In this six-week atelier course, students will learn the foundations of classical portrait painting in oil through traditional academic methods inspired by the great European painting traditions.
This course is created for dedicated students who truly want to improve their understanding of portrait painting and develop a deeper relationship with painting in oil.
Having studied at one of Europe’s leading art academies, I want to share the same principles and techniques that artists have studied for centuries.
Throughout the course, students will learn how to build a portrait step by step — beginning with grisaille painting and gradually moving into color. One of the main focuses of the course will be understanding value and temperature, two of the most important elements in classical painting.
Students will also work with a limited palette — a small selection of colors that can create beautiful, natural, and harmonious portraits. These palettes are inspired by painters such as Rembrandt van Rijn and Vermeer, two Dutch masters whose work continues to inspire artists today, as well as painters like Anders Zorn and John Singer Sargent.
During the six weeks, students will explore:
* Grisaille painting
* Limited palette techniques
* Value and temperature
* Color mixing and skin tones
* Planes and form of the face
* Light and atmosphere
* Edge control and focus
* Brushwork and paint handling
* Classical oil painting materials and techniques
Students who have previously completed the charcoal drawing atelier will often find this course easier to understand, as drawing creates a very strong foundation for painting. Understanding proportion, light, shadow, and form through charcoal can help enormously when later working with oil paint.
However, students are also welcome to join this course without taking the drawing course first. The teaching will remain clear, supportive, and structured throughout the entire process.
The goal of this atelier is not only to teach students how to paint a portrait, but to help them truly understand how classical paintings are built — through observation, sensitivity, atmosphere, and structure.
