Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
cant paint people
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Message
Posted
Two things here - low marks for portraiture and painting what one is comfortable with.
On the portraits, accuracy is far more important with recogniseable subject matter than general landscape views. A tree can be very loosely depicted and still look like the tree in question. A face needs to be absolutely spot on or anyone can see it is wrong.
Painting what you like is what most people do anway. Why struggle to paint portraits when you would rather be painting landscapes? Doesn't let you off the hook where accuracy is concerned, of course, but the process might be more enjoyable.
Posted
If you want to paint portraits, it's the same as anything else - keep doing it until you can do it; only if you've tried, tried and tried again should you conclude that it isn't for you, although I would never advocate flogging a dead horse and driving yourself mad.
Measure the basics - especially the mouth, in which most expression lies (it really isn't the eyes....) and be as free as you can with the rest within the broad but accurate shapes - and keep trying. Work from photographs, and from life - copy newspaper photos, draw faces from the television and from films to get yourself used to working quickly. If you can draw it, you can paint it.
As to whether people do it and persevere or give up and retreat to their comfort zone - it depends on the people! Yes, sure, some will - others will strive to improve across the board. You've just got to choose what sort of artist you want to be.
Posted
Painting portraits is extremely difficult to do well. You need years of practice, or a great talent for art, or both.
On reading painting/drawing instructional manuals, the beginner gets the impression that all styles and techniques are equally easy to learn. But they aren't - most of us have strengths and weakness in our paintings and drawings. I can't do abstract or still life paintings very well.
You can abandon portraits, there's no need to do them if you find them hard. If you want to continue, then start by doing quick drawings in pencil. I often record TV programmes with interesting faces, and then do a quick sketch of a face, a few inches in size. After the screen times out,( about 5 mins), I usually choose another face and start again.
Edited
by keora
Posted
This talented or gifted thing is a problem - in theory at least, many of us would say (as North Light does) that it's 10% talent to 90% effort, practice, hard work. I'm not completely sure about that - because I've known people who haven't drawn or painted in decades, who can suddenly produce a work to knock your socks off: I had a great aunt who did precisely that when she entered an old people's home and was encouraged to paint as therapy (I don't have the painting or I'd show it).
I'm pretty sure there's a mix along the North Light lines, though! Generally speaking, talent on its own isn't enough - it needs honing, and practice. But I agree that if portrait painting especially isn't working for you, there's no shame in just giving up on it: I can't paint abstracts either - I can enjoy them when someone else paints them: I'm a great admirer of Jackson Pollock, who is far from being everybody's cup of tea. But as for producing anything like that myself - not a hope: whatever I did would sooner or later turn into a tree. It doesn't matter - most of us can't do everything, even if some seem to. You might be able to write a great novel - doesn't mean you can write poetry. You could be a brilliant composer, but not amongst those present if called upon to write a simple tune.
Give it a go, but if it's not working out - life is too short to worry about what you can't do, when you have the chance to show what you can (and with any luck, make some money out of it.... Not that I'm obsessed with that subject, but I could do with some more oil paint, and it ain't cheap.....)