I want to paint portraits kind of like the Sfumato & Chiaroscuro,technique. Tips please?

lovetopaint

New member
I'm a oil portrait artist and have been reading about the Sfumato and Chiaroscuro technique of painting. I think both are very flattering.
I love trying new techniques of painting. I paint the Flemish technique of painting.

People send me photos and I paint their portraits. All of their photos do not have drastic lighting like Chiaroscuro. And I don’t know how to make the painting look 'Smokey' like the Mona Lisa for example.

Any tips on how to paint these techniques properly?
If there are any tutorials out there I would really like that.

Thanks, much appreciated.
 
you need to have a good eye for detail. the sfumato technique looks realistic because of the very fine blurs between highlights, midtones and shadows. in order to blend the paint into super smoothness, you have to paint a layer of linseed oil to the canvas to make the paint thinner, that way you can control the amount of color you put in your painting.
 
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