Whenever you see portraiture that looks so realistic, you might have some doubts as to whether it was even a real painting, to begin with. Not when it looks like an oversized photograph. It takes talent and hard work to achieve something like that. But it can be learned in easy steps. So let us try to learn how to do Hand Painted Portraits from Photos.

First step is to pick an image that has good shadows and highlights. Make sure that everything about it is not impossible to portray since we are only doing the first one to try on. After that, crop the picture to a size that resembles your canvas. Then start from there.

Sketch the lines and include its highlights for more detail later. You can use your projector to get the proportions right if you are not adept or comfortable drawing by hand. After that lay out all your colors that you will use for your portrait. For most skin tones, use burnt umber, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, titanium white and french ultramarine. Those will be what you will need the most.

You paint the eyes first. The whites should be done before the pupils. Always remember that those are never purely white. Some have shadows or anything that varies all its whites. Your darks and shadows ought to be blocked in too. Doing that help helps you get comfortable with the face.

Do the mid tones that you see are on the picture and put it in the portrait. Add the lips during this stage as well. Those are also of a tone of skin so do not think red. Mix and dab to be sure of its color. For the rest, use just a little bit of ultramarine to cool down the skin. For warmer tones, use the yellow and crimson color.

Add details through the entire portrait. You have already covered the basic values be blocked in so next is to have fun with tones and do try to make some adjustments. Think of the contrast when finishing this step and attach the lights and the darks where they are needed.

For its hair, start the dark part then layer the light areas. It should be pretty easy to do the hair since it is mostly the favorite part of the artist to paint or draw. You can add any style here and can be creative about it.

Once all that is done, finish the tiniest and finest details. It is the part where adjusting the finer and subtle parts come into play. Start by adding more highlights and messing with the hair for a little bit just to add a bit more reality. Try not to go overboard though. Be creative but do not put in too much than what is needed.

Your background should be last. Put colors that cannot match your subject to add contrast and so they mix well together. If you are done, view your work. The first ones do not always turn out great but practice can get you going. After all, the saying is Practice Makes Perfect.