阎立本的人物画形象逼真传神，时人誉之为“丹青神话”，写实性注重个性描绘，且多取材于历史事件和人物,用以鉴戒贤愚、弘扬治国安邦大业。阎立本的线描画部刚劲圆润，画衣物简练粗重，设色也较前代更浓重，多用朱砂、石绿，有时还用金银等贵重矿物质材料。
Yan Liben's figure paintings are lifelike and vivid, which is known as the "Danqing Myth" by people at that time. Realistic attention is paid to the depiction of personality, and most of them are drawn from historical events and figures, so as to remind the wise and wise people and carry forward the great cause of running the country and promoting peace. Yan Liben's line drawing department is vigorous and round, the painting clothes are concise and heavy, the color is also thicker than the previous generation, and the use of cinnabar, stone green, and sometimes gold and silver and other precious mineral materials.
阎立本还保持了南北朝绘画风格的若干残余，如相类似的长圆的头型，侍从占较小的比例，姿态及表情也有僵硬的痕迹，衣褶的处理的规律化，人体比例不全正确等等，这一些都说明写实的能力虽在长期的发展中得到了进步，而犹待进一步的发展。所以，即使在主要的人物形象上，概念化的痕迹以及未能尽情描绘的生硬感觉也还是存在的。然而，技法上已大大发展了单线勾勒的表现能力，因描写对象而使用不同的线纹，如眼、鼻、嘴、耳、脸的轮廓、衣耦，用了粗细不同的线描，并达到了表现体积感的目的。
Some residual has also kept the painting style of the northern and southern dynasties, similar slotted head type, such as attendants accounted for the proportion of smaller, the trace of gestures and expressions have stiff, folds of the law of the processing, the human body proportion is not all right, and so on, this some is the realistic ability is in the long-term development of progress, and the children of judah for further development. Thus, even in the main characters, the traces of conceptualization and the stilted feeling of not being able to describe it to the fullest are still present. However, in terms of technique, the expression ability of single line outline has been greatly developed. Different lines have been used for the description of objects, such as the outline of eyes, nose, mouth, ears, face and coat coupling, and line drawing of different thicknesses has been used to achieve the purpose of expressing the sense of volume.
阎立本在艺术上继承南北朝的优秀传统，认真切磋加以吸收和发展。从传为他的作品所显示的刚劲的铁线描，较之前朝具有丰富的表现力，古雅的设色沉着而又变化，人物的精神状态有着细致的刻画，都超过了南北朝和隋的水平，因而被誉为“丹青神化”而为“天下取则”，在绘画史上具有重要地位。
Yan Liben inherited the fine tradition of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in art and absorbed and developed it carefully. For his works from the strong iron line shows, compared with the power has the rich expressive force, quaint regularity of composure and change, mental state has a detailed depiction of the characters, has exceeded the level of the southern and northern dynasties and sui, thus known as "painters apotheosis" and to "take the" all over the world, has important position in painting history.