Devon introduces himself and describes his rise to TikTok stardom. As one of the most well-known visual artists on social media, he’ll inspire you to start your journey to painting a realistic oil portrait.
Devon shares his artistic philosophy and explains how you can go from everyday novice to experienced painter by practicing his techniques.
Devon takes you through his preferred art supply kit and shows you how to build your own with basic tools. With his guidance, you’ll create an ideal studio setup and begin to gather your materials.
It’s time to choose the picture that you’ll be transforming into an oil portrait! Devon provides guidelines for choosing the best subject and composition. Then you’ll choose the photo—either one of ours or your own—that you’ll draw and paint for the rest of the session.
Let your inner artist shine through. Devon explains the craft of grid line drawing and charcoal tracing.
Devon takes you through the first step of bringing your portrait to life—drawing an outline. In this activity, Devon demonstrates charcoal tracing, which is an ideal drawing method for beginners. Then he invites you to begin drawing. If you’d like to try an intermediate-level method, you can advance to the fourth activity in this section. There, Devon will guide you through grid line drawing techniques instead. Or try both methods!
Devon takes you through an intermediate-level method for sketching your portrait—freehand drawing with grid lines. After you see how it’s done, Devon invites you to begin drawing the base layer of your portrait.
This section is all about one of the most critical elements of your portrait—color. Devon previews what you’ll learn about color wheel theory, layering, and mixing so you have everything you need to keep developing your portrait.
Before you start mixing colors or painting, Devon shows you important techniques for cleaning your brushes and palette.
Devon demonstrates how to mix oil colors to create a color wheel that comprises primary, secondary, and complementary colors with distinct hues and saturation. You’ll follow his lead and create the color wheel you’ll use for your portrait.
Devon demonstrates how you can mix and blend paint colors to achieve different skin tones. He guides you as you use these new colors to paint your realistic portrait.
In this section, you’ll dive deep into one of Devon’s most utilized techniques—alla prima painting. Devon explains how to bring about a mosaic-like effect to your painting while you begin to fill in the facial features on your portrait.
First up: the eyes. Devon shows how to paint a realistic eye, eyebrow, and the surrounding area. Then you’ll follow in his footsteps and do the same for your portrait.
Devon demonstrates how to paint realistic hair and shadows on his self-portrait. Then you’ll add these new dimensions to your painting.
In this section, you’ll continue to create realistic facial features with your brushstrokes. Devon demonstrates how to fill in the lips, nose, and ears, and encourages you to do the same with your portrait.
Devon shows how to paint realistic lips with depth and dimension before you try your hand at it.
Devon shows how to blend and paint the nose.
Devon shows how to paint realistic ears that look like those of your subject.
You’ve painted your subject! Now it’s time to make your art pop. In this section, you will paint the neck, shoulders, clothing, and background of your portrait to give it the details that bring it to life. Then Devon will show you how to paint the final highlights and varnish your portrait. Your masterpiece is almost complete!
Devon shows you how to paint the neck of your subject. Then he demonstrates painting the shoulders and shirt so that you can do the same with your piece.
Devon explains how he thinks about filling in the background of his portrait, and then encourages you to try it on your own.
Devon shows you how to enhance your portrait by adding final highlights to your subject’s face and hair.
To ensure your work of art stays that way, Devon explains how to apply varnish to your finished oil portrait once it’s dry.
Devon provides advice on how to market yourself as a visual artist, how to gain a following, and how to establish your own creative voice.