Push and Pull: Paint a Sketchbook Oil Portrait with Andreas Liss

Join German painter and designer Andreas Liss for an exploration of the small-scale oil portrait.

Andreas specializes in "sketchbook oil painting," a practice that balances the richness of oils with the low-pressure environment of a personal journal.

"I think it’s more important to paint many paintings instead of a few very good ones. You learn much more by painting and failing."

In this lesson (62 mins), you'll learn how to build a portrait by thinking in "blocks of shadows and lights" rather than relying on a preliminary sketch or rigid outlines. Andreas demonstrates a "push and pull" philosophy, treating every brush stroke as an opportunity to fix previous mistakes and refine the form.

Working with a limited "Zorn" palette and oversized brushes, you will explore how to prioritize values over exact color matching to create a three-dimensional form on a flat surface.

What you’ll learn

• The Zorn Palette Plus One: Explore a classic four-color palette (white, ochre, red, and black) with the modern addition of a light blue to expand your cool-tone variety
• The "Too Big" Brush Technique: Discover why starting with a brush two sizes larger than your preference prevents you from getting lost in details too early
• Value Over Color: Understand why matching the correct value is more critical than matching the exact color, and how light and shadow can be used to "push" features into place
• The Half-Millimeter Shift: Learn how tiny, subtle adjustments in the final stages can dramatically change the likeness and character of your subject
• Sketchbook Freedom: Explore the benefits of painting on gessoed sketchbook paper to reduce the pressure of perfection and encourage consistent, daily practice

Your Toolkit

• Oil Paint: A limited palette of Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, and Ivory Black, plus a light blue
• Brushes: A large, flat, soft brush (Andreas surprisingly uses a watercolor brush for his rough shapes)
• Surface: A sketchbook with paper at least 170g/m², prepared with gesso and a toned acrylic "imprimatura" (Andreas uses orange)
• Solvent: Odorless white spirit for thinning paint and cleaning brushes

Ready to push some paint with Andreas? Let's get started!