Recent portraits in watercolor!

Recent portraits in watercolor!

I show you my recent work in watercolor, some portraits that I've done during my demos of online courses and a wonderful way to keep practicing. In this case the portraits are all from photo reference and there are a few concepts that I would like to share with you when we work from a reference image.

In this first portrait I have worked with only two pigments in order to focus on tonal values and create the illusion of volume, I have used a cold wash for the background in order to create a dynamic between warmer tones in the foreground and colder tones in the background that I think it's beneficial to the final work.

When we decide which image to use we should always make sure that we search for the name of the person we portray and the photographer if possible. In this case I painted the actress Julia Blake but could not find the name of the photographer to give proper credits.
The passing of time is the theme of both portraits.

In this watercolor I'm exploring on skin tones and features. The subject is a monk photographed by Dietmar Temps and I decided to change the composition and background to focus on the young monk.
When you work from a reference image always try to make it a true portrait experience as if the model was in your studio posing for you, avoid excessive dark that are typical of a photographic image and resist the temptation to go into details that you would not see at a 2 meter distance.