— Tutorial · Full Walkthrough

Impasto Portrait Breakdown

From geometric foundations to a three-stage painting practice — follow along and finish a complete portrait. This single page is the heart of the course.

— Chapter 00 / Foundation

Foundation Course: Understanding Impasto Volume Through Solids

4 Studies · ~6 hrs
Single solids
i. Single Solids
Combined solids
ii. Combined
Perspective study
iii. Perspective
Light study
iv. Light & Shadow

Don't skip this chapter. Almost every "my impasto doesn't look right" problem isn't actually about color — it's that the face was never broken down as a solid in the first place. Sketch through these four exercises in pencil on your iPad first. The goal isn't a perfect copy — it's to draw the planes and the terminator line.

— Chapter 01 / Core Practice

Old Man Portrait: A Three-Stage Breakdown

3 Stages · ~4 hrs
Stage 1 — Sketch
Stage 01
— Stage One

Sketch:
Draw structure, not outline.

Most beginners get this wrong. You're not tracing a recognizable face — you're using hatched lines to define the forehead plane, the cheekbone turn, and the jaw cut. The closer your sketch looks to a geometric solid, the cleaner the color blocking will sit later.

  • Use a chalky brush — hardness 30%, opacity 60%
  • No facial details yet — only the major planes
  • Mark the terminator line in advance with hatching
  • Add a separate "structure layer" in red for guide lines
Stage 2 — Color Blocking
Stage 02
— Stage Two

Color Blocking:
Three colors are enough.

Impasto looks "thick" because the artist dares to use large strokes and leaves the marks visible. In this stage you're only allowed three colors: light side (warm skin), shadow side (cool grey-violet), background (blue grey). No blending, no detailing — block it in and stop.

  • Switch to a palette-knife brush, sized large
  • Turn streamline OFF — keep every stroke raw
  • Keep the shadow at a single value — don\'t sub-divide yet
  • Treat the hair as one big "white shape" — no individual strands
Stage 3 — Final
Stage 03
— Stage Three

Final Detailing:
Less is more.

What really separates impasto painters is what they take away at the end. One dot of catch-light in the eye. A few flicks for the moustache. Wrinkles only on the cheekbones and under the eyes. Resist the urge to "just add one more thing" — that's the trap every beginner falls into.

  • Switch to a hard detail brush, size dropped to 5%
  • Add detail only in three zones: eyes, nostril shadow, mouth corners
  • Use a soft blender to "smudge" hair into background
  • Finish with a warm overlay to unify the whole image