What is the best medium to use for painting portraits?
Stacy
2012-06-21 06:35:34 UTC
The title pretty much says all.
Nine answers:
rmbrruffian
2012-06-21 08:37:19 UTC
Watercolor can be difficult if you don't understand the properties and rules. Watercolor is painted opposite of every other medium. It is painted light to dark where all others are dark to light. Many artists cannot make that leap.
Watercolor portraits can be painted anywhere from photo realism to ethereal. See links.
I mostly work in oils now for portrait commissions. I can spend less time creating an oil painting than doing a highly detailed pencil or charcoal. So it's a bit of a paradox that paintings tend to be far more expensive than drawings, and often sale prices can be so high that cost of materials is irrelevant. I guess the classical romantic aspect of an oil painting tends to be more appealing than a drawing aswell.
For an artist it's also a personal creative choice as to which medium is chosen. I prefer oils because of the colour vibrancy and texture, and the way glazes of colour can create depth and illusory space. It's also less tedious than detailed drawing and there's always something new to be learnt from painting in oils. I'm also interested in mark making, and pencils are quite limited in this area.
A lot of artists like me are still creating affordable portrait paintings. I can complete a portrait painting in 16 hours and mine are usually under £400. And large paintings tend to be over £1000, but i doubt many commissions will come my way for this price for quite a while yet.
The painting attached was completed in 10 hours. Though drying time between layers was about 3 days.
if you havnt tried oils or acrylics I'm sure you will enjoy the expressive quality of them.
?
2012-06-21 08:11:19 UTC
you can use any medium to paint nice portraits but oil is the best .
watercolor is the most difficult medium , it is tricky .you have to rush out when you paint because the colors dry so fast and the paint is very watery and hard to control .
acrylic & oil are better to paint portraits but oil is better than acrylics , because it looks more realistic and it is easier to blend colors in acrylics .
both are expensive , good quality acrylics are expensive also .
buy M.graham oil paints ,they are cheaper than other brands and it is artist grade .
kali d
2012-06-21 06:38:48 UTC
Im a huge fan of acrylics for portraits, the color is easy to mix and drys and awful lot quicker than oils, watercolor can be very tricky to start, Acrylics are also a lot cheaper and you have greater flexibility with the texture.
raymond m
2012-06-24 07:43:35 UTC
A skilled painter can create excellent portraits no matter the medium. There is only a "best" for the individual artist.
Lily
2012-06-21 06:41:03 UTC
I would say probably oil paints. They blend better than acrylics and you don't run the risk of running and blotchiness like you do with watercolours.
However oils take a lifetime to dry and they are very expensive. Acrylic paints would be an ok compromise as the blend ok but they dry quite quickly and they don't blend as nicely as oils.