Tiger Portrait for Beginners – Oil Paint

In this 3-hour beginner-level tutorial, I will show you how to paint a vibrant, lifelike tiger portrait using a simple and structured oil painting process.

We will focus on:

• Toning the canvas and setting up the painting
• Drawing an accurate outline using a grid
• My beginner friendly alla prima layering approach
• Using the properties of oil paint to build detail effectively
• Mixing colour in a simple, controlled way
• Creating realistic fur texture with confident brushwork
• Building light, contrast and colour for a vibrant result
• Applying my three phase approach to detail and realism

This is a great starting point for beginners looking to build confidence with oils and complete a realistic animal portrait step by step.

The reference image used in this tutorial is sourced from Pixabay.com and is free for artists to use.