OVERVIEW

If you’ve ever seen a great portrait, you know the enormous difference that separates it from a typical head study.

In a real portrait, the subject, presented as a living, breathing person takes center stage- some spring forward from the canvas, others invite us in, still others beckon us to look away, or even shoo us away with contempt. They display the whole range of human emotion- very different than the almost-universal look of noble sacrifice and even boredom that you see in academic studies of professional models posing for long hours.

Similarly, the execution can vary be free and lush, vigorous, sober or reposeful, but it rarely has the studious, labored quality of a lot of student work. So how do we work quickly enough to keep our subject engaged, while still capturing individuality of the person, in form, character, movement and even color?? (!!)

In this workshop, we’ll follow along with two different master portraits, to answer these questions!

We’ll learn how to recognize and prioritize the essential qualities of our sitter, so we can achieve more than just a passing likeness, but delve deeper into something that is truly unique to the individual person. From there, we’ll see how drawing can save us time, and how to organize our palette so the painting process stays simple and flexible. And finally, we’ll push our understanding of the structure and texture of flesh, hair and clothing and develop strategies and shortcuts to express these qualities quickly and effectively.

So if that sounds good and you’re ready to get out of study mode and really start capturing the people around you, whether in quick casual portraits,
or in large formal work, this is the workshop for you!