'Beyond the Head' - Portraiture with Jason Walker

Move beyond painting just the head, and consider the body language, character and clothing as an important part within the language of portraiture in this 3 day workshop with Jason Walker. Through a combination of fast studies and a longer, sustained pose you will learn about the technical language of paint; expression and exploration of your personal artistic language; and much more.

The emphasis of this course is the exploration of your own hand and language: Jason will work with each student individually to advance their own practice.

Course outline

Day 1 – Getting started

On the first day, you will create fast studies in paint and learn about the following:

• Drawing with paint
• Expression and exploration of personal artistic language
• Abstraction of form – planar analysis - using anatomy to identify form and the turning of form
• Using grey scales to identify colour as ‘Value’, using this to make informed choices for building story within the portrait 
• The language of paint – brush craft, edges and considered mark making
• Moving into colour using a limited palette of ivory black, flake white, burnt sienna, cadmium (or pyrrhol) red, ultramarine yellow ochre.

Day 2 and 3 - A sustained pose

You will work on a single painting from beginning to completion, starting with blocking in the larger forms before progressing towards smaller forms and refinement. 

You will be guided through the process with specific attention to anatomy in conjunction with the shapes of the face, to interpret light and shadow, to employ a full palette and assess tonal, colour temperature and edge relationships. 

You will explore:

• Tonal values in conjunction with colour using an extended palette
• An understanding of palette organisation, basic colour mixing and laying down of paint.
• Brush craft - which brushes to use when, and how and when to use them – large to small – filbert and rounds.
• Form – plane changes, lost and found edges.

Materials

• 4 small panels (or equivalent), between 6" x 8" and10" x 12". You can work on paper, oil painting paper, canvas sheets or panel
• Two panels, (smooth or canvas), 16" x 20".
• A sketchbook or drawing paper for sketching 
• Palette
• 2 x Dipper 
• Palette Knife
• 2 x Size 2, Size 4 and Size 6 Filbert Hog Brush
• 1 x Size 2, Size 4 and Size 6 Long Flat Brush
• Soft brushes (optional)
• 2 x Size 0 Synthetic Filberts
• 2 x Jam jars for keeping brushes in
• Low-odour solvent (eg. Sansodor). Note that turpentine is not permitted in the studio.
• Medium (refined linseed oil)
• Kitchen towels
• Pen and paper for taking notes
• Mahl stick or something similar (optional)
• Paint:
  • Ivory black
  • Flake white (or Michael Harding's warm white numer 137)
  • Titanium white
  • Burnt sienna
  • Cadmium (or pyrrhol) red
  • Ultramarine
  • Yellow ochre
  • Cerulean blue
  • Cadmium yellow
  • Lemon yellow (optional)
  • Magenta (optional)

About the tutor

Jason Walker is highly regarded for his sensitive portraits and his thoughtful depictions of everyday objects. His approach to painting is accompanied by a command of tonal values and refined use of colour, which both inform and give a subtle presence to his chosen subject.

Jason graduated from Falmouth College of Art in 1992. As well as a series of solo and mixed exhibitions, he has won prizes in the Discerning Eye Exhibition, the Hunting Art Prize and exhibited in the National Portrat Gallery's BP Portrait Award, for the last 5 years. In 2004 he won the Holburne Portrait Prize and was commissioned to paint Glastonbury Festival founder, Michael Eavis. The portrait is now in the permanent collection at the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath.

---

This course will have a maximum of 12 participants.

Got any questions? Check out our frequently asked questions, or send us an email.