Painting Portraits in Acrylic: A practical guide to contemporary portraiture

A fantastic, accessible and practical guide to contemporary portraiture. Learn from master artist and author Hashim Akib as he shows you how to produce striking, interesting portraits in your own style.
Hashim Akib’s striking portraits are at the heart of this inspirational book. The subject of portraiture is seen by many as the zenith of art, and Hash’s easygoing, unpretentious style puts fantastic results within the reach of hobby artists and aspiring professionals alike.
Assuming nothing and starting from the basics – making it suitable even for the enthusiastic beginner – this book includes six step-by-step projects to follow; along with friendly but in-depth advice on color palettes; skintone; composition; working from photographs and models; markmaking; lighting; atmosphere and much more.
The book covers many types of portraiture – from the self-portrait to full-length portraits – all with a striking, contemporary style.

From the Publisher

A note from the author

This book explores how we, as artists, can look at portraiture more creatively while maintaining the likeness of the sitter. If you are looking for a technical drawing manual on the physiology of the human face, or how to replicate the intricate contours of the transverse nasalis, then this is not the book for you. I avoid using small round head or rigger brushes, there’s no generic flesh tint, and a photographic reproduction is absolutely

not the ultimate goal. Instead, this book will take you through practical exercises with the overall aim of getting you to paint much more instinctively, allowing you to depict the essence of your model.

Your imagination is important to nurture, so get to know the face and you can imagine the story behind it.

Part of the appeal of portrait painting is the story each and every face conveys. We can read the literal cues of skin, eyes, hair colour, proportions or levels of attractiveness, and we can make assumptions regarding what we don’t see. Charisma is difficult to convey in a two-dimensional image, but we can get close to reflecting qualities such as a subject’s shyness; emotions like anger, sadness, or happiness; and whether the subject is an introvert or extrovert.
When you begin taking up portraiture, you will find yourself scrutinizing faces a lot more closely. You’ll latch onto particular features of interest – and it may not necessarily be the eyes. You’ll take notice of face
shapes or how elements like facial hair or spectacles can sometimes disguise interesting features.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Search Press (September 10, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1782215816
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1782215813
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.56 x 0.42 x 11.06 inches