Portrait Drawing

Improve your ability to capture a subject’s likeness, learn expressive drawing techniques, and expand on your style of rendering!

Learn the fundamentals of creating a realistic portrait using reference photos, mirrors and your imagination. Explore a variety of techniques to arrive at the goal of an expressive portrait.

In this class, you'll learn how to:

Select a reference photo that will provide the best results
Draw the structure of a face
Graph a resource photo to accurately represent a desired image
Use negative and positive space to recognize shape and dimension
Use light and shadow to create form
We will have fun practicing different drawing techniques to bring about a likeness of an individual.

You will walk away with at least one finished portrait by the end of the class and have established drawing techniques that will help you to confidently create portraits on your own.

Great for beginning and intermediate level artists.

Supply List:

Sketchbook or surface to draw on that suits your subject
Pencil Set with a range of softness to hardness (i.e. 2H to 8B)
Gummy Erasers
Pencil Sharpener
Newsprint Paper Pad
Ruler
Compass
Blending Stumps are very helpful
Bring a printed photo reference or have an iPad mini or larger tablet to view your image
Optional: charcoal pencils, colored pencils, ink pens, or anything else you might want to use from home

Class Info:

Next session: April 21 - May 12
Cost $165 (4 classes)
FRI AM from 10:30am-1:30pm
Max 10 students
All skill levels welcome
Age level: adult (18 & up)

Artists who have taken this class may want to explore our Portrait Painting class.

Parking Info

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS CLASS...

• those who want to prepare to paint portraits
• those who want love drawing faces and expressions

• those who want to learn to capture someone's likeness
• adults who want to learn the anatomy of faces and heads

Register online

Class Cancellation & Refund Policies

About the instructor

Wendy Kwasny

Wendy Kwasny is an award winning fine artist in San Diego who specializes in oil and acrylic portraiture, still life, and landscapes. She earned her BA in fine art from SDSU, and regularly shows her art at The Ashton Gallery in San Diego. She is currently working out of Art on 30th and her home studio. Wendy has shown her work in venues all over San Diego in the past 25+ years, and has completed numerous commissioned pieces.

Painting, and the creative process, really, is part of Wendy. It’s innate in her world view, in her interactions with people and ingrained in her life. The world can be chaotic place and painting centers her and brings her to a place of serenity, calm and confidence. She brings that into her work with each brush stroke and careful color consideration, always trying to capture that certain unique something about someone to tell their story. When she’s not painting, she is off playing with (and being inspired by) her family and friends.

Website

"I've never been associated with a gallery/school that offers a mort supportive and congenial atmosphere. It is easy to create in that kind of environment."

~Roberta Dyer

class info