Steve Huston Oil Painting Lessons

Painting the Brow and Cheek Regions

In this video lesson, world-renowned painter Steve Huston will walk you through how to paint the brow ridge and cheekbone structures. He will show you how to tackle the planes of this region, specifically the forehead, eyes, cheeks and ridge of the nose using a Brown School palette.

Painting the Cheeks and Lower Face

In this video lesson, world-renowned painter Steve Huston will walk you through how to paint the cheek bones, mouth area, chin and jawline. Steve will work from two paintings by master painter Anders Zorn. Steve will analyze the planes of the face and how your light source will affect local colors. You will learn the construction of the forms that make up the lower face and how the elements come together to create a believable face.

Painting the Ear

In this video lesson, world-renowned painter Steve Huston will explore different approaches to painting the ear by breaking down the forms, construction, and anatomy of the ear from different angles, as well as analyzing master examples of ears by Rembrandt and J. C. Leyendecker. You will also learn how to deal with tone, light, and subsurface scattering.

Painting the Eye

In this lesson world-renowned painter Steve Huston demonstrates the structural elements of the eye from a painter’s perspective. You will learn how the concepts of gesture and rhythm apply to the eye area. Steve will also show you approaches for rendering the eyes, working with a light source and how to establish the bony framework around the eyes in correct perspective.

Painting the Eye in Profile

In this lesson world-renowned painter Steve Huston demonstrates how to paint the eye from a side view. Steve will teach you how to work with the front, side, and corner planes of the face to build proper construction in which to place your eyes. You will also learn about how to place accurate shadows and how to render the eyes so that they appear to be wet and how to work with the smaller planes such as those of the rims of the eyelids.

Painting the Eyes and the Orbital Structure

In this lesson world-renowned painter Steve Huston analyzes and explains the three-dimensional structures of the eye and approaches to rendering those structures in painting using an example from John Singer Sargent. You will learn how to work with light and shadow areas, how to render the roundness of the eyeball and how to construct the bony orbital area around the eye for beautiful and convincing eyes in your paintings.

Painting the Mouth

In this video lesson, world-renowned painter Steve Huston will teach you approaches for painting the particularly difficult area of the mouth. Steve will focus primarily on three dimensional structure, simplifying volumes to create a convincing mouth that reads well on the canvas.

Sargent Master Study of the Eyes

In this lesson world-renowned painter Steve Huston analyzes a master painting by American artist John Singer Sargent in order to explore Sargent’s approach to painting the eyes and their surrounding structures. You will learn about the construction of the eye area, working with shadows and highlights, dealing with planes, as well as how to add accents to bring life to your paintings.

Structure of the Nose

In this lesson world-renowned painter Steve Huston demonstrates the structure of the nose for painters. You will learn how to lay in the nose with correct construction and proportion in perspective. Steve will also show you how to break the nose into simplified planes and how to assign different values to those planes while giving the illusion of real flesh complete with subtle transitions.

The Structure of the Head

In this lesson world-renowned painter Steve Huston demonstrates practical approaches to paint the head, with an emphasis on solid three-dimensional structure. You will learn how to construct basic three-dimensional volumes with correct proportions and in correct perspective and how to paint the features of the face into those constructions. Steve will also show you different characteristic shapes and volumes which can be used in your head paintings.

Zorn’s Approach to Painting the Nose

In this lesson world-renowned painter Steve Huston analyzes a master painting by Swedish artist Anders Zorn and demonstrates Zorn’s approach to painting the nose. You will learn about the lay-in and correct construction of the nose, how to establish shadows to give the nose correct context, techniques for emphasizing the structure and how to give the nose the illusion of roundness.