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Oil Portraits | Chiaroscuro Oil Painting Technique
Oil Portraits | Chiaroscuro Painting Technique
3 Days Master Art Course → Book Online Now
Chiaroscuro is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark in composition—a technique used by celebrated Old Masters such as Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt. During this 3-day masterclass, you will embark on a journey to discover the legendary Italian painter Caravaggio and his dramatic use of chiaroscuro that came to be known as tenebrism. His technique comes from the brown school, and he focused on darkening shadows and transfixing subjects in bright shafts of light through a multi-layered, indirect oil painting method. You will learn both his 16th Century dramatic chiaroscuro portrait painting technique and the history behind this historical method.
Caravaggio's approach made a monumental impact on the art world, creating a powerful movement that has inspired artists throughout the centuries. To learn this dramatic approach, our classically trained tutor with provide demonstrations and teach you the step-by-step methodology to achieve this dramatic effect through copying a Caravaggio masterpiece.
You can attend this art masterclass both at our central London art studio or remotely online via our live online teaching platform.
All of our masterclasses can be learnt in our central London art studio at Sunny Art Centre or remotely online via our live online teaching platform. The live online art tuition will follow the same structure as our on-site sessions. You can, therefore, have live interactive art lessons with our expert art tutors remotely, wherever you are.
Masterclass Structure:
- Day one: Morning - Introduction of painting materials and set-up. Explanation and demonstration of light theory, values, edges, and how to create a line drawing of a portrait through knowledge of anatomical structure and planes. Students practice value exercises, planes exercise and start the line drawing. Afternoon - Explanation and demonstration of an underpainting known as open grisaille with only brunt umber paint. Students finish line drawing and paint an underpainting
- Day two: Morning - Lecture on the history of the chiaroscuro technique and artists who favoured this approach with an emphasis on Caravaggio’s career followed by demonstration and explanation of the following layer called closed grisaille. You will learn to form paint and achieve the correct values of the portrait through three colours to create a grayscale. Afternoon - Students paint the second layer of their master copy with closed grisaille.
- Day three: Explanation and demonstration of the final layers using limited earth colours to form paint flesh tones and fabric etc. You will also learn a technique called glazing. Students will work on their portraits for the rest of the day to paint the final layer of their master copy.
By the end of the art course, you will have learnt about light theory, value, edges, open and closed grisaille, brushes for specific techniques, specific mediums for each layer, mixing colour and painting a portrait with a limited palette.
Making master copies is the best way to learn a technique and this art masterclass will provide you with the necessary skills and confidence to create compelling and realistic portraits.
Key Techniques:
Our art tutors will provide you with booklets and manuals to aid your development. Content covered in this masterclass includes:
- Learn how to construct a portrait
- Learn open and closed grisaille
- Create flesh tones through limited earth pigments
Suitability
Suitable for adults with intermediate and advanced oil painting skills who also have a particular interest in portraiture.
How to Book: (each course lasts 3 days)
1. Purchase the course below, email us with your preferred dates to reserve your booking.
Upcoming Course Dates: We now offer this master course year round, available Tuesday to Friday. Please email us your preferred dates so we may arrange for dates most suited for group sessions or for private 1-1. Dates: Available between Tuesdays to Fridays Time:12:00-16:00
2. You will receive an email with instructions about how to attend the masterclass online or on-site at our central London art studio.
BOOK YOUR 3 Days ART COURSE NOW
Time left to book
Note: For rare occasions, if the final registered students are 3 or less, the tuition fee will be £700 +VAT. The difference in the payment is required prior to the course starting date.
£390 + VAT
MATERIALS
Using the right art materials plays an essential role in an art course. You can prepare your art materials by yourself from the list below, to avoid the trouble of mistakenly purchasing the wrong art materials. Our art tutors have also designed a variety of drawing and painting art materials packages specifically for our art courses with promising quality. They contain all the necessary art tools that you will need to use during the art lessons. You can pre-order the recommended pack for this masterclass here below.
Artists’ Oil Painting Materials Pack
- 18 Winsor & Newton fine oil colours set, 10ml (Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Medium,Yellow, Orange, Flesh Tint, Brilliant Red, Crimson, Violet, Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine,Permanent Green Light, Sap Green, Viridian Hue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Payne’s Grey, Ivory Black)
- Wooden Palette
- 2 practice canvases (30 x 25cm)
- 4 hog flat brushes of different sizes
- Brush case
- Oil colour wooden box
- 6 palette knifes of different sizes (2 small, 2 mediums, 2 large)
- Brush cleaner
- Linseed oil
- Turpentine
- White spirit
- Stainless steel oil brush-washer
- Stainless steel oil container
- Cotton tote bag in black & gold
- Denim painting apron with adjustable leather waist ties and neck straps
- A4 hard cover sketchbook
- 5 graphic pencils with different levels of hardness
- White charcoal pencil
- 3 charcoal pencils: soft, medium and hard
- Drawing rubber
- Putty rubber (aka kneadable eraser)
- Leather drawing case
- Paper stumps (small, medium, large)
- Pencil extension
£290 | £198 + VAT
Artists’ Oil Painting Materials Pack
- 18 Winsor & Newton fine oil colours set, 10ml (Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Medium,Yellow, Orange, Flesh Tint, Brilliant Red, Crimson, Violet, Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine,Permanent Green Light, Sap Green, Viridian Hue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Payne’s Grey, Ivory Black)
- Wooden Palette
- 2 practice canvases (30 x 25cm)
- 4 hog flat brushes of different sizes
- Brush case
- Oil colour wooden box
- 6 palette knifes of different sizes (2 small, 2 mediums, 2 large)
- Brush cleaner
- Linseed oil
- Turpentine
- White spirit
- Stainless steel oil brush-washer
- Stainless steel oil container
- Cotton tote bag in black & gold
- Denim painting apron with adjustable leather waist ties and neck straps
- A4 hard cover sketchbook
- 5 graphic pencils with different levels of hardness
- White charcoal pencil
- 3 charcoal pencils: soft, medium and hard
- Drawing rubber
- Putty rubber (aka kneadable eraser)
- Leather drawing case
- Paper stumps (small, medium, large)
- Pencil extension
£290 | £198 + VAT
OUR TEACHERS
Our Art Centre’s team of expert art tutors has an incredibly strong academic background - they honed their valuable skills and trained at some of the most prestigious institutions in the world, including the Royal Academy of Arts and Central Saint Martins in London, the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Athens Academy in Greece, and the Florence Academy of Art.
The extraordinary efforts of the art tutors ensure that the organisation can continuously deliver bespoke cutting-edge art tuition for students both on-site at our London art studio, Sunny Art Centre or remotely online.
