Acrylic Portrait Sketches: Poe and Einstein

Last month I decided to take a break from artist trading cards and work on something larger.  I found an old 5.5″ x 8″ mixed-media sketchbook that I had not quite finished and and some tubes of black and white acrylic paint so I decided to practice acrylic portrait painting.

I find that I really enjoy painting portraits in acrylic despite the fact that a sketch like this would have probably taken much less time if I had used oil paint.

I start with a basic sketch and then just build the image with lots of thin layers of paint.  I make sure that I move from dark to light,  just as if I were working with oils.  My method is probably a lot more tedious than it needs to be, but I like the results.

**Have you seen my Facebook page? I’m posting more process photos over there. Check it out. **