1.0 Posterized Portraits: Class 10 & 11 ⋆ Natasha Nashadka

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“The reason some portraits don’t look true to life is that some people make no effort to resemble their pictures.”

― Salvador Dalí

Posterized (AKA Value) Portraits

Values

Our previous class was all about perfecting color mixing. Today’s lesson is about getting your values right – one of the most important aspects of painting and an oft repeated lesson. When I say values, I am not talking about your feelings on littering or being nice to your neighbor. These values will not start fights. Well, not usually.

If you remember our egg study, getting values correct is not always as easy as it sounds. It’s much harder than “easy”. You could say that it’s over-easy.

The Process

This project is just a few easy steps that results in a great painting that my students just loved:

Start with a photograph and remove the color.
Use a photoeditor to posterize the image.
- Every program does it a little differently, but a quick google search will get you squared away. You can set the level of steps for the best results. Example:
Trace the lines of each value onto your canvas.
Mix your colors.
Paint!

*Notes for succes: Assign each value a number and mark it on your printout. Mix all the values up ahead of time because it’s much harder to get it right mixing as you go. Mix enough of each value to get the job done.

Demo

Sometimes painting in the lines is harder than you think. I showed the students how to simplify complicated areas such as hair. (I am officially a crazy cat lady without the cats.)

In Class

This class has come a long way since last September. Our next class will be about proving that progress. I can’t wait to see!

Behind the Scenes

Our Class Helpers

As in, they’ve ‘helped me’ trip over them several times. Next, they’re going to ‘help me’ down the stairs. I’m not sure how much more of their help that I can take. But they sure are cute! (Gypsy declined to sign the waiver, but I caught her unawares. Can you find her?)