Start Painting Portrait: What You Actually Need to Know

When you start painting portrait, the process of capturing a person’s likeness through paint, often using oil, acrylic, or charcoal, you’re not just copying faces—you’re learning to see value, shape, and emotion. It’s one of the most rewarding skills in art, but also one of the most misunderstood. Many beginners think they need perfect drawing skills or years of training. The truth? You just need the right approach, the right tools, and the willingness to make messy mistakes.

What most guides don’t tell you is that portrait painting, a technique focused on rendering human faces and expressions with attention to proportion and light, isn’t about realism alone. It’s about control. You don’t start with the eyes. You don’t even start with the outline. Professionals begin with oil painting, a medium known for its slow drying time and rich color depth, ideal for building layers of light and shadow values—dark tones first, then gradually adding midtones and highlights. This method gives depth that flat, light-first approaches can’t match. And if you’re wondering what canvas or brushes to buy, you don’t need the most expensive gear. A stretched cotton canvas, a few flat brushes, linseed oil, and three primary colors plus titanium white are enough to begin.

People often assume portrait artists make big money. But real prices? They range from $100 for a simple sketch by a student to $50,000+ for well-known names. What drives the value? Not just skill—it’s reputation, size, medium, and where it’s sold. A 16x20 inch oil portrait from a local artist might sell for $800. A digital portrait on Etsy? You can list it for $50, but you need copyright clearance. And if you’re selling at a gallery, they’ll expect a polished portfolio, not just good drawings. The best portraits don’t look like photos—they feel alive. That comes from understanding anatomy, lighting, and the quiet moments between expressions.

There’s no magic trick. But there are proven steps: sketch lightly, block in shadows first, mix colors on the palette before touching the canvas, and step back often. You’ll mess up. You’ll paint a nose too big or eyes too far apart. That’s normal. Even Van Gogh painted faces that looked strange—because he was chasing emotion, not perfection. The artists who stick with it aren’t the ones with the best hands. They’re the ones who keep going after the first three failed attempts.

Below, you’ll find real advice from artists who’ve been there—how to pick your first canvas, what colors to buy, how to price your work, and why some portraits sell while others gather dust. No fluff. No theory. Just what works when you’re sitting at your easel, staring at a blank surface, wondering if you can do this.