The Biggest Mistake People Make When Portrait Painting

In this Portrait Painting Tutorial, realist painter Alex tzavaras talks about one of the biggest mistakes people make when portrait painting - Over Modelling.

For Alex's course on the fundamentals of oil painting visit:
  / simplifydrawingandpainting  

Over modelling happens when you focus in on each small are of your subject separately and exaggerate the differences in light and dark tonal values in oil painting. If you then exaggerate the tonal values in painting within each small area, you loose the larger value relationships and your image so it no longer appears 3D. This is a really common beginner oil painting mistake.

To avoid over modelling, you need to see the whole before the parts. You need to establish the larger tonal value relationships by simplifying your subject into 3 or 4 main tonal values. However, simplifying your subject into large value masses is one of the most difficult things we have to do when painting. But in this video, Alex demonstrates what this actually looks like in practice, while an Alla prima portrait from life, using a monochrome or grissaille oil painting technique . He also shows you a really useful tool in Adobe Photoshop, The Median Tool, that you can use to simplify the tonal values for you, when you are working from reference photos.

Alex Tzavaras is a contemporary realist artist offering portrait painting and alla prima oil painting tutorials. Alex teaches the traditional painting techniques artists used to draw and paint from life up until the start of the 20th century.

Connect with Alex:
  / alex_tzavaras  
  / simplifydrawingandpainting  
  / alextzavaras  
http://alextzavaras.com