Jane Angelhart: The Watercolor Portrait

Many new and intermediate artists agree that painting faces, especially children, in an accurate fashion is one of the hardest tasks with which they could be faced.

Discover exciting watercolor painting techniques for creating dramatic portraits. Many new and intermediate artists agree that painting faces, especially children, in an accurate fashion is one of the hardest tasks with which they could be faced.

Although faces and body shapes seem simple on the surface, they are delicately curved and composed of a plethora of color, and without proper technique novice paintings can seem flat and cartoon like.

In this watercolor painting video workshop with master portrait painter Jane Anglehart, students are provided with a rare opportunity to learn professional secrets for letting colors and faces bloom from the page. This watercolor instruction video starts out with a discussion of painting as a luscious experience, something Angelhart likens to applying colored butter to a canvas.

Students will benefit from Angelhart's instruction about how to paint a portrait with multiple luminous layers, without dissolving previous layers or muddying the color. The workshop progresses with many helpful tips and strategies for simplifying the portrait painting process. Students learn about how to enlarge reference material on a computer screen for greater understanding, information and improved painting, and how to let the vibrant transparent colors grow and bloom in unexpected directions.

To facilitate full understanding of the watercolor painting concepts discussed, this art instruction DVD is divided into four chapters: the introduction and gallery; the main project; materials; and helpful exercises she recommends as a warm up to painting. Students of all levels will benefit from Jane Angelhart's calm comforting style, easy to follow instruction, and encouraging advice. If you've been afraid to really put the vibrancy of watercolors to the test in the portrait genre, this is the workshop for you.