Value Portrait 

Essential Question: 

How do value and shape play important roles in painting a realistic portrait?

Purpose:

• • To determine where values change when light moves over an uneven surface by using a range of gray values to paint a realistic self-portrait;

  • To become familiar with the structure and shapes of the face by painting a realistic self-portrait.

  • To effectively communicate an image that looks like you through careful examination of the values of your face 

Medium: 

Acrylic Paint on Acetate

Size: 

• 8.5” x 11”

Reflection:

Everything, every photo, every object, has values depending on the lighting that are important in making it come to life. It is important to include light and dark values in your painting to give it a sense of realism because it makes it pop off the paper and it kind of gives it a 3 dimensional feel to it. When you add the shadows and light to areas such as the eyes, the teeth, etc. it makes the painting come to life. It is so important to include values when painting portraits because values are what creates realism. I really like how this portrait came out. I think with the blocks of color it has a really cool look to it which I enjoy. I think the most important parts of my portrait making for me were making sure that I went over the paint multiple times and made sure I was filling in all the white spaces. This is what really helped me pull together the painting in the end. I think that this, however, was also the hardest part for me because I had a lot of issues with the paint cracking which was not the most fun to deal with. Because of this, I had to go over the paint multiple times, and although it is not perfect, I think it ended up coming out really well! I learned that it is very important to look closely into the nuanced shades where the light is hitting and where it is not, so that your subject looks as real and 3D as possible. There are so many shades in everything no matter how small the difference is, and it is important to reciprocate these in the paintings to make it look real. I found that when creating the values with the still life, it was a bit easier because you had a far more flexible range of shades you could get. With the paints, sometimes there was a big jump between colors which could be difficult when picking out shades. On the other hand, with the still life, you just had to adjust the pressure of the pen to get different values. I chose a dark burgundy red for the background because I have always loved that shade of red. I find it such a calming shade and have had my hair dyed that color a few times. I think it fits well with my portrait because of the light values in the face and the hair, the dark red it a good contrast that sets the portrait apart from the background.