Painting Eyes with Oil for Vibrant Portraits

A course by Alai Ganuza , Visual Artist, Painter, and Illustrator

Visual Artist, Painter, and Illustrator. Biscay, Spain.
Joined May 2021

Learn to make expressive brushstrokes with colorful oil paint to bring portraits to life

100% positive reviews (96)
3,130 students
Audio: Spanish, English
Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch

Learn to make expressive brushstrokes with colorful oil paint to bring portraits to life

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and it's certainly what we are most drawn to when we look at a face. For that reason, illustrator and artist Alai Ganuza emphasizes the eyes most when it comes to her portraits. In this online course, she teaches you a deeper understanding of facial features and skin tones to bring striking and original portraits to life.

Learn how to paint your own eyes by mastering an expressive use of your brushstrokes, then discover how to apply everything you've learned to the rest of the face, hair, and body. Create a vibrant and playful piece of art that reflects the most unique features of the person you're painting.

The aims of the course are:



    ⦁ Understand the anatomy of the face and apply it to your drawings
    ⦁ Learn how to use colors in an expressive way
    ⦁ Analyze skin tones to achieve striking results
    ⦁ Paint eyes that convey a singular essence

If you want to delve deeper into oil painting, you may be interested in Alai's first online course Contemporary Oil Painting Techniques, where you learn to transform everyday scenes into authentic works of art.

Read more ↓

What will you learn in this online course?

20 lessons & 27 downloads

Materials
1 minute, 36 seconds
Understanding Anatomy
4 minutes, 36 seconds
Understanding Color 1
15 minutes, 57 seconds
Understanding Color 2
6 minutes, 56 seconds
  • 100% positive reviews (96)
  • 3,130 students
  • 20 lessons (3h 51m)
  • 27 additional resources (7 files)
  • Online and at your own pace
  • Available on the app
  • Audio: Spanish, English
  • Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
  • Level: Beginner
  • Unlimited access forever

What is this course's project?

Paint your own eyes using a photograph, making expressive use of color. Your teacher uses oil paint, but you can choose any other medium you feel comfortable with, from acrylic or gouache to digital.

Projects by course students

Who is this online course for?

Anyone who wants to learn how to paint portraits as well as anyone who has painted before, but wants to give their pieces a creative twist using lots of color.

Requirements and materials

You don't need any previous painting experience to take this course, although some basic notions of Procreate will come in handy.

As for the materials, these are some of the most important:

    - Acrylics and oils
    A paint palette
    Brushes and palette knives
    Wood and gesso
    An iPad with Procreate or a smartphone

Reviews

3,130 Students
96 Reviews
100% Positive ratings
  • More reviews

Alai Ganuza

A course by Alai Ganuza

Teacher Plus
Visual Artist, Painter, and Illustrator

Although her feet were firmly on the path towards a career in sciences, Alai Ganuza decided to pursue her passion for painting and, in 2020, she earned a degree in fine arts with a major in painting from the Universidad del País Vasco. Her work seeks to pay tribute to everyday life with a unique use of light, color, and expressive brushstrokes.
Alai began sharing her projects on social media each day via Instagram Reels, IGTV, and YouTube, creating a growing demand for her content. It was through these channels that she found herself transitioning naturally to content creation with an informative approach showing how painting can be fast, fresh, and open to everyone.


Content

  • U1

    Introduction

    • About Me
    • Influences
  • U2

    Preparing Materials and Mindset

    • Materials
    • Understanding Anatomy
    • Understanding Color 1
    • Understanding Color 2
  • U3

    Portrait of the Eyes

    • Understanding the Reference Photo
    • Preparing and Drawing on the Support
    • Painting the Eyes 1
    • Painting the Eyes 2
    • Painting the Skin 1
    • Painting the Skin 2
    • Painting the Final Details
  • U4

    Apply What You've Learned to the Face or Body

    • Apply What You've Learned to Portraiture 1
    • Apply What You've Learned to Portraiture 2
    • Apply What You've Learned to Portraiture 3
    • Apply What You've Learned to Portraiture 4
    • Finish the Portrait
  • U5

    After Painting

    • Cheerleader Effect and Point of Focus
    • Create a Digital Portfolio
  • FP

    Final project

    • Painting Eyes with Oil for Vibrant Portraits

What to expect from a Domestika course

  • Learn at your own pace

    Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.

  • Learn from the best professionals

    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

  • Meet expert teachers

    Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

  • Certificates
    Plus

    If you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.

  • Get front-row seats

    Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.

  • Share knowledge and ideas

    Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.

  • Connect with a global creative community

    The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.

  • Watch professionally produced courses

    Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.


FAQs

Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.

All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.

The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.

You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Painting Eyes with Oil for Vibrant Portraits. Illustration course by Alai Ganuza

Painting Eyes with Oil for Vibrant Portraits

A course by Alai Ganuza
Visual Artist, Painter, and Illustrator. Biscay, Spain.
Joined May 2021
  • 100% positive reviews (96)
  • 3,130 students