Conclusion. We have presented a system to transfer artistic illumination of portraits based on the painters’ experience and knowledge of illumination drawing.A database of artistic illumination templates covering typical artistic illumination effects is developed. The input portraits can be various original paintings, computer generating paintings and fine art photos. This would make composition of an artistic portrait convenient for common people and professional art designers since it only requires a single portrait as the input. The illumination matching and illumination template adjusting methods based on the face illumination descriptor can greatlyexpandtheusabilityoftheproposedsystemwithlimitedilluminationtemplates.Theresultsshowthatoursystem can transfer convincing artistic illumination effects into the input portraits. In addition, the illumination template can be easily adapted to other styles such as paper-cut and sketch. Our work not only can be used for professional artists but also has the potential for personal portrait enhancement.