Modern Portrait Painting Techniques Online
€125.00
5-WEEK ONLINE COURSE
Dates & Times:
Wednesdays 7pm – 9pm, starting 22 March 2023
Format: Online / Zoom Course
Media: Oil, Acrylic, Watercolour or Gouache
All too often modern and contemporary artists approach painting from the belief that ‘anything goes.’ Yet, why do some modern art portraits work while others fail?
To answer this question, we need to understand how visual elements and our perceptual system work – whether we’re painting like Rembrandt or Renoir – so that we can control how to alter and innovate our painting methods and techniques in relation to the portrait.
The aim of this 5-week course is to provide the tools necessary for us to make visually (and emotionally) intelligent choices around form, value, colour, texture, design and other pictorial elements, giving us total artistic freedom to push our expression in any direction. This course will provide you with a myriad of ideas, inspiration and technical know-how that you can apply to your own portraits, boosting their originality and maximising self-expression while preserving good artistic judgement.
Over the five weeks, we will examine various stylistic and technical innovations that were made in portrait painting over the last 150 years, as well as how artists have pushed the boundaries in their psychological portrayal of the sitter. You will learn oil painting techniques, artistic principles and strategies, and the evolution of style in portraiture from the 1870s to the present day. Each class will feature many demonstrations and one-to-one support, and you will also receive different weekly assignments followed by detailed feedback. Towards the end of the course, you will be given free rein to produce an original portrait painting, employing the modern painting techniques you have learned.
Please note that there will be a one-week break for Easter during this course (10th-16th April). See full description below.
In stock
Knowing the hallmarks of realism in portraiture helps us to understand how and to what extent modern artists have pushed and stretched these boundaries – experimenting, altering, distorting, and sometimes, eradicating traditional or realistic representation. We look at modern innovations in relation to the following:
- Proportion
- Planar structure of the head
- Behaviour of light and shadow
- Natural colour
- Form and edge
Over the course of modern art, we basically see each element of the painting altered in some way, and to varying degrees. Some stay close to the traditional representational portrait, while others reach towards oblivion or extinction. We will chart the development of the portrait and the innovative techniques in terms of how they treat the different elements of pictorial representation:
- VALUE: often subjugated in favour of colour (Impressionism)
- COLOUR: pushed to the extreme (Fauvism), and used to convey emotional qualities (Symbolism, Expressionism)
- CHROMA: from subtle and subdued (Symbolism) to over-saturated (Expressionism)
- DESIGN & PROPORTION: increasingly modified and distorted (Abstract Expressionism)
- FORM: regression to two-dimensions (Post-Impressionism) and propulsion to multi-dimensions (Cubism)
- LINE: its treatment by Degas, De Lempicka, and Schiele
- BRUSHWORK & TEXTURE: Freud, Bacon, Le Brocquy
This course will not only provide a myriad of inspirational ideas for your own portrait work, as we create original portraits that draw on the many innovations and styles that have been conceived, but it will also help you understand realism, and put this in reverse context.
Requirements
This course is suitable for all painters at any level, and in any medium: oil, acrylic, watercolour or gouache. You will need the following materials and equipment to do this course. Please download materials list below:
Download Materials ListImportant Information
Oil paints, solvents and mediums (such as mineral spirits, turpentine and linseed oil) will be used on this course, and these have a small and safe degree of toxicity but can emit strong fumes, which may cause headaches, drowsiness and skin irritations.
Terms & Conditions
Please read carefully before enrolling and paying for this course. By paying for this course you are agreeing to the terms and conditions below:
- Fees are non-refundable and non-transferrable.
- You cannot switch between courses. Once you have selected your preferred course, date and location, you will not be able to change your choice.
- Adrian Cooke reserves the right to cancel any course at any time should the minimum number of students required not be reached. In such cases, your course fee will be fully refunded.
Reviews
I’ve completed two courses this year (drawing and oil painting) and have thoroughly enjoyed them both. No matter whether you’re a beginner or an expert, Adrian adjusts his style to suit you, in a lovely relaxed environment.
– Alison
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