This course comprises of 6 one day courses.  The half of the course (first three sessions) will be painting from a model over the course of one day – alla prima.  The second half of the course (final three sessions) will be a sustained pose focusing on the same model over a period of 3 sittings.  

During this course you will:

• learn to draw with paint a portrait from life, including understanding the planar structure of the head, important anatomical information and essential points of likeness 
• how to understand the crucial importance of tonal values in observational painting and how value study gives the impression of form
• how to use various limited palettes to understand the principles of colour mixing to effectively mix skin tones and harmonise a painting 
• how to paint a portrait in both alla prima (one day) and extended (three day) sittings, how to manage a palette and paint application for both long and short sittings

Your tutor will provide group tuition as well as one-to-one support throughout the course.

By the end of the course, you will have produced a series of portrait paintings in oil from life portrait models.

Included

The model who will sit for the course.

What students need to bring

• Oil paints in the following colours: Titanium White, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna (or Transparent Red Oxide), Ultramarine Blue, Ivory Black 
• Optional extra colours: Cadmium Yellow Pale, Olive Green (Winsor & Newton) 
• Palette - at least 12”x 16” 
• 2 offset palette knives 
• Assortment of filbert shaped brushes – your tutor recommends Pro-arte Sterling White synthetic filberts and Rosemary Ivory filberts
• Low odour studio safe solvent such as Sansodor or Zest it - please note that turpentine isn’t permitted 

You will need either Arches painting paper or canvas/canvas boards or prepared paper/mount board or panels. Your tutor highly recommends toning your surfaces with a thin light grey tone in acrylic paint ahead of the course. If you have any questions, please contact your tutor through the bookings office at [email protected] 

Additional information

Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).

Daily Timetable

Course teaching 11am–5.15pm
Students arrive 10.30am-11am (coffee optional)  
Morning teaching 11am-1pm
Lunch break between 1pm-2pm (lunch is not included)
Afternoon teaching 2pm-5.15pm (15 minute break, 3.30pm–3.45pm)
Teaching finishes 5.15pm  
 

Short courses are open to anyone aged 18 and over. The course fee covers tuition and materials where stated. You will need to bring all other items listed under the ‘Materials to bring’ section.

Refreshments

Coffee and tea are included in the course fee, but you will need to bring lunch with you to eat in the refreshments room. There are also plenty of other local venues to purchase food.

Access

If you have any specific access needs, we will need to know about your access requirements in advance. Please tell us about your needs in confidence by emailing: [email protected] This venue has steps to the front reception, with limited access via a side gate to the ground floor. There is a small lift to higher floors or stairs.

Safety

Short course students are required to sign a safety compliance form as part of West Dean Health and Safety regulations.

Refunds and cancellations

Please refer to our terms & conditions below.

Disclaimer

The information given is accurate at the time of publication. However, West Dean College reserves the right to cancel or amend courses if circumstances require.

Terms & Conditions