draw up the image with graphite pencils, using the grids to get the proportions right

-    Remove the grid lines with an eraser when you’re happy with the sketch

3.    Paint tinting

-    Mix Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna acrylic paint

-    Apply a tint with the colours over the entire canvas to seal the graphite and canvas

-    This sets up a warm mid-tone to underlie your portrait

-    Allow the canvas to dry

4.    Mixing skin tones

-    Squeeze out Titanium White, Vermillion, Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, and Burnt Umber onto the palette

-    Create a mix using Yellow Ochre and Titanium White, then add Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, and a touch of Ultramarine to darken the tone

-    Add a touch of Vermillion to warm up the mix

-    Lighten this mix with Titanium White to create a mid-tone, and lighten further for a highlight tone

-    You can use Titanium White to lighten the skin tone and Ultramarine Blue to darken it

-    You should now have three main tones: darkest, mid-tone, and lightest

5.    Painting shadows and highlights

-    Use a small filbert brush to lay in the darkest tone in areas like the hollows of the eyes, under the nose, and shadow areas

-    Add the mid-tone in blocks next to the darkest tone, without worrying about blending at this stage

-    Apply the lightest tone next

6.    Blending and detailing

-    Carefully blend the three tones so the colours transition smoothly

-    Darken or lighten the tones as needed until satisfied

-    For the ears, add Vermillion to the mix to create a warm tone

-    Add ultra-dark tones around the eyes

-    Paint the whites of the eyes, tinting the tone so it’s not pure white to improve realism

-    Add highlights to high areas that catch the light

7.   How to paint hair

-    Apply the hair colour using Paynes Grey

-    Go over the top with Titanium White where there’s grey hair, following the direction of the hair with your strokes

8.    How to paint the background

-    Paint the background based on your photo's background

-    For the sky, we used Titanium White tinted with a touch of Cobalt Blue

-    For the hedge, use Sap Green and Paynes Grey, adding White to suggest light peeking through

-    Mix Lemon Yellow and Sap Green for a light green, and lay it over the white

9.    Painting the shirt

-    Lay in Paynes Grey for the shirt

-    Blend Titanium White into the highlight areas to suggest the collar

-    Use Lamp Black for the shadow areas under the collar