Portraits from Life in 9 Steps

For a while now, I have been taking portrait commissions from family and friends. I am not a master painter, but my work is good enough for people to pay me for it!! I have been using oils and acrylics, but wanted to learn how to simplify my painting process as my approach was getting a bit fussy, with some paintings looking just slightly overworked in places.I am extremely happy that I bought this book. My portfolio of artwork had been rejected for credit to study further, so I was a little down in the dumps and decided I'd teach myself what I wanted to know. I bought a whole bunch of books on painting, and this was one of them. I was already and admirer of Sanden's work, but had no idea how he worked. When I looked through and realised that the process could be broken down into easy-to-follow steps, I couldn't wait to get started.Instead of taking almost 4 weeks, working a little each night, to complete a portrait, I managed to complete my first using this book in 5 evenings, of around an hour each time. I was astounded at the result, how loose the approach was but how well it portrayed the subject (my toddler daughter, who has striking strawberry blonde hair and green eyes which with this approach absolutely shone from the canvas). If I could add a picture here I would; I looked between this painting and my last, quite fussy one, and immediately decided this was the way I would paint my portraits in future. I learnt to dissect the subject into shapes of tone and colour, and was pleased with the unique result that resembled my daughter so well but at the same time wasn't a straightforward reproduction of the photo.I didnt struggle too much with the artists unique colour mixes, as having some colour mixing experience I was able to mix the required colours intuitively. It would have been nice to have some more step-by-step paintings included, but I managed with the tutorial of the older gentlemen although I was painting a toddler girl! The principles remain the same throughout.Anyone wishing to streamline their painting technique and approach would benefit greatly from this book. I have been invited to demonstrate my portrait painting at a local Hobbycraft in October this year and will be using the techniques taught in this book, as well as exhibiting those that I have already painted in this way.An extremely happy customer!

I would love to be able to buy the ready mixed portrait colours that are used in the demonstrations in this book, because try as I might I can never mix the exact colour a second time. Therefore all my portraits have to be finished in one session which is a bit of a bore for an amateur artist who might only have a spare hour here and there.

Several step by step examples. Clear and easy to follow. Good illustrations. Only criticism is the promotion of his flesh tones paint range which uses terms like neutral 7 to describe a colour. Meaningless unless you are using his paints!

A highly structured methodology for those who are amenable to such systems. In effect a "keyboard" system to play portraits by.

This a great addition to my art book collection. I refer to it frequently. Excellent for learning to paint portraits.