Serving a job as a worker of painted portrait is not easy. You’ll need strong artistic skills, including the ability to copy likenesses from photos. Make sure you fully understand your clients’ hopes and expectations. Do they want photo-realism, or do they want you to add some embellishments and improvements? Those are few of questions that you should answer.
Since the birth of photography nearly two centuries ago, artists have used photos as the basis for paintings and watercolors. You have to know this term if you are willing to be a painted portrait worker. Four common procedures are used, from old and basic to state-of-the-art and advanced:
1. Hanging the photo alongside the blank canvas or high-quality watercolor paper and re-creating it freehand
2. Projecting the photo onto the canvas or paper using an overhead projector or slide projector and painting it with watercolors or oils
3. Scanning the photo into a computer and using digital editing software to create a version of the photo that can be projected onto a blank canvas or paper and painted using watercolors or oils
4. Printing out a digitally edited version of the photo, mounting the print on a backboard, and applying oil paint to create a portrait
This job can easily be done from your home or studio without ever having to meet clients directly. You can post a portfolio of your work on a web site, and you can accept photos sent by regular mail or by e-mail (as a digital file). You can ship completed oil canvases or watercolors to the client either framed or unframed.