Expressive Portrait Painting in Oil

Expressive Portrait Painting in Oil

Adult Course | Available

200 Grant Street Denver, CO 80203 United States
A01
Intermediate
1/7/2025-2/25/2025
6:00 PM-9:00 PM MST on Tue
Download iCalendar
$516.00
$438.60

Expressive Portrait Painting in Oil

Adult Course | Available

Master the simple shapes that make up the face, learn the few colors you need to paint them, and use this mastery to emphasize the idiosyncratic differences between people that turn a painting of a face into a portrait of a person. All the techniques will be explained, then demonstrated by the instructor, then put into practice by students.

  • Some experience with Oil Paints required
  • -Palette: Masterson Sta-Wet is used by lots of artists, but a canvas panel covered with wax paper
  • can work.
  • -12x16 or 11x14 canvas each class
  • -a wet canvas container (Handy Porters or a clean pizza box works fine.)
  • -Mirror. Makeup compact is fine.
  • -Paint. A palette the artist is familiar with is fine, my recommendations are:
  • -Cadmium Yellow Medium (Hue is fine), Cadmium Red (Hue is fine), Permament Alizarin Crimson (NOT GENUINE ALIZARIN)
  • -Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna or Transparent Red Oxide, Ivory Black
  • -Luxury Colors include Dioxazine Purple, Cadmium Orange, Pemanent Green Light, Viridian
  • -Brushes: size 4, 6, and 8 Hogs Hair Filberts
  • -A cheap size 0 watercolor brush
  • -Palette Knife, medium size and flexible
  • -Paper Towels
  • -Odorless Mineral Spirits. Don't go cheap here, get this at an art supply store like Meininger's or
  • Guiry's
  • -Brush washer to hold the Odorless Mineral Spirits
Clyde Steadman

Clyde developed his skills by combining years of working from life in figure, landscape, and still life while studying with the finest teachers in Denver. He is known for combining technical virtuosity with emotional directness in his oil paintings. He has exhibited in a variety of Denver galleries, and shown in Santa Fe, and Taos, New Mexico; Destin, Florida; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is collected internationally, and is represented in the collections of Kaiser Permanente, Children's Hospital, and St. Josephs Hospital Denver.
Teaching Philosophy Clyde teaches the elements of painting; shape, color, value, and edges. Through explanation, demonstration, and practice students come to master the elements. Like a poet learns vocabulary before writing poetry, an artist needs to command the elements of painting before being able to express the genius within. Artist Statement One key question a painter should ask is: "Why am I painting this?" The answer to this question provides a guide to what is essential in the painting. Anything that doesn't further the goal of communicating the painter's answer to the viewer is extraneous, and actually hurts the painting. This strategy guides me in composition. If I am responding to the expression on a face, it might not be important to include even a chin, or a hairline. Focusing on precise areas and limited subjects forces me to devote myself to the painting with an intense concentration. The composition becomes a carefully orchestrated combination of subject, shape, value, color and edges; all doing their part to communicate a specific emotion. If I'm lucky, the viewer will see that, and also sense the pure joy I get from playing with glorious gobs of color.