Detailed step-by-step lessons make it easy to create beautiful watercolor portraits!

Japanese Style Watercolor Portraits takes you through each step of the watercolor portrait process, from sketching your subject to layering in the colors and rendering the fine details. Author Hiroko Shibasaki provides expert guidance on the best materials to use along with many insightful tips that every artist should know.

The portraits presented in the 12 comprehensive painting tutorials express a distinctively Japanese aesthetic. The subjects in the foreground are rendered in exquisite detail, while the backgrounds are only subtly suggested. This technique places the emphasis on the masterful portraits, leaving it to the viewer's imagination to fill in the peripheral details.

The lessons in this book cover all the key topics, including:

• Working with a model


• Completing the sketch


• Preparing and mixing paints


• Blocking in skin tones


• Rendering details such as facial features, hairstyles and clothing


• Blending and shading the colors


• And much more!