Painting the Portrait (Online Course) Fall 2024 w/ Kathleen Hall

September 2 to September 30 (Mondays), 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, Eastern Time

**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.

Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.

Course Description

This course will focus on portraiture as a vehicle to explore color, shape, and light. Students do not need to have access to a model and can choose to paint themselves in front of a mirror. We will paint primarily from direct observation, though we also will work from reproduced images of masterworks.

Beginners as well as more experienced painters are welcome. Students will receive regular, individualized feedback on their work.

Course Outline

Week 1 –

Intro: Seeing the abstraction of shapes. Looking to masterworks for inspiration on how to arrange the figure within the rectangle. Planning the setup, lighting, and composition while remaining open and flexible.

Week 2 -

The importance of drawing and proportions. Discussion of the basic anatomical structures of the head and planar simplification.

Week 3 and Week 4 -

Establishing a tonal and color key. Working towards greater specificity in your color mixing, shifting the hues and temperatures incrementally to create complexity and

harmony.

Week 5 –

Sustaining the painting: how to push the work forward, fine-tuning and/or making bold changes if needed. When to lean into accuracy and detail, vs when to let go and prioritize other aims of the painting. Critique & conversation about the work created during the course.

Course Materials List

Oil painting is recommended but students can use acrylics if they prefer.

Palette: I usually use a chromatic palette of co-primaries (warm and cool versions of each primary color), plus an earth red (Indian red, venetian red, or burnt sienna). You can add secondary colors or use a more restricted palette if you like. Keep whatever paint colors you have on hand to try different limited palette combinations.

Basic palette of co-primaries:

Titanium White

Hansa Yellow (or Cad Yellow Light)

Indian Yellow (or other orange-leaning yellow)

Napthol Red (or Cad Red Light)

Quinacridone Magenta (or Alizarin CRimson)

Indian Red (or Burnt Sienna)

Ultramarine Blue

Manganese Blue or Sevres Blue (Pthalo works too but it can be a bit overpowering for portraiture) I use mostly Gamblin and Williamsburg brand paints. Use whatever brand you like, but avoid student-grade paints like Winton.

Other materials:

A palette knife or two. Different sizes/shapes is helpful.

Palette – glass is best, but wood or disposable works too

Brushes: A range of sizes (#4, #6, #8, #10) flats and/or filberts. It is good to have a couple smaller rounds (#2) for drawing and detail work. I use mostly soft, synthetic brushes.

Brush cleaning canister with solvent (Gamsol) if using oils, and your preferred painting medium

Rags or paper towels & disposable gloves

At least 2 painting surfaces (stretched canvas, gessoed board, etc.), around 9” x 12”, for

portraits. In addition, please have 2-3 extra surfaces on hand for studies.

Sketchbook and pencils, eraser, ruler

A mirror if doing self-portraiture. It is good to have some manner of propping up the mirror vertically, ideally so it is at eye level (a second easel is very useful for this).