Watercolor Portrait from a Photo
A course by Sol Barrios , Watercolorist and muralist
Learn the techniques to create intimate and suggestive portraits using water, color, and paintbrushes
Learn the techniques to create intimate and suggestive portraits using water, color, and paintbrushes
With water as the main element, the watercolor technique is closely related to emotions and movement. Chilean watercolor painter and muralist Sol Barrios expresses the variety and complexity of human emotions in her portraits through her painting technique and contrasting dark and light colors that enhance and frame the faces she paints.
In this course, you will learn how to create a watercolor portrait that is capable of reflecting the personality of a person or character using a photo. Sol teaches you how to mix your own colors and guides you step by step in the creation of your portrait. From the first lines to the layers of color for the face, to finishing off with the hair and clothes, even giving advice on how to frame your final piece to complete your portrait.
What will you learn in this online course?
15 lessons & 28 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (1.4K)
- 24,395 students
- 15 lessons (1h 43m)
- 28 additional resources (19 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 a watercolor portrait using a photo as your starting point, using Sol’s layering process to build the structure of a face.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
For those starting out in watercolor, illustrators, and those that have made a start in the world of watercolor that want to learn Sol’s layering technique.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience with watercolor is necessary, nor do you need to know how to draw, but if you do, even better!
Regarding materials, you’ll need watercolor paper, round point paintbrushes, a flat paintbrush, a mixing tray, watercolors, black tempera, masking tape, a board or cardboard base, tissues, water, graphite pencils 6H and 2B, blender pens, an eraser, and a protective spray.
Reviews
A course by Sol Barrios
Self-taught artist Sol Barrios has been painting portraits for around 6 years, giving classes, and taking the streets with paste-up murals. She started out as an art director for a cultural magazine, and little by little, she began specializing in the world of graphic arts to later flow into the world of painting through watercolor.
In her work, the contrast between dark and light colors is key, looking to put her faces in the forefront of her art, and define the unique characteristics of each human being.
She works for private art collections, has participated in many exhibitions in Chile such as FAxxi and ArtStgo, her murals can be found in the streets of Santiago, as well as in restaurants, studios, and homes.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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What will we do in this course?
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U2
Preparation
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materials
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Watercolor techniques
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Looking for the reference
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Making the sketch
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U3
Starting the journey
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Mixing and preparing colors
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Painting the first layers
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U4
Details and strength
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Painting eyes
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Painting the nose, mouth and ears
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Painting the neck and contours
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Painting hair and clothes
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U5
We are arriving!
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Deepening and completion of the work
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Framing tips
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FP
Final project
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Watercolor portrait
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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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.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
petra_vieweg
PlusIt's a great course! I learned a lot and I don't even understand a word of Spanish :) Lots of hands-on exercise and great explanations about colors and what pens to use etc. I really enjoyed it and I have a few more to make before I know-how... And that's great. Thank you!
mtlamban
PlusMuy interesante, comparte muchos tips muy útiles y es muy clara en sus explicaciones
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dee51141
this video by the artist is easy to follow. Her instructions are clear and precise. She demonstrates how to bring the drawing to life. Her explaination of color theory is well explained. I feel confident in trying a portrait from a photo.
lsibson2018
I really enjoyed the course. I thought that it was broken down well with good explanations of the processes and methods. I have yet to start painting as I like to watch the whole course through first, but I have started to gather my materials and look forward to trying watercolour painting.
tonallih
La tallerista y los contenidos son muy claros y dan tips muy específicos, paso a paso de qué colores mezcla para producir efectos y tonalidades. si bien puede generar pautas orientadas solo a repetir, es un taller que permite experimentar y plantear nuestras propias mezclas y ajustes a la técnica de sombreados. Guia pero permite tener una experiencia que sea apropiable.
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