Portraiture

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PLEASE NOTE: THIS CLASS IS CURRENTLY BEING HELD AT WESTBURY ARTS CENTRE, MK. For further information and to book, please visit

westburyartscentre,org,uk/servicepage/portraiture

Times and Dates for Portraiture:

Mondays 10.30 -12.30 Westbury Arts Centre, MK5 6AA. For more information please visit site.

What happens during these classes?

The poses in this class tend to be longer than for Life Drawing, and the sessions are structured around themes that suggest ideas of character, mood or scene, or that take inspiration from a particular artist or art movement.

I teach how to draw the face and figure in proportion, but emphasise that although it is sometimes really important to achieve an accurate likeness – that shouldn’t always necessarily be the goal. A striking portrait is, above all a portrayal of the sitter, an expression of how the artist sees that person, or what they feel about them. (One only has to look at Van Gogh, for example to understand how a portrait can be expressive.)

All sorts of media are used here, including pencil, charcoal, pastels (chalk and oil), watercolours, acrylics and oils.

I demonstrate ideas and techniques and give “hands-on” help when asked.

What to expect at the first session and what to bring:

If you are just joining the class, I suggest bringing “basic” materials to the first session: an A3 white cartridge drawing pad (with a hard backing board), a couple of soft drawing pencils (such as 3B and 6B), some willow charcoal ( a box of mixed thicknesses is best) and a putty rubber.

Please note: Easels and drawing boards are available to use, but no other materials or equipment can be provided or borrowed (due to Covid safety).