Workshops

This intensive 5-day workshop focuses on the classic alla prima portraiture style used by 19th century painter John Singer Sargent, one of the most influential direct painters of all time. Participants will work from copies of Sargent paintings to become familiar with the wet-into-wet technique that he used. This direct technique allows us to paint in a very quick and efficient way with expressive and realistic results. We will also examine a very similar style used by Anders Zorn (a contemporary of Sargent). We will also look at…

This 5–day workshop focuses on creating a painted portrait using a photo reference (a selection of pre-approved photos will be provided). Participants learn the key principles of working from photos, and most importantly, what to keep and what to leave out from the photographs. Also covered are painting fundamentals such as form, value (or tone), shape, colour theory, and the process of “finishing”. In addition, fundamentals of photography for portrait painting will be presented and a handout provided to outline…

In this 3-day portrait workshop, Senior Instructor Fernando Freitas will guide students from beginning to end in achieving a stronger likeness in capturing a portrait. He will be covering how to start with the structure of the head, focusing on proportion and placement of the features. Special attention will placed on the planes and/or facets of the face. A strong emphasis on creating the forms or volumes of the face, paying extra attention to shapes, values, and edges. He will…