This is how you start a portrait: simple.

Today I want to talk about what is, for me, the most radical shift we must make to paint solid portraits.

We need to learn how to observe the subject matter — long before we focus on technique.

This isn’t a cliché. It’s a real, fundamental game changer.

The most common mistake beginners make is painting what they think they know — the symbols we learned growing up (eyes as almond shapes, for example). We end up using the brush like a pencil, “drawing” with paint. The result is often a portrait that feels cartoonish or slightly off — and we don’t understand why. (I say “we” because I started exactly the same way, with a head full of preconceived ideas.)

Observing a face as a painter means simplifying — but differently from how we were taught as children. In realism, simplifying means seeing shapes and how they connect. The eyes are shapes within the eye socket. Everything can be reduced to a general shape and read in relation to what surrounds it.

That is the absolute foundation of strong, solid realist portraiture.

Once that foundation is in place, then we move on to understanding light — how it affects what we see on the surface. Skin colour, the temperature of shadows, those tricky mid-tones that don’t fit neatly into one label. We learn how light sculpts form as it travels across it.

Every time I paint this way, I feel genuinely excited. It’s pure poetry. Imagine being a painter of light moving across form — whether it’s a tree, a landscape, an urban scene, or, in our case, a face.

This image explains what this looks like in practice.

In the first image, I’m looking for connections — those structural lines running through the sketch.
In the second, I simplify into broader shapes, starting with the darkest masses — the head and the main shadow blocks.
In the third, I add the light areas, usually warmer and brighter — pinks, light oranges, warm whites.
Finally, once the skin is fully blocked in and transitions are bridged (not blended), I place the last accents — like the highlight on the earring. Not structural, but an essential aesthetic touch.

That’s it. I didn’t start from details. I didn’t blend everything smooth. I simplified, searched for the main shapes and connections, and built the painting step by step until the final touch.

If you’d like to briefly full process, you can watch it for free here:

Watch the process

If you'd like to learn how to paint portraits in my style, explore my START Program .

If you want to go deeper into this framework:

→ Download the free guide here