This course is designed to help you further develop your portait painting skills, focusing on both creating a likeness and increasing the expressive aspects of your portrait skills. These two elements will be explored together over this three-day masterclass; you'll first make several charcoal studies, followed by a brief oil sketch and finally, a fully developed portrait in oil. You'll focus on accuracy of observation and measurement, while also making a fresh, energised and expressive response to the model. By the end of the masterclass, you will have developed your existing skills and knowledge of structure, tone, colour, composition and express use of paint and charcoal, and you will have completed one portrait painting and a number of briefer sketches and studies. The class has the benefit of 1:6 model to student ratio, as well as tuition from a talented professional artist. Throughout this masterclass, you'll receive regular one-to-one guidance from Andy James. A self taught artist, Andy has been painting for over 25 years, capturing incredible likeness and energy of his subjects through his sumptuous, rigorous and painterly approach. Andy has worked on many prestigious commissions of well-known public figures. He was the winner of the Carroll Foundation Award, the Changing Faces Award and of BBC’s Star Portraits, and served as the Vice President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 2008 to 2014.

This two day portrait course will offer an opportunity for intensive study under the tuition of Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco. The course will allow students the freedom to work from two models. Under Ilaria’s guidance students will work on composition and colour mixture. Each student will be encouraged to work in their own individual way: together you will find strategies and techniques to make progresses. The tutor will also be working alongside the students demonstrating her technique. The class has the benefit of 1:6 model to student ratio, as well as tuition from a talented professional artist. This exciting course is an intensive two days that offers a high level of tutor contact time. Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco was born in Italy, from a family of Florentine Renaissance painters. She studied illustration and painting in Italy and in London, where she has lived since 1999. Her work has been selected for the BP Portrait Award and the Threadneedle Prize, as well as the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Competition. She shows regularly in UK and Italy and her paintings are also in private collections in US, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.

In this masterclass, you will be painting from two models, with an emphasis on the visual differences between them. These individual nuances will help you to use comparative means to strengthen what you see, whether you are working on a portrait of one of the models or both (although duouble portraits are encouraged as they help the flow and are full of exciting challenges). The aim is to portray likeness and individuality in each model. The relatively short time of two days will be of benefit in freeing inhibition and embracing what is “there” and to work from life; it is very much painting the experience. You will work under the expert guidance of Jennifer McRae RSA, whose work can be found in a number of collections including the Royal Collection at the National Portrait Gallery. By the end of the course, you will have completed a single or double portrait. This exciting course is an intensive two days that offers a high level of tutor contact time.

Under Alan’s guidance, students will concentrate on developing the relationship between life drawing and painting whilst considering mark-making, colour and the handling properties of paint. These elements will be fused together over the five day course by firstly making several drawn studies in both dry materials and oil paints, followed by a one day oil painting and finally, a more developed three day painting in oil. The consideration of accuracy of observation and measurement will be looked at in relation to freedom of expression, exploration of materials and engagement with an expressive and individual painterly language. Students will receive regular one-to-one guidance throughout the course.

This four-day Portrait Painting Masterclass with Alex Fowler offers a fantastic opportunity for intensive study from a life model under the expert tutelage of Alex Fowler. The class has the benefit of 1:6 model to student ratio, as well as tuition from a talented professional artist. The course has been designed to guide you through the process of painting a portrait while taking into consideration how to paint realistic colour and to convey likeness: the right colour in the right place - a critical point in painting the visible world. You will also be encouraged to work intuitively and expressively in tandem with an emphasis on accuracy of observation. Students will receive one-to-one guidance throughout the course and Alex will be on hand to give regular feedback and constructive advice. He will also be demonstrating and painting alongside the students. What topics will you cover? Painting and drawing accurately to capture realistic likeness. Colour mixing; exploring a subtle use of tonal values in paint.

For some artists the portrait can be about purely formal aspects, with no relevance places on the character of the sitter. Under the tuition of Andy Pankhurst you will be encouraged to explore and discover what you personally want to "paint about", working from a model throughout the week. Starting with preliminary drawings on day one you will be introduced to the concepts of measurement and proportion, form, tone, space, composition and pictorial structure. The focus will then be on producing a colour oil sketch from the portrait model with a particular emphasis on colour and temperature. The final three days of the course will be spent on a large-scale portrait painting of a sustained pose. This exciting course is an intensive five days that offers a high level of tutor contact time.

This five day portrait course will offer an opportunity for intensive study under the tuition of Sam Dalby. The class has the benefit of 1:6 model to student ratio, as well as tuition from a talented professional artist. Starting with a preliminary drawing in line on day one and moving onto a tonal preliminary drawing on day two, the focus will then be on producing oil sketches on the third day, while on the final two days it is all about completing a finished painting. Under Sam’s guidance, you will learn how to complete a portrait from a ‘cold’ start in the life drawing room, through the imaginative and practical stages of construction, to the final execution . This exciting course is an intensive five days that offers a high level of tutor contact time.

This three-day portrait course will offer an opportunity for intensive study under the tuition of Tim Benson. The class has the benefit of 1:6 model to student ratio, as well as tuition from a talented professional artist. Students will produce at least four oil sketches on the first day and at least one more 'finished' painting by the final day. Under Tim’s guidance, students will concentrate on tonal painting allowing the emphasis to be on the form. During the course of the painting there will be an in-depth look at how to mix up colours. The tutor will also be working alongside the students demonstrating a 'wet in wet' technique. This exciting course is an intensive three days that offers a high level of tutor contact time.  

This three-day portrait course will offer an opportunity for intensive study under the tuition of Tim Benson. The class has the benefit of 1:6 model to student ratio, as well as tuition from a talented professional artist. Students will produce at least four oil sketches on the first day and at least one more 'finished' painting by the final day. Under Tim’s guidance, students will concentrate on tonal painting allowing the emphasis to be on the form. During the course of the painting there will be an in-depth look at how to mix up colours. The tutor will also be working alongside the students demonstrating a 'wet in wet' technique. This exciting course is an intensive three days that offers a high level of tutor contact time.