Portrait Drawing: Creating Drama through Value
Adult Class | Registration opens 2/3/2026 10:00 AM MST
Creating a portrait can be done through many approaches. In this class students will learn how to manipulate and control a condensed range of values to set a particular tone. Drama, intrigue, serene, these can be apart of a portrait when the elements are able to deliver a particular tone. Students will learn how to break down the value structure as it applies to their work and what they observe, see and understand how the light hits the form, and learn to separate light and shadow in order to achieve the illusion of a three dimensional structure.
- Vine and compress charcoal: Hard, medium, soft
Pad of 18x24 drawing paper
kneaded eraser
drawing board
Andrea Kemp
Painting had its way of creeping into my life. I do not know how or why, but I am so fortunate it did. Though it is a large part of who I am, its meaning is ever changing. My journey as a painter takes me to new places that end up either, presenting unique ideas and challenges, or paralleling other events in my life. Painting in itself is a teacher that if we pay attention to, we learn from and grow from , not only as an artist but to be a better person. Its possibilities are boundless and the adventure of painting presents numerous challenges. It's not always easy to meet those challenges. A famous female writer, who I cannot recall her name, describes the experience of having a great idea and the desperate need to capture it by comparing it to train and how you can hear it approaching, which sends you into a fury preparing yourself for when it passes by so that you might capture its power and greatness, for when it is gone, it may be gone forever. Though writing and painting may be two different mediums of communication, I still could very much relate to this metaphor. https://www.andreakempart.com/portfolio