One Week Holiday Course | The Contemporary Portrait: Drawing and Painting

Taught by two artists, each with a different approach to working from the head. Over the week, the course will offer an opportunity for a sustained period of enquiry, revision and experimentation and seeks to develop both perceptual skills and a personal language.

Drawing the Clothed Model
Drawing a Head
Painting and Sculpture

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One Week Holiday Course | The Contemporary Portrait: Drawing and Painting Image

Course details

Dates

7 July – 11 July 2025

Times

10:00 – 17:00

Duration

5 sessions

Fees

£445.00

Location

Shoreditch studios

Tutors

Sophie Charalambous

Claudia Carr

Shawn McGovern Laura

Overview

This drawing and painting course is taught by two artists each with a different approach to working from the head. Techniques and ideas from the work of both artists will inform approaches of drawing the portrait back in the studio.  Over the week, the course will offer an opportunity for a sustained period of enquiry, revision and experimentation and seeks to develop both perceptual skills and a personal language in response to the sitter. Referencing a broad range of contemporary and traditional artists from Hans Holbein to Lucian Freud, Alice Neel and Paula Modherson Becker this course will explore the many facets of the drawn and painted portrait. We will explore how scale, depth, focus, tonal range, viewpoint and composition can affect the works’ emotional charge.

Who is it for

Artists, creatives and image-makers of all levels welcome, including beginners.

What’s provided

For studio courses, easels, drawing boards, charcoal, newsprint and masking tape are provided in the studios for free. For our painting courses there is an additional fee at time of booking for Co-co Bello Solvent which includes a 200ml pot of solvent to use in our studios. Please note, no other solvents are allowed in the studios for H&S reasons. If you would like to use our stock of paper within the studios, we charge a paper fee that can be paid by card on the day, at £2.50 per day.

What to bring

A detailed materials list will be sent to you a week prior to the start of the course. You are required to bring your own materials for painting courses; our suggested list includes:

Drawing:
-Pencils - H, HB, B, 2B, 4B, 8B
-Conté Crayons
-Pastels
-Coloured Pencils
-Ink Pens
-Pencil Sharpener
-Putty and Hard Erasers
-Sketchbook (A4 or A5)

Painting:
Demonstrations and advice are provided for oil paint, but acrylic paints may be used.

Oil paints - Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna, Titanium or Zinc White, Viridian, Phaylo Blue, Lamp Black.

NB - 'Student quality' paints are fine, more advice about pigments will be provided on the course. If you are missing one or two of these colours, the tutor will advise and help you choose an alternative.
Surfaces:
Students will be making a number of paintings over the course of the week.
Oil-painting paper/canvas/canvas-boards (or another primed surface).
1 x A4, 1 x A3, 1 x A2
NB - oil painting paper can be bought in a pad = low cost and easy storage

Concessions

Unfortunately, we do not offer concessions on our holiday courses.

All of our course rates are subsidised and we also offer a comprehensive concessions scheme on our term-time courses. View all course fees and concessions.