Colleen Thompson Art

It all started with a simple decision: face the fear of Skin. 🎨

Three years ago, the thought of painting skin tones and portraits absolutely terrified me. I knew the only way past the fear was to dive in and learn, so I started looking for guidance—and that’s when I found Chris Fornataro, aka the Paint Coach ()!

Chris has this incredibly easy, relatable way of breaking down the portrait process so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Thanks to his step-by-step approach, my confidence and my portraiture have grown more than I ever expected.

If you’ve been wanting to paint faces but don’t know where to start, I cannot recommend him enough. Give a follow—you won’t regret it!

Swipe through to see the journey behind this piece:

1️⃣ The finished portrait (keeping my grid looking pretty!)

2️⃣ First attempt before taking the course

3️⃣ The original reference photo

4️⃣ The black and white value study (crucial for getting those darks and lights right!)

5️⃣ Mapping out the planes of the face

Have you ever tackled an artistic fear that ended up becoming your new obsession to paint? Let me know in the comments! 👇