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gray and paint the outer side edge of the eyes with this, When painting the iris, remember that the lower part of the iris is lighter as the lashes shade the upper part of the eye. When making the highlights in the pupil be sure the eyes match. Look at your own eyes and see that there is a little pinkish red in the inside corners of the eyes.

Notice that the eyelid curves over the eye and when something curves it creates a shadow. And it also creates a light. I cannot stress looking for shadows enough. Always paint with that in mind; where is the shadow, where is the light, how dark is the shadow, how light is the light? Where is the highlight?

Paint using your brush as though it were fingers modeling a piece of clay, painting in the direction the face is turning.

Work on the hair as you go along and when you feel like you don't know what to do next, start on the back ground.

Always leave your painting for a little while and when you go back to it you will see changes you need to make. If you know something is wrong with the face and you do not know what, look at it in a mirror. Turning your painting upside down is another method of seeing what is wrong.

Remember when you are painting hair it will be darker as it goes back into the picture. Look for the highlights in the hair, once again looking for darks and lights.

The last step in the portrait is painting the highlights; usually the tip of the nose, the chin, the forehead and possible a cheek, perhaps the lower lip.

My art teacher used to say, "Now make it sing." This is how he referred to the highlights. He had another word of advice that I will pass on to you. "Don't hurry to finish your painting." He would tell me. "It is better to have one good painting than ten bad ones." I learned portrait painting from Marvin Julien who has long since passed away. He was a noted Boston portrait artist. He not only taught me to paint, but also to have patience. I am deeply grateful to this wonderful artist.

Learn more about this author, Roberta Lee Small.
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