Dan Riley - Workshop - Creative Portrait Drawing and Painting

This workshop is taught by a team of Dan Riley and Joe MacKechnie (www.jlmackechnie.com). Like all of our workshops, the portrait workshop is characterized by copius handouts and intense personal guidance and critique. With 2 instructors sharing the workload, you will be sure to get the assistance you need to move up to the next level.

Are you a beginner who wants to create portraits? Are you an advanced artist who is frustrated with the portraits you produce? Do you need to develop better drawing skills? Are you tired of producing photographic style portraits that don’t sell?   Our workshop is just what you’re looking for. It is suitable for beginners through advanced artists.

Section 1: Drawing Fundamentals

This section covers fundamental drawing techniques with an emphasis on drawing portraits. It’s about measurement and the use of known landmarks. Several original techniques are presented for representing facial proportions. These help to create a surprisingly accurate representation of the subject.

Section 2: Light and Shading

The key to making a subject pop out in 3D in your drawing or painting is to get the shading right. This Section is about techniques to bring the flat portrait drawing to life with shading. We also discuss the principles of dramatic lighting and shading that make the difference between a snapshot and an intriguing presentation.

Section 3: Creative Black and White Techniques

A good representation of the subject is not enough to separate your artwork from the ordinary. This Section discusses the complete context in which the object is presented and some highly creative approaches to completing the image.

Section 4: Creative Color Techniques

These experimental approaches to drawing lead to highly personalized, dramatic images. You’ll discover a way to really have fun with your drawing and painting materials. Your natural creativity can emerge into surprisingly interesting artworks that defy easy categorization as realist or abstract works.

Section 5: Gesture

Gesture is the “verb” in a great painting. The highest goal of the portrait artist is to see the gesture, and get it down on paper or canvas. The gesture tells the story and reveals the subject’s personality.

Section 6: Facial Expressions

It is said that variations of 6 basic expressions produce the full range of human emotions. We explore the basic expressions and how they can be used to tell a story and enhance the gesture of the subject.

Schedule: The workshop is normally presented in a 3 day series, usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 4pm. The workshop costs $250 for the whole 3 days including model fees.