PORTRAITURE IN CHARCOAL & PASTEL| MARIE LE MEN
Dates: Sat 9th & Sun 10th May
Times: 10am-4pm
Location: Russborough
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 workshop, figurative artist Marie Le Men will teach you various techniques to complete a portrait from life, using your observation skills and working in charcoal pencils and colour pastels. You will learn how to bring your sketching skills to the next level by introducing subtle details and bringing in life and mood through spontaneous use of varied marks and a focus on contrasting values.
Open to beginners and intermediate level learners, this class is designed for artists interested in figurative and observational drawing. It is a short introduction to drawing and expressive portrait from life, aiming to encourage learners to cultivate their own personal style of mark making. The approach focuses first on structuring a head in planes and blocks then introducing more assertive line work, finer details and features, before adding the shading and colours.
The course will present the participants with an opportunity to discover the subtle art of life portraiture in an accessible and practical way, and to inspire amateurs to pursue this practice on a regular basis through life drawing and sketching their surroundings. The focus will be on simplifying shapes, looking at the subject selectively, avoiding literal interpretation, and the students will be encouraged to develop their own aesthetic view through colour, pattern, composition. The presence of a model wearing colourful contrasting outfit will help achieve lively results.
In an introductory demo, Marie will provide tips and some basic principles of observational drawing to equip participants with some basic technical knowledge to get started, and will then provide tips and constructive feedback to the students during the process.
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Core skills for drawing a portrait from life
Simple observational techniques to help you see shapes, proportions, and values more clearly
How to structure a head using basic planes and blocks before adding features
Confident use of charcoal pencils and colour pastels
How to create lively, expressive marks that add mood and personality
Moving from bold line work to finer details, shading, and colour
Using contrast and tone to give your portrait depth and life
Learning to simplify what you see rather than drawing every detail
Exploring colour, pattern, and composition to develop your own style
Ongoing tips and constructive feedback to support your progress
Suitable for beginners and intermediate learners, this workshop offers a practical and creative introduction to expressive portrait drawing from life
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Colour pencils of your choice (pastel or waxed based)
Some larger pastels for background too
2 or 3 sheets of toned paper A2 size (ex. Fabriano Elle Erre in pale Grey or Sand or any soft tone)
A sketchbook for notes and studies
A putty rubber
Newsprint (there will be limited supply available in the studio)
Charcoal
“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”
