Portrait Power | Gary Cooley

Instructor: Gary Cooley (View Bio)

Registration Deadline: April 15, 2023

Level: Intermediate

Portfolio Review Required: No

Class Limit: 10

Day 1: Morning Instruction & Demo | Afternoon Head Study #1

Day 2: Morning Head Study #2 | Afternoon Head Study #3

Day 3: Morning and Afternoon | Bring one head study to completion

Working from life whether it be a portrait a landscape or a still life brings out an interpretive quality that just doesn’t happen working from photos. 

I call this a head study rather than a portrait study because I believe it must be fundamentally a good painting first a portrait second.  Learning to see is essential to a good representational painting.  By learning to see how the light forms a face a likeness can happen naturally. We’ll cover a few basics on proportions and structure of the head, then I’ll do a demonstration of my approach to a painting from life. 

Eight years ago an artist friend and myself started a head study from life group. It was the beginning of a discovery process I will always look back on as an awakening. The things I learned spilled over into everything I painted, whether a landscape, a still life or a portrait.

I’ll spend time with each of you and help you to find your strengths and discover the joy and endless possibilities in painting the human head.