This airbrush page was set up for the specific instruction on how to do an airbrush portrait. I use several techniques which include misting, erasing and scraping to achieve texture that closely represent the skin. The eyes are one of the most important features because they are the first thing that a person will look at in a painting. The hair is all done with dagger strokes and misting to achieve the layers and definition. Take your time and enjoy.

The first thing I do is sketch my image in a light orange pencil and then mix a mid tone color to airbrush the entire portrait. While slowly building the portrait I will go in with an electric eraser and exacto knife #11 blade to open up the strongest highlight. I pay vary close attention to details at this stage of the portrait. This includes lines work and misting for depth.

After the mid tones are fully complete I go over the entire portrait with a mist of Yellow to bring out the natural gold tones in the skin. The next is to mist with red to bring out the pink areas. I go vary lightly with red because it is such a strong color. The next step is to start building the highlights with a mixture of white and the original mid tone color. Pure white is much too strong and unnatural looking on the skin and can cause color shifting.

After the highlights are all in I mist lightly with yellows and reds over the highlights and the go back in with tighter detail in the highlight areas. This is the same highlight mixture I used before. At this point you are probably saying, what is the mixture for the flesh tone. The best answer is that there are many combinations. For this portrait I started with 75% White, 10% Brown, 5% Red, 7% Yellow and 3% Blue. Now I work the brightest highlights with an eraser or exacto blade to remove most of the color down to the board.

Now I begin to work in the dark tones which is a mixture of equal parts of Black, Brown and a touch of Violet to tie the two colors together. I build this color in vary light layers because having to go back and correct mistakes is much more difficult than light colors. Once the dark tones are complete I start the eyes. The colors are a mix of Blue White and a drop of Black. I start out with the fine lines in the eyes and then mist over with the same color and then a heavier line around the outer edge. Next I go in with white and redefine the areas of reflected light from the eye. The cornea is dome shape and transparent, so light penetrates from the light source which in this case is the bottom and reflects out the upper area of the eye. After the white is in I mist with the original eye color and then work back an forth with these two until I have the desired highlights. I also have misted some more with yellow in the 3rd picture above and started placing in some white hairs in the Go-T.

Now it is time to start the background. I start with a mixture of Black, Blue, and Green for the dark areas of the leaves behind me. Doing the background now helps for the hair to overlap latter, so you do not end up with a hard edge. Next I work in some blue for the sky and water. I also have mixed in some yellow to bring out the highlights on the leaves. I have kept the background vary loose and soft to provide more drama to the portrait, also I have started to lay a base of yellow for the hair.

Next I have sprayed a piece of wax paper with spray adhesive and then placed it over the bottom half of the portrait. Then with an exacto knife I cut around the outer edge of the portrait. This keeps a nice hard edge around the foreground and the dark wall behind me. As you have noticed the background has caused the portrait to become much lighter and pink. I then went back with my dark tone color and misted over the lower edge of the cheek to soften the contrast and make the cheek area more 3 dimensional looking. I also have worked in some more dark tones around the entire portrait.

Next with the same dark tone color and a touch of Violet I work the shadows on the shirt. Being that this is a light colored shirt I work vary lightly since this color is so dark. I also have used the same color in the hair by doing vary loose short dagger stroke and following the pattern of the hair. Then I work in some white to start building some highlight areas in the hair. This is also done with dagger strokes. As you can see I am also building more white in the mustache and beard area. I also have misted over the shirt with a light mist of Blue.

Next I have worked in some Yellow over the hair and any other areas of the portrait that I feel need it. The next color I move to is brown and work with the same misting technique and I also work some in around the skin tone like around the mouth, eyelids and forehead, but I use it vary sparingly. I also have begun to pull the leaves in the background further down because I did not like the sharp edge of the water against the hill side.

On these last two images I have darkened the edges of the face and lower background, this helps the portrait stand out better. Last I work back and forth on small detail correction and decide to make the hair, eyelashes and beard darker to come closer to the reference photo. This portrait took a long time and lots of concentration. I hope this How To has help you on your way with your own portrait work. Fred Wagner

Airbrushes used
Iwata Custom Micron C+
Iwata Custom Micron SB

Colors used
Createx Wicked Colors

Surface
Strathmore heavy bond paper for airbrush