Master Class in Color Study: Portrait/Figure

From Jafang Lu:

The primary focus of this workshop is learning to key the light of the painting (where a figure/face is present). In order to do so, we need to learn the following:

• Rudimentary color theories, assumptions, and misconceptions.
• Color relationships. What they are, how to see and calibrate them in our painting.
• Paint handling
• How to ascertain and maintain the hierarchy of information within the painting so that the light key of the painting is properly calibrated throughout

Although we are primarily interested in learning to see and paint the human skin tones, we will rely heavily on using still life/props to help us learn to calibrate color relationships in order to see/paint the subtleties of the skin tones more vividly.

The instructor will start each day with a lecture and/or demo centered around a specific topic. Students will then go through exercises designed to deepen their understanding of the topic covered. Poses range from 2 hours to 1-2 days. Instruction includes lectures, demos, individual and group critiques.

This workshop is best suited for students with drawing foundation who are curious to learn about colors through hands-on experience, who are comfortable experimenting with paints and learning from their successes/failures, who are comfortable examining their preconceived notions about colors (specifically pertaining the skin tones), who can let go of their drawing ability for the duration of the workshop to learn about colors, who do not aim to have a ‘finished’ piece at the end of the workshop, and who are comfortable painting thick with big brushes and/or palette knives during the workshop.