Charcoal Portrait Workshop

Charcoal Portrait Workshop at Northern Realist, Manchester

Charcoal Portrait Workshop

Learn to draw charcoal portraits from life while learning about the tonal principles necessary for painting.

This workshop with Christopher Clements will introduce you to drawing techniques which will give your portrait drawing a solid foundation.

Charcoal is a beautiful, expressive medium, perfect for portraiture. It has a wide tonal range and can be creatively manipulated to stunning effect. If your ultimate goal is to paint, charcoal serves as an ideal medium to get to grips with the essential principles involved. This workshop will help you get much more out of painting workshops.

Workshop Overview

You will start by looking at a 9 step tonal scale which can be used to render form using light and shadow, traditionally known as chiaroscuro. Following this you’ll move on to look at how to use this scale to create tonal ‘families’ allowing you to cleanly render form by adding mid-tone.

Next you’ll learn about the gesture and structure of the head, looking at orientation and construction methods as well as compositional principles.

Finally you’ll put all this into practice as you work up a finished portrait from life. You’ll be introduced to an approach which helps you concentrate on one concept at a time. This provides you with a framework to greatly increase the efficiency of your work and enable you to pace the drawing according to the time you have available.

During the workshop you’ll look at the medium charcoal itself and how to get the best out of the different types available.

  • How to draw a well structured head
  • Perspective and orientation
  • Positioning of the features and anatomy
  • Comparative measurement
  • Composition and lighting
  • Planes of the head and tonal value
  • Creating focus through selective rendering of detail
  • Efficient use of time
  • Charcoal varieties and techniques

By the end of the workshop you’ll be familiar with drawing concepts which are invaluable in constructing and working up charcoal portrait drawings. You’ll know more about different charcoal types and how to use them effectively at different stages of the drawing. You will have developed your observational drawing abilities and learnt how to pace your work according to the time you have available.

The class is limited to 7 students meaning you can work towards your own personal goals whether you’re looking to learn fundamental principles or push your skills from a more advanced position.

Charcoal Portrait Workshop – Essential info & Booking

Date: TBA

Price : £160

Book Now – Reserve your place with £40 deposit on Eventbrite

Location: Northern Realist Studio, AWOL Studios, Manchester

Materials, Charcoal,

Hours: 09:45-16:30

More info: email info@northernrealist.com or use the contact form

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave