Day 1 of the Portrait Classes

During the first part of Valerie's demo I went for my camera to get a group shot of the class and Valerie in action. Flat battery. Darn it. Once re-charged I will be able to get some snaps of everyone's portraits at the end of stage one first thing in the morning. We have the most amazing selection of portraits going on and they are all absolutely brilliant (and it's only stage 1). We're enjoying the process and we're enjoying everyone's progress. The class is such fun, very light hearted and the whole group have become mates. For now I'm going to have to leave you, very reluctantly, with one of mine. Believe me, I would much rather show you some of the student's work that's been going on today. Never mind, tomorrow I can share more. Do you know, I don't think there is a single student who has not left the classroom buzzin' today. All I can say is, Mrs Valerie Stewart is one of the most awesome instructors I think I have ever met. What she can do with just a couple of strokes of a brush has to be seen to be believed - AND, she's very good at multi-tasking.

The sun has got his hat on....

Taking maximum advantage of the recent sunny weather, I decided to prep 3 boxes of canvases. All have been given 2 coats of flesh toned gesso and are ready for any of the June students who wish me to supply their portrait canvas for them. My patio had every sunny inch taken up with lines of canvas drying out. I'll be sending out an announcement to the Valerie Stewart students later this week incase you'd like to order your canvases in advance. Valerie also wants to extend an invitation to anyone who is interested in dropping by when we have the portrait seminar. Drop-ins will be on the 5th & 6th June, afternoons only. It'll give you an idea of what we've been doing and how we are getting along. It might even tempt you to sign up for a 2011 portrait seminar. I still have availablity for this 4 day oil painting portraiture workshop, details can be found HERE.If you are unable to attend the seminar but wish to learn Valerie's technique you might be interested in her DVD's. A single portrait demo DVD is a bargain at just £16; the intensive 6 DVD set is just £145. Details of the DVDs can be found HERE. As I was in a portrait frame of mind I decided to finish off this fella (yes, it IS a fella). I might just keep this guy for myself....... Regular readers will know I've learned to create these portraits simply by following Valerie's DVD tuition. This is my 7th ever oil portrait and the second portrait that I have completed without having to refer to the DVD's. You can find a larger version of this painting by clicking HERE.

Work in Progress

Here's an update of my portrait. I spent a little more time adding the skin tone, a few highlights and some shadow colour. I'm eager to get those eyes detailed. The solid dark irises make the painting look a little harsh at the moment.