In my experience, eyes are rather tricky things to paint—and as small as they are in comparison to the rest of the face, they carry a huge amount of importance in a portrait. Not only do eyes need to look realistic, engaging, and alive, but they also need to resemble the eyes of the person that you’re painting.
In the following video, Craig Nelson demonstrates his own step-by-step methods for painting eyes, starting with the whites of the eyes in shadow, then moving on to the lash line, eyebrows, and folds of the upper eyelids before ever putting any color in the iris. More importantly, he’s getting the results below by continually studying his subject while painting. Take a look:
Finally, my "big project" is finished! It’s been a crazy day with a lot going on, but foliotwist.com is finally live and online! Since I’ve kept it a complete secret up until launch, here’s a quick (mostly visual) overview of what it does. . .read more
Drawing and painting negative spaces (i.e., not just the outline of an object, but the spaces between objects) is an important technique for artists to learn. In the following video, Craig Nelson demonstrates painting negative space using a long filbert brush, which he calls an "egbert" brush.. . . read more
Before you start a painting, it's often a good idea to draw out a preliminary sketch of your subject matter with all the right proportions and measurements. In the follow video, Craig Nelson demonstrates how he uses gesture drawing techniques to quickly sketch his figures. He also explains how. . . read more
In today's video tutorial, oil painter Craig Nelson is demonstrating part of his painting process while using a limited color palette. Since his color choices are restricted, Craig pays special attention to the value differences between the shadow side of his objects, their cast shadow, and th. . . read more
We all know how to use a basic eraser, right? Well, in today's video, illustrator Craig Nelson demonstrates a few very effective eraser techniques that you may not be as familiar with, which could come in handy during your next drawing. Take a look: NOTE: You can get the entire DVD tutorial, w. . . read more
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