# Watercolor Portraits: Combining Realism and the Abstract - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/watercolor-portraits-combining-realism-and-the-abstract/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Illustration & Drawing · Quick win · Rated 6 /10 # Watercolor Portraits: Combining Realism and the Abstract Updated August 2026 Melissa Lee · allow yourself to fail before you succeed Intermediate · 34 min A 34-minute class that folds messy, playful abstraction into a face painted in classic watercolor, no perfectionism required. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fwatercolor-portraits-combining-realism-and-the-abstract%2F2030406449) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. Melissa Lee Shaw's watercolor portrait class packs a lot of ground into a very short runtime. Across twelve lessons it moves from materials and paper prep through core watercolor mechanics into a two-stage painting process: a realistically shaded face topped by an unstructured abstract crown of color. The pairing is the class's real premise, not just a marketing angle. The instructor treats the face as the disciplined half of the painting and the top of the head as a deliberate release valve for color experimentation, and the structure of the lessons follows that logic exactly. ## Technique coverage is dense but fast The middle lessons cover flat washes, graded washes, crisp edges, lifting, and three separate texturing methods (salt, plastic wrap, rubbing alcohol) in quick succession. Each technique gets a clear rule of thumb: work wet-on-dry for clean edges, wait roughly a minute between adjacent colors to stop bleeding, and match paper texture to how much lifting a section will need, with cold press recommended as the most forgiving middle ground between the absorbency of rough paper and the slickness of hot press. These are legitimately useful, transferable rules rather than vague encouragement, and the paper-stretching demonstration, which shows what happens when tape is peeled off before the paper fully dries, is a small but effective piece of troubleshooting most beginner classes skip. The tradeoff is pacing. Because the whole class runs about half an hour, none of these techniques gets more than a minute or two of screen time before the class moves on. A viewer who has never done a graded wash will see it demonstrated once and then be expected to carry that into a full portrait a few lessons later. There is no dedicated practice exercise built into the class structure beyond a suggestion to use scrap paper for testing brush saturation. ## The portrait itself is more demonstration than instruction When the class reaches the face, the approach shifts from technique to running commentary. Color choices, layering white paint into wet color to soften transitions, and decisions about where the light source falls are explained as they happen, but the reasoning is personal and intuitive rather than broken into repeatable steps. Using opaque white paint to correct or blend watercolor, described here as treating it "like white out," is a genuinely useful trick worth noting, since it departs from the traditional transparent-glazing approach most watercolor classes insist on. The abstract section that follows is intentionally loose. The guidance amounts to picking complementary color pairs, working instinctively from the eyebrow outward, and dragging a half-dry brush on its side for a scraped texture effect. That looseness is the point of the exercise, but it also means the class offers little scaffolding for a painter unsure how to begin improvising. Overall, this is a tightly efficient technique primer wrapped around a loosely demonstrated creative exercise. It rewards someone who already has basic drawing and paint-handling instincts and wants a nudge toward looser, more playful work, but it will not walk a true beginner through portrait painting step by step. The standout The wet-on-dry versus wet-on-wet demonstration for crisp edges gives a single, testable rule that immediately improves control over bleeding. ## What you will learn - · How to execute flat and graded watercolor washes without streaking - · How to create crisp edges by working wet-on-dry versus wet-on-wet - · How to texture wet paint with salt, plastic wrap, and rubbing alcohol for organic effects - · How to lift pigment successfully based on paper type (rough, cold press, hot press) - · How to stretch watercolor paper to prevent warping - · How to build a portrait by blending realistic facial shading into a freeform abstract crown Best for: Beginner to intermediate painters who already sketch faces and want a structured way to loosen up with texture and abstraction. Skip it if: Complete beginners with no drawing experience or anyone wanting an exhaustive, slow-paced walkthrough of anatomy and proportion. Clarity of Instruction Engaging Teacher Organization of Lessons Helpful Examples [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fwatercolor-portraits-combining-realism-and-the-abstract%2F2030406449)