This page offers a collection of resources I have found valuable in pursuing the particular direction I am interested in taking my study of art. My main interests are in representing the human figure, including portraiture—both drawing and painting—in a realistic style.
Online Course Providers
- Domestika—here are courses I’ve taken and found useful:
Portrait Painting with Oil: Explore Light and Shade
Expressive Oil Portraiture: Explore the Alla Prima Technique
Artistic Oil Portraiture on Paper
Dynamic Figure Drawing
Contemporary Drawing of the Human Figure
Expressive Drawing with Charcoal - Love Life Drawing
Many excellent free offerings as well as paid ones. - Proko—here are courses I’ve taken and found useful:
The Color Survival Guide
How to Draw Fantasy Female Figures
Understanding And Painting The Head
Figure Drawing Fundamentals
Portrait Drawing Fundamentals - Kara Bullock—here are courses I’ve taken and found useful:
Zorn Palette Portraits
Portrait Drawing—Light & Shadow
The Painted Figure
Figures & Design
Figure Dialogues
Online Teachers/Tutorials/Channels
- James Gurney
- Love Life Drawing
- Proko channel
- Proko—Loomis head (3 parts)
- Dorien Iten—realistic shading
- Brent Eviston—shading
- John Larriva—portraits, color
- Marco Bucci—especially good for anatomical features: eyes, hands, etc.
- Ian Roberts—landscape, color, composition
- Sinix—especially good for anatomical features: eyes, hands, etc.
- Ehsan Maleki—charcoal portraits
- Mad Charcoal—charcoal portraits
- Steve Huston—How to Draw the Head (3 hour tutorial)
- Lane Brown—value & shading
- My own humble offering
Other Online Resources
- Life Drawing Barcelona—live figure drawing models on Zoom
- Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists—live portrait sitters on Facebook
Croquis Cafe free figure references - Free Portrait References
Reading
- Color and Light by James Gurney. I go back to this book over and over. It’s jam-packed with well-organized, clear instruction supported by beautifully illustrated examples.
- Morpho: Anatomy For Artists by Michel Lauricella. About a year ago, I started the project of copying the. drawings in this book. I got pretty far before I put it aside. I continue to find the exercise and resulting sketchbook valuable. I may still get back to it.
- In Praise of Shadows by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki “Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.” this book was recommended to me by Bela Gutman, an online figure drawing buddy. Originally published in 1933 in Japanese, is not about art per se, rather it is a meditation on the power of light and shadow, for me a reminder of the importance of value. I don’t know who said it first: “Value does all the work; color gets all the credit.”
Artists Who Inspire Me
This is simply a random list, in no particular order, of artists I’ve come across online that struck me for whatever reason.
- Andrew Wyeth
- Phil Hale
- Wayne Thiebaud
- Pierre Bonnard
- Paul Gauguin
- John Singer Sargent
- Saturnino Herrán
- Christian Hook
- Joaquín Sorolla
- Tylonn J. Sawyer
- Gabriel Mark Lipper
- Jenny Saville
- Gareth Reid
- Albeniz Rodriguez
- John Larriva
- Ron Combs
- Martin Campos
- GRIZandNORM
- Steve Huston
- Don Gale
- Nocolai Fechin
- Marina Campenni
- Zhaoming Wu
- Andrew Tyzack
- Sasha Hartslief
- Paula Rego
- Mark Demsteader
- Jeff Stanford
- Colleen Barry
- Malcolm Liepke
- George Dawnay
- Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists members archive
- Ryan Woodward “Thought of You”
Tools
- Color Wheel
- Types of Shadows
- Golden Ratio Calculator
- Yin Yang Construction
- Skeletal Landmarks
- Loomis Head Various Angles
- Quotes From Well Known Artists
Apps for iPhone
(search in App store)
- DaVinci Eye—works like an overhead projector
- Value Study—simplify shapes, refine colors
- Wise Camera—overlay various grids on photos
RhythmFullCircle 