Art Instruction on Child Painting from Photos

Oil Painting Technique on How to Paint Children from Photographs

Oct 20, 2009

Portrait painting has its own set of challenges, but child portraiture may seem especially difficult. However, the artist may be surprised with the first attempt.

Children will not stay still for long, so a fine art oil painting of children will require clear images from which to work. When painting children from photographs, particularly several, it is wise to ensure that the lighting and the vantage point of each are similar. In this art demonstration, four images consisting of children and a dog were amalgamated into a painting.

The Art Materials Required

How to Paint Skin Tones

Painting onto a white painting surface is not helpful for setting the skin tones, as it will give a misleading impression of its colour. The surface was therefore prepared with a wash of ultramarine acrylic paint and then allowed to dry. The figures were then carefully sketched on via a soft pencil.

Capturing the colour of skin in an oil painting requires close observation. Often the most unexpected colours can be seen within. In this case, the flesh tones have deep shadows and bright highlights. The highlights were applied first, which consisted of white and a speck of burnt sienna (fig 1). A little ultramarine and more burnt sienna were introduced into the shadowed areas and for the hair, and finally burnt umber and ultramarine for deep shadow. A fine brush was used throughout. A clean soft rag was dabbed over areas of flesh tone to eradicate brush marks (fig 2).

Painting Tips for Painting Figures

The background was daubed on via a selection of greens and deep shadows to make the figures stand out. Be prepared to go over the figures again, as they may look bleached out afterwards. Extra definition was added to shadowed areas via burnt umber, permanent rose and ultramarine from a fine sable. Similarly, highlights were added to other areas with neat white. It is important to observe the photos closely when adding detail particularly to faces, as these form the focal points to the painting (fig 3)

Realistic Oil Painting of Figures and Flesh Tones

Further detail was added to the highlighted areas of the dog’s fur, the hosepipe and to the swimwear (fig 4). Achieving a high finish with oil painting often entails going over selected areas in glazes of up to three or four times, particularly the faces and the flesh tones. However, in order to keep the focal point on the figures, the background may remain suggested.

Oil Painting Children from Photos

Amalgamating several photos into an oil painting of children is a great way of creating a new composition, but before doing so, it might be wise to have a go at painting children form a simple photo, in order to get to grips with the flesh tones, or even a painting of adults. Undertaking such a challenging subject matter requires a certain amount of confidence but the artist might be surprised with the results. Extra care should be taken with the figures themselves and the faces. Going over the painting three or four times with a fine sable and a soft clean cloth will help add definition and detail for a polished result.

The copyright of the article Art Instruction on Child Painting from Photos in Portrait Painting is owned by Rachel Wills. Permission to republish Art Instruction on Child Painting from Photos in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.