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”

Value and shape are important in a realistic portrait because they show the real look of the person. Humans don’t have perfect proportions and lines so showing different shapes is important to create realism. The color is important because it also creates a different shadow which can change depending on light and human face shapes. Creating accurate representation in your portrait comes from using value and shape correctly. 

I think I didn’t really like my portrait in the beginning but now seeing the final product I feel more confident about it. I didn’t really enjoy the process of making this painting because my paint kept clumping together and flaking off, but after multiple layers, it ended up looking good. I think the added detail of the freckles really brought my facial features to light and made it look more like me. I think adding the background color also made my features more defined and drew your attention to my face. I’m actually very proud of my eyes considering they didn't take me long to do. 

This assignment showed me that shading and creating the reflection of light are very important to a realistic portrait. If you choose the wrong color for a shape on your face you could mess up the whole portrait. Paying attention to the light is incredibly important. Compared to the still-life drawing, I would say this is a harder project. Painting is so hard to redo but pencil can create many different shades and is easy to erase. I liked this project more than still life because I find painting a better medium than a pencil and pen. 

For my background color, I chose light green. I love green, it’s my absolute favorite color because it reminds me of nature and summer ((my favorite season). The green I mixed up for my portrait came out looking like a matcha green, which I loved because it’s so vibrant just soothing. I think my color choice helped make my features like my hair, and my eyes stand out because of the light to dark contrast. I think this color really draws the eyes toward the portrait which was my ultimate goal. I’m very happy with how this turned out and the color I created. 

I think something similar about our paintings is the clothing and the way we used value for it. We both used light and dark to help make the fabric seem real, like how it would if it was on a real person. I think that her hair has a lot more thinner fine detail and highlights, as does her face. I love the way the artist put tiny highlights onto the lips, and if I could redo my painting I would add that too.