Welcome!
to "Painting a Portrait: A Broad Approach"
About the Course:
About Your Teacher
As a Signature Member of Oil Painters of America, and for nearly fifty years a professional artist, I’ve participated in many national exhibitions, and I’ve been honored to receive several national and international awards for my portraits and figurative paintings, while completing private portrait commissions. To learn more about me, and to view my work, I invite you to visit johnnbooth.com.
As the instructor for "Painting a Portrait: A Broad Approach", I am thrilled to share my passion and expertise in the world of art. With a lifetime of experience in portrait painting, I have honed my skills and developed a unique approach that I am excited to pass on to my students. My goal is to empower you to express yourself through the beautiful art of portrait painting, while encouraging creative exploration and growth.
Throughout this course, you will learn the fundamental techniques and principles of portrait painting, including composition, color theory, and getting a likeness. I will guide you through various exercises and tutorials, to help you elevate your skills to the next level. By the end of this course, you will have a strong foundation in portrait painting and the confidence to continue exploring and creating your own unique masterpieces.
A Time-Tested Way to Learn
This is a tradition-based method, showing ways to build accuracy
in drawing, tonal values, color, brushwork, and composition.
Portrait Photo, or Portrait Painting?
A portrait painting is a completely hand-made object.
A photograph is a mainly machine-made object. A painted portrait is an image
of a loved one or a friend that would never be put in a drawer or a closet,
and taken out occasionally to be viewed. A memorable portrait
will always be hung on someone’s wall through succeeding generations.
It will be cherished because of the person depicted,
and because of its craftsmanship.
User-friendly
In many ways, my online course is a more “user-friendly” way to
learn than an “in-person” workshop, because you can stop
the demonstration videos at any time, and copy every brushstroke
if you so desire, painting for as long as you like! There’s no time pressure.
The course can be accessed again and again.
Be Direct!
Anyone who has worked with oil paint knows that you can mix and blend,
until it turns to "mud". Oil paint comes alive, revealing its true vibrant nature
only when it is handled directly, and not "pushed around" on the palette or the canvas. I'll show you how to make every brushstroke count!
Be Bold, Be Brave - You're in Good Hands!
Possibly you’ve wanted to try your hand at portrait painting for some time,
but you’ve hesitated, thinking you didn’t have the “talent” for it.
I’ve taught all levels of drawing and painting, and I’ve seen so many students who had never picked up a paint brush before entering my classes. I’ve seen them blossom, as they've discovered the beauty of life through art. If you’ll allow me to lead you through the logical, simple steps of this course, you’ll see that success at painting a portrait is easier than you might have thought!
Course Curriculum
- Drawing the Head in Charcoal: A downloadable, printable 20-page PDF booklet that you can refer to while drawing, complete with illustrations and text, showing in detail each step in the broad handling of charcoal.
- Drawing a Portrait in Charcoal: A 45-minute Video Demonstration with narration, in real time, showing the materials needed, and putting into practice the principles laid out in the preceding PDF booklet.
- Materials Needed for Your Oil Painting: a 7-minute video, with narration.
- How I Clean My Brushes: a video, showing how to make your brushes last longer.
- Painting a Portrait in Monochrome: a 40-minute video demonstration, with narration, which uses the same method as shown in the charcoal drawing video, and provides a transition to painting in color.
- Painting a Portrait in Color: a 32-minute video demonstration, with narration, which continues with the approach used in the preceding videos.
- Examples of "Three-quarter" Lighting, in the Paintings of the Masters (8 photo images).
- Reference Photos for You to Use: 8 downloadable, printable PDF's, in black-and-white, and color.
- BONUS: "Tips and Tricks": 5 videos isolating key aspects, like brushwork, the treatment of edges, and other techniques to give your portraits a "professional" touch!
Copyrigh 2025 John N. Booth