Portrait Revolution Inspiration from Around the World For Creating Art in Multiple Mediums and Styles

Based on the popular international collaborative art project, Julia Kay's Portrait Party, this book features hundreds of portraits in multiple mediums and styles teamed with tips and insights on the artistic process.

The human face is one of the most important subjects for artists, no matter their chosen medium. Pulling from 50,000 works of portraiture created by the artists of the international online collaborative project Julia Kay’s Portrait Party, Portrait Revolution presents a new look at this topic—one that doesn’t limit itself to one medium, one style, one technique, or one artist. By presenting portraits in pencil, pen, charcoal, oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, mixed media, digital media, collage, and more, Julia Kay and co. demonstrate the limitless possibilities available to aspiring artists or even to professional artists who are looking to expand creatively.

Along with works in almost every conceivable medium, Portrait Revolution shines a spotlight on different portrait-making techniques and styles (featuring everything from realism to abstraction). With tips, insights, and recommendations from accomplished portrait artists from around the globe, this all-in-one inspiration resource provides everything you’ll need to kick-start your own portrait-making adventure.

JULIA L. KAY is a painter, printmaker, photographer, muralist, and digital artist born and raised in New York City. She holds a BA in photography from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and did graduate work at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Kay now lives in San Francisco, where she’s had the opportunity to complete commissions and to exhibit both locally and internationally. She began Julia Kay’s Portrait Party in 2010 and it has since grown to over one thousand members in more than fifty-five countries. Visit the group’s website at studiojuliakay.com/jkpp.

CONTENTS 

about julia kay’s portrait party 6 

PORTRAITS BY MEDIA 
• Pencil 12 • Colored pencil 16
• Charcoal 18 • Ink 22 • Ballpoint pen 26
• Markers 28 • Digital drawing 32
• Crayon 34 • Chalk pastel 36
• Oil pastel 38 • Water-soluble pencils and crayons 42
• Watercolor 44 • Gouache 50
• Acrylic paint 52 • Oil paint 58 • Digital painting 62
• Traditional printmaking 68
• Digital printmaking 72 • Collage 76
• Mixing traditional and digital media 78
• Needle arts 82 • Unusual media 84 

PORTRAITS BY STYLE
• Realism 88 • Abstract 90 • Composing around the rectangle 92
• Drawing blind 96
• Monochrome 98 • Limited color 102
• Cool tones 106 • Warm tones 108
• Full palette 110 • Contour drawing 112
• Drawing with shapes 116 • Patterns 118
• Preprinted paper 120 • Dramatic light 122

PORTRAITS BY THEME
• Babies 126 • Double portraits 128
• Portraits within portraits 130 • Animal companions 134
• Musicians 138 • Artists at play 142
• Artists at work 144 • Hats 150
• On location: indoors 152 • On location: outdoors 154
• Telling a story 158
• Drawing from art history 160 

FEATURED ARTISTS
• Samar Alzaidy 164 • Martin Beek 166
• Anna Black 168 • Patricio Villarroel Bórquez 170
• Joan Ramon Farré Burzuri 172
• Sue Hodnett 174 • Julia L. Kay 176 • Marion Lokin 178
• Theresa Martin 180 • Maureen Nathan 182
• Daniel Novotny 184 • Mariah O’Neill 186
• Gila Rayberg 188 • Jerry Waese 190
• Janice Wahnich 192

ON MAKING PORTRAITS
• Why make portraits? 196 • Working with photographs 198
• Tracing 202 • On seeing and drawing 204
• The process of making portraits 206
• Holding a portrait party 213 

FEATURED SUBJECTS
• Omar Jaramillo 20 • Jacquie Ramirez 30
• Rajesh Kumar John 40 • Angel Zhang 48
• Patricio Villarroel Borquez 56 • Gary Tausch 66
• Valérie Mafrica 74 • Arturo Espinoso Rosique 80
• Julia L. Kay 94
• Yip Suen-Fat 104 • Ujwala Prabhu 114
• Rodrick Dubose 132 • Pepe Fárres 140
• Mariah O’Neill 148 • Giorgio Bordin 156