One of 3 Installments for April/ May 2026 live workshop

One of three installments for the April/ May 2026 online course.
Payment is self guided just please be paid in full one week before start of the course. 

thanks! 

Expressive Portraiture with Mixed Materials

This hands-on four part workshop will gently guide you into creating your own dynamic, personal and expressive portraits. Even if you find portraits difficult or challenging, this course will help you to make confident choices and build on your skills.  You are allowed to have fun while making art! 

The course will begin with  digestible lessons and exercises on traditional portraiture that will benefit both beginners and experienced painters alike. If you are afraid of painting eyes, noses, lips, ears... Whatever! This course has you covered. 

Beginning with this essential foundation will give you the confidence to delve into the exciting world of experimentation, nontraditional techniques and the studied and intentional use of mixed materials such as fabrics, papers and found objects. 

The course will include a lot of one on one guidance and feedback as well as discussions on composition, value and color. We will work through main stages of creating a dynamic and original  portrait from start to finish and everything in between. 

Artists will work with a variety of traditional and non-traditional materials and learn how to integrate them into their work as a means of expression and visual storytelling. By using unexpected tools, found objects, painting techniques and personal materials, we’ll interpret experiences, immediate surroundings and circumstances into strong visual language to create more authenticity in our art. 

The classes are kept small enough to make sure there is enough time for individualized attention and feedback for every student. My goal as a teacher is to highlight your individual talents and strengths and guide you into deepening and enhancing your own personal style. 

If you can't make it to the live classes- don't worry- you will be sent a recording of the full class within 24 hours and you'll still have the opportunity to attend  live, virtual Q+A sessions which will be held at various times throughout the week. These are valuable and productive sessions and are typically a favorite resource of students. 

Exercises and discussions will include: 

• Tools for laying out and planning your portrait
• Creating depth in skin tones
• layering and glazing
• The effective use of "nontraditional" color schemes in the face and how to make them! . 
• foundations of portraiture
• Techniques for applying a variety of material and found objects
• mixing traditional and contemporary painting techniques
• Acrylic painting methods
• Layering and incorporating meaningful material to create visual and emotional depth
• Intentional use of mixed media
• Finding strong composition 
• Intuitive mark making and writing
• Finding and using reference material you can feel good about
• Creating narrative and engagement through use of personal objects and imagery 
• Color as tool for creating harmony 
• Using patterns effectively
• creating your own "signature" marks and stamps
• Striking a balance with process, intuition and playfulness
• How to effectively self critique
• Getting "unstuck"

Things to know before you register:

• • We will be working with acrylic paints and water based mediums.

• • There will be some feedback during class hours and I will hold a live Q & A on Zoom throughout the week where you will be able to ask me any questions that you may have about your work or your process as well as being able to see what your fellow classmates are up to. (Various times will become available for Q & A to make sure Everyone gets a chance to attend. I will try and accommodate everyone's needs/timezones).

• • The cost of the course is $450.00 due at registration (If you would prefer to make installments, there is a seperate listing where you can make 3 payments of $150.00 each. 

• • After each class session, I will have a short time frame for questions, discussions and open critique.

• • Classes are scheduled to last about 70 minutes but may run longer.

• • Classes will be recorded and sent out to participants within 24 hours. These recordings will then be available for a year.

• • Once purchased, you will be automatically registered.
  • A welcome packet will be emailed to you at least 3 weeks before the start date with a suggested materials list and everything you need to know to for day one..

Schedule:

*All Classes held in Eastern Standard Time (EST)*

Sunday, April 12th at 11am (EST)

Various methods for starting a painting

"Planning" your portrait

foundations of the portrait

Composition

Process photos

Sunday, April 19th at 11am (EST)

Color and value

Creating depth and dimension in skin tone

unconventional color choices (how to do it!)

How to choose materials

Eye demo

Demos

Process photos

Sunday, April 26th at 11am (EST)

Continue with mixed media application, mixed media technique, continue to paint and model the portrai. 

Demos

Process videos

Sunday, May 3rd  at 11am (EST)

Incorporate paint, mixed media,

background choices and how to make them wisely

Talks on finalizing your piece.

Process photos/ talks

I hope to meet you!