The Portrait Sketch in Oils

Service Description

This two-day intensive covers practical strategies for painting a portrait sketch in oils. Topics discussed will include: ● Color theory and mixing ● Simplifying detail ● Value relationships ● Proportions and capturing a likeness Students will complete one portrait each session (four hours per portrait) in class. The instructor will provide demonstrations and one-on-one critiques while the students employ the lessons in hands-on practice. All levels of experience are welcome. SUPPLIES ● Canvas/linen panels: ○ 2 panels, 11x14” each ○ I recommend Centurion acrylic primed linen panels or Ampersand Gessobord, available through Jerry’s Artarama and Amazon. (DO NOT bring oil paper or canvas paper as the working qualities of those surfaces are not conducive to the results we will seek in class.) ● Brushes: I recommend trying a range of sizes, both natural hog bristle and soft synthetic. The shapes I’d recommend are filberts and rounds. The brushes I use are: ○ Rounds: Utrecht Manglon Mixed Synthetic Series 239 (black handle with the green stripe) sizes 4 and 12, available at Blick Art Store ○ Filberts: Utrecht Bristle Series 209, sizes 4, 8, and 12, also available from Blick ○ Robert Simmons Signet, Simply Simmons and Pro-Stroke are other affordable brands I’d recommend ● Palette: I use a glass palette. New Wave’s gray glass palettes are excellent, but there is an inexpensive substitute: take an old picture frame, about 12x16 inches, and place a piece of gray paper behind the glass to create a gray-toned, easy-to-clean glass palette for a fraction of the cost of a store-bought palette. ● Pigments: I use Utrecht Artist’s Oil Colors and Williamsburg Oil Colors. For best results avoid student grade lines. If budget is an issue or if you are new to color the pigments in bold are sufficient for class, but I will be using all the pigments listed: ○ Titanium White (37ml tube) ○ Yellow Ochre (37ml) ○ Raw Umber (37ml) ○ Cadmium Red (37ml) ○ Alizarin Crimson Permanent (37ml) ○ Cobalt Blue (37ml) ○ Ivory Black (37ml) ● Palette knife (trowel or spade shaped, approximately 2” to 3”) ● Paper towels ● Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits ● Silicoil Container or metal brush cleaning tank (i.e. a sealable jar for the Gamsol) ● Medium (optional): Oleogel from NaturalPigments.com or Gamblin's Solvent-Free Gel Medium