I love this workshop! We started by drawing several small face studies, to warm up and familiarise ourselves with proportion and in working generally (as opposed to specifically). This is counter intuitive as we LOVE detail, and are overly desperate to add eye lashes etc. So it is quite a task to let go of those expectations, but once we do, the path towards painting in oils becomes more manageable.
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| Ruth at the easel |
We worked through a series of small studies, with allows students to build up confidence through repetition and small successes.
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| Rishona working on her colour study |
Below is a drawing board packed with lots of examples of the process. It's amazing how much of a likeness you can get to your sitter, even by just painting them as an egg!
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Several examples of the oils process, Julie Douglas
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Of course, there are many ways to approach an oil portrait, and in just four days we aren't going to do all of them, so I chose a couple of methods and we worked through those.
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| Some of my oil demos from throughout the workshop |
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| B&W tonal study |
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| colour study |
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| Small colour study start to finish |
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| the two thumbnail colour studies - both tiny, both about 15 minutes each to complete |
For me, quantity was the key. We drew each morning, then did mixing practice, then small black and white and then colour studies. Students worked very hard, and I wish I had more photos of their work to show you here! Below are two students work.
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| Rishona's colour studies |
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| Suzanne's artworks from the four days. A terrific amount of work and lovely studies. |
September sees the start of the Autumn term with weekly classes offered in mornings and evenings. If you would like to attend a regular class, get in touch.
julie@juliedouglas.co.uk
