Gordon Ramsay Acrylic Portrait Painting & Tips

Materials

• Acrylic Paint - here is a nice set of Acrylics on Amazon
• Paint Brushes
• Water, bowl for cleaning brushes, paper towel or hand towel
• Canvas - Amazon has this (affordable) set with a canvas, easel, paint & brushes
• Photo of Person
• A Palette
• Sand paper
• *Optional: Glossy medium

Palette Prepping

You don't need anything fancy for the paint palette. The paint dries very fast and I've found it easiest for me to use a small cutting board and cover it in plastic wrap (or foil if I don't have the plastic wrap). Once the paint dries I just toss it out and when painting again later, I put new paint and plastic wrap on it again.

Prime the Canvas

There are quite a few canvas choices available and many are very affordable. I bought a pack of canvases from Michaels on sale (or they always have 40% off coupons) for a very low price. One thing you should do before beginning your painting on it is to prime it. You'll want to paint a fresh coat right onto the canvas. Let it dry out and then sand it to get rid of any rough texture. Get rid of any dust from the sanding and then paint one more coat on top of that and let it dry. It is now primed. You don't need to buy any special paint for this. A neutral color is best (but that also depends on what you're painting is for) and if the house paint is too thick - mix it up with a little bit of water first. Doing this will make your painting look more professional, you'll use less paint and you should be able to complete the painting a bit faster as a result.

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• Acrylic Drying Time & Moisture
  • Add water to your paintbrush and paint to extend the time you have before it dries out (vital when trying to blend)
  • Some people use a small spray bottle and mist the palette to keep things moist - be sure to do this from a distance
  • There are also special palettes and palette paper that are supposed to help the paint retain moisture longer so you can use it longer before it dries out on the palette (I have yet to try this)
• Blending on the Portrait
  • Work in small sections and as fast as possible
  • Use water on your brush to help keep things moist
  • If blending two areas of the face - for example the cheekbone area with a highlight - try this:
    • Paint the highlighted area
    • Then paint the skin under and above or around it - quickly
    • Take a dry brush and use that to quickly brush in the area where the two meet up - creating a soft blended edge
    • * This takes practice and you'll end up finding your own methods for this as you go along
• Where to Begin
  • I began my portrait by doing the background first
  • Paint in the major areas of color and variations of color first before moving onto the face

• Basic Flesh Skin Color
  • 1 part light magenta
  • 2 parts white
  • 2 parts yellow ochre
  • 4 parts naples yellow
• Medium Flesh Tone or Mid Shadow
  • 1 part ultramarine
  • 1 part burnt sienna
  • 1 part flesh
  • 1 part yellow ochre
  • 1 part light magenta
  • *Alternative: You can also make a mid-tone or medium flesh tone by adding 1 part shadow to 1 part flesh
• Darkest Shadow
  • 1 part ultramarine
  • 3 part burnt sienna
  • 1 part flesh
  • *To make it darker, add more burnt sienna and/or burnt umber
• Highlight
  • 1 part flesh
  • 1 part white