In this 120-minute from-life portrait demonstration, Dan Gerhartz demystifies the often-scary prospect of painting the human face. Follow Gerhartz’s process from blank canvas to stunning finished product. Along the way, learn what are the critical judgments that a portraitist must make about shapes, edges, values and color temperatures. Reducing the mystery to these essentials is the key to vivid, accurate results, Gerhartz insists. He shows how it’s done. The viewer witnesses all the stages, from the establishing of facial proportions and laying-in of primary values, to the modeling of facial planes. To help gauge the artist's progress, the video includes an intermittent side-by-side view of model and portrait. Aspiring artists will be relieved to know that all Gerhartz is a brilliant artist, he doesn’t pretend to get it right on the first brushstroke. Throughout the demonstration, he adjusts his initial color, value and shape choices. He emphasizes that painting is a fluid process and developing the artistic eye is a matter of practice.

The drawing: Gerhartz’s step-by-step process to ensure accuracy, including discussion on how to “see” the basic shapes of the form, what questions the artist should ask himself as he draws and tips on analyzing shapes.

Learn step-by-step how to transform a blank canvas into a completed portrait.

Dan gives a color-by-color detail of palette, including brand names of paints, a discussion of painting medium formula, a description of paint brushes by type and brand and explanation of linen canvas and it’s preparation, including considerations for toning.

Dan includes a close-up depiction of color mixing, with specific attention to creating flesh tones.

Depiction of stroke-by-stroke panting of the portrait that includes: establishing the darkest darks and lightest lights first, judging temperature of light, preserving edge quality, transparency of darks, using color temperature in transition of form from light to shadow, color-correction as painting progress, judicious use of highlights and much more.