ALLA PRIMA PORTRAIT/FIGURE PAINTING | DAVID SHEVLINO

8 May

Dates: 6th - 10th April 2026
Times: 10am - 4.30pm
Location: Enniskerry
Skill Level: all levels welcome

Please see detailed workshop information below

If this course is fully booked or not currently scheduled, go ahead add your name to the waiting list HERE

Payment plans available contact us directly

aBOUT THE WORKSHOP

In this class we’ll alternate between painting the portrait and the nude figure alla prima (wet into wet) and the techniques used to create a fresh, direct response to our subjects. There will be a painting demonstration and lots of class time for students to work from live models with a different pose each day. The focus will be on economy of brush strokes, simplifying the head/figure and seeing it in terms of basic shapes and planes described by light and shadow. We’ll also talk about basic concepts like proportions, value, color mixing and paint application. This approach helps us to paint our subjects with greater understanding, expression and directness.

The class will be particularly helpful for those who want to move from a tight painting style to a looser, economical paint application.

This workshop is designed to help you break free from a tight, overworked style and embrace a more direct, expressive, and economical way of painting. Through daily demos and painting from live models, you will learn to see and paint the essence of the portrait and figure.
You Will Learn How To:
- Paint Alla Prima (Wet-into-Wet): Master the techniques for creating fresh, direct paintings in a single session, capturing the life and energy of your subject.
- Simplify Complex Forms: Break down the head and figure into basic shapes, planes, and value masses, moving beyond detail-oriented rendering.
- Achieve Economy of Brushwork: Develop a confident, "less is more" approach, learning how to describe form with fewer, more intentional strokes.
- Apply the "Paint & Wipe-Out" Method: Use David's signature technique of applying paint and then selectively wiping it away to model form, create soft edges, and reveal highlights.
- Describe Form with Light & Shadow: Understand how to use value (light and shadow) rather than line to define the portrait and figure, creating a powerful sense of volume.
- Mix Color with a Limited Palette: Harness the power of a simplified palette to mix accurate, harmonious flesh tones and environmental colors.
- Work from General to Specific: Establish a strong compositional foundation with large abstract shapes before moving to smaller, more specific details.
- Develop a Looser, More Expressive Style: Translate your observational skills into a painting style that feels personal, dynamic, and full of movement.
This workshop is ideal for you if you want to transition from a tight, detailed style to a more painterly, confident, and direct approach to the figure and portrait.
5 Day workshop 10am - 4.30pm daily with 1 hour lunch break
-Brushes: filberts, flats of varying sizes. Avoid soft synthetic brushes and brights. For stiff synthetics I recommend Rosemary Ivory series or Silver Brush Bristlon series.
For a natural bristle, any good quality manufacturer will do. (Robert Simmons, Tintoretto, Silver brush, Rosemary.)

NOTE: Bring at least 2 brushes which are ¾” and 1” wide
-Medium: refined linseed oil, but not cold pressed (NO STAND OIL)
-Odourless mineral spirits for rinsing/cleaning brushes
-Rags or paper towels
- Palette AT LEAST 11 x 14 or bigger
-Neutrally toned gray canvas or panel: -panel/canvas size range
14 x 18 to 16 x 20 inches. You can use Liquitex neutral gray #5
Please tone your surfaces before the class so that they are drys
Students need 1-2 canvas/panels for each day of the workshop
-Paint cups or old cans
NOTE: Bring jars or cans for your thinner at least 3” in diameter
-Jar with lid for used paint thinner.
Oil colours:
Titanium white
Cadmium red light or equivalent
Cadmium orange or equivalent
Burnt sienna
Yellow ochre
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine blue
Purple
Cadmium yellow light
Viridian green
Olive Green-
raw umber