I teach a lot of portrait classes.  We start with drawing the face — first of all, where the features go.  Next we do the eyes.  After the eyes we concentrate on the lips and nose.  After four weeks of drawing, I teach them to paint faces.

Here is a self-portrait demo from a recent class.  To me, the eyes are most important.  That’s my biggest concern.  I also have the students divide the shapes and shadows of the face and try to match the colors they actually see.  I’m a believer in painting with emotion — not just trying to create a photo-realistic image.

This is a portrait of Stephanie.  Each portrait I do is done differently to reflect the personality of the subject.  She’s a very good artist so I wanted to portray her in an impressionist manner.