Expressive Portraits with David Bannister. 21st & 22nd June 2025

Expressive Portraits

21st & 22nd June 2025 (Two day workshop)

10 am – 4 pm each day

How can we be expressive in creating portraits? What makes a likeness or character?

In this two-day workshop we will look at ways of seeing, drawing and painting the face and how to construct a portrait. The aim of the workshop is to create an expressive portrait that communicates something about the subject or sheds some light into their personality.

We will consider:

• Contours and shapes.
• Size relationships and proportions (and foreshortening)
• Angles and curves
• Tonal changes (shading and modelling of the face and forms)
• Negative space
• Pattern, texture, and colour

Materials required:

• Stretched canvas, canvas board or stretched acrylic paper on board. Preferred sizes 16 x 20”, 12 x 16” or square, 12 x 12” or 16 x 16”.
• Standing easel or tabletop easel.
• Sketching paper or A3 sketchbook.
• Vine charcoal or charcoal pencil
• Kneadable eraser (putty rubber)
• Acrylic paints- to include at least the three primary colours, white and black, and a neutral colour such as raw umber. To be sure, bring all that you have. The tutor will have a supply of paints that will be made available too.
• Long handled brushes of various sizes- bristle or artificial hair is acceptable
• Palette knife or flexible scraper (an old credit card is ideal)
• Two empty jars of plastic cups for water.
• Large palette or plate.
• Please bring a photograph, printed image or digital image on an Ipad or tablet from which to paint from. Printed images should be printed no smaller than A4 and be a high resolution image.