Painting a Portrait and get Creative with Brushes

This  section  is  called  Advanced,  but  the  title  does  not  reflect  the  technical  complexity  of  the final  picture alone.  In  some  ways,  it  is  less  difficult  than  the Intermediate  picture.  We  have deemed  it  more  difficult because  of  the  personal  creative  choices  we  have  had  to make  and which,  to  a  large  extent,  cause  the  picture  to succeed  or  fail.  In  particular,  the  overall  style  for the picture  and  for  the  brushstrokes,  and  how  to  handle  the composition  and  especially  the background.  There  is  also a  fair  amount  of  free  brushing  in  this  image,  all  over  but again, especially  in  the  background.  These  factors  make it  more  tricky  but  also  ultimately  more satisfying.  En route,  we’'ll  bring  in  most  of  the  cloning  techniques  we have  covered  and  a  few additional  ones  as  well.  Instead of  using  Watercolor  brushes,  we  will  go  back  to  opaque media  like  Oils  and  Acrylics  and  cover  brush customisation  and  how  to  use  the  Selection command.