To master stylized portrait painting, you must first understand the rules of realism so you can break them with intention
Take a photograph. Set a timer for 5 minutes. You are only allowed to use 2 values (light and dark) and 3 geometric shapes. How much personality can you retain? To master stylized portrait painting, you must first
Maru painted people the way some people remembered songs — humming the bones first, then filling in the color with their mood. In the cramped studio above the bakery, afternoon light cut the room into a stripe of gold where dust motes moved like slow confetti. Today Maru had one hour before the next client arrived, enough time for a small experiment: a face rebuilt from a memory. How much personality can you retain
By the end of the session, the portrait didn't look like a photograph, but it felt alive. The eyes were slightly too large and the colors were a vibrant, impossible violet, but because the was perfect, the viewer’s brain accepted the fantasy. Today Maru had one hour before the next
This is the "stylization" part. But how do you know what to exaggerate?