Contemporary Portrait Painting

This class will explore the cannon of portraiture through the eyes of the artist today, with a special focus on compositional drama, boldness in design shape and palette choice, the harmony of neutrals and the sophistication of brushstroke. 

This class will teach students practical methods for mastering the construction and anatomical proportions of the head and will familiarize students with techniques for realistically interpreting value and chroma. Through class demonstrations, one-on-one instruction, and lectures on topics such as color theory and palette history of the contemporary masters, students will come away with a deep understanding of how to paint a realistic portrait from life.

Material List

Brushes—assortment #2, #4, #6, #8, #10 bristle filberts. Size

suggestions (ruler measurements):

Filberts

• ¼” synthetic/sable (1 or 2 ea)
• 3/8” synthetic/sable (1 ea)
• ½” bristle (1 or 2 ea)
• ¾” bristle (1 ea)

Round

• 1/8” small sable (1 ea)
• ¼” med sable or bristle

Flat

• ¼” synthetic/sable (1 ea)
• ¾” bristle (1 ea)
• 1” bristle (MUST HAVE 1 ea, or smiliar big brush)

Bright

• ½” bristle or sable (1 or 2 ea) 

Palette Knives—one small 3/8” one medium ½”

Palette—I recommend 11”x14” glass palette rectangle from Blick/Jerry’s

etc, and Masterson Sta-Wet Palette Seal (basically a Tupperware container to put your glass palette in)

• OR 11” x 14” wooden, hand-held palette (or something comparable) sealed w/ 2 or 3 coats of shellac or polyurethane 
• Palette cups (2) to hold medium and solvent

Cleaners and Solvents

• A bar of ivory soap and a container to hold the soap. 
• Only odorless mineral spirits or OMS can be used at the Academy. I recommend ECO HOUSE, TURPENOID or GAMSOL. Do not buy gum turpentine or real mineral spirits
• A jar to hold the OMS 
• Linseed Oil

Oil paints—buy artist or professional grade, not student.

• Burnt Sienna 
• Yellow Ochre
• Permanent Alizarin Crimson 
• Quinacrodone Rose (Old Holland or M. Graham brand)
• Cadmium Red Light 
• Cadmium Orange 
• Cadmium Yellow Light
• Indian Yellow  
• Viridian Green
• Ultramarine Blue
• Phthalo Blue 
• Titanium White 

Extras Oil Colors

• Brown Pink(Sennelier Brand)
• Phthalo Green 
• Cerulean Blue 
• Prussian Blue 
• Flake white (contains lead) 

Rags—cotton or Blue

shop towels

Support—either stretched canvas or gessoed panel
I recommend artist, studio, or professional grade wrapped cotton or linen canvas on stretcher bars, NOT student grade, no

canvas backed boards (no cheap canvas wrapped over cardboard)

• Sizes of canvases: For head and shoulders, from around 16" x 20" to 20" x 24" For figures, no smaller than 18" x 24"