A composite image of 4 portrait paintings in oil. In order from left to right they are: an asian woman wearing a green jacket, a black man wearing a brown headdress, a white woman in a white top, and older white man with a black suit.

Alla Prima Head Painting: from Master Studies to Painting from Life

Class | Registration opens 7/14/2025 12:00 AM PDT

2107 Westlake Ave Seattle, WA 98121 United States
First Floor Studio #4
All Levels
9/15/2025-11/17/2025
6:30 PM-9:30 PM PDT on Mon
$730.00
$657.00

Alla Prima Head Painting: from Master Studies to Painting from Life

Class | Registration opens 7/14/2025 12:00 AM PDT

In this hands-on 10 week class, we will learn how to paint the human head in oils using an "alla prima" approach. We will spend our first 4 weeks becoming acquainted with the key concepts, techniques, and practices of oil painting through the execution of selected master studies. This will allow us to focus on the core elements of oil painting while learning from the insights of some of the great artists that came before us. Then, in the remaining 6 weeks of the class, we'll paint from live models, putting into living practice what we've learned in the previous weeks. Painting from live models, and grounded on an understanding of the structural planes of the head and their dynamic relationship to color and value, we will learn how to paint portraits that are structurally solid yet painterly, loose, and expressive. Class will include demonstrations, lectures, and plenty of individual feedback. All levels welcome (some drawing experience recommended).
Topics covered include:
- The 5 minute lay-in
- The eye of the painter: dynamic vision vs. tunnel vision
- The planes of the head from the point of view of value
- The planes of the head from the point of view of color
- The global light effect
- Color theory and color dynamics: color-value and color-direction
- The importance of value and color relationships
- Color fields
- Value Compression and Color Shifts
- Massing vs. Describing
- How to loosen up

Instruction Medium: Oil paints

  • Below is a list of recommended supplies. If you're not new to oil painting and already have your preferred materials, feel free to bring what you're comfortable with to class. The linked products below are for illustrative purposes only (that said, I've made a point to link to reliable, budget friendly options).

    Oil Paints:

    We'll need one warm and one cool version of each primary color, plus Titanium White, as a base palette. (If you have your preferred color palette, please bring what you're comfortable with to the first class.)

    Base Colors:

    Titanium White* ++

    Raw Umber or Ivory Black*

    Hansa Yellow or Cadmium Yellow Deep (warm yellow)

    Cadmium Lemon or any kind of Lemon Yellow (cool yellow)

    Cadmium Red Medium or Napthol Red (warm red)

    Alizarin Crimson or Alizarin Crimson Permanent (cool red)

    Cerulean Blue Hue (warm blue)

    Ultramarine Blue (cool blue)

    Note on paint brands: Artist grade paint is more economical in the long run, given the higher ratio of pigment to filler. Utrecht, Gamblin, M. Graham, and Winsor & Newton are high-quality mid-priced paints that I recommend (look for their ""Artist"" or ""Professional"" lines). If cost is an issue and you prefer to start with student-grade paint, Gamblin ""1980"" series is among the best quality student-priced options.

    (*) bring to first class

    (++) Larger tube (150ml) recommended

    Brushes:

    Any brand works well enough for the class. Bring a variety of long-handled filberts or flats, sizes 12, 8, 6, and 4 (two of each size is enough). ( Blick's )

    Surfaces:

    Canvas panels or hardboard panels, medium size (11"" x 14"", 12"" x 16"", or 14"" x 18""). Please bring two per class. (Michael's | Blick's )

    For plein-air painting, I recommend sizes 8x10 and 9x12 (or, if you prefer to paint larger, 11x14).

    A cheaper alternative is buying a Canvas Pad that you then tape to a hard board or a drawing board.

    Misc:

    Paper Towels (bring one roll of paper towel with you).

    Odorless Solvent (GAMSOL only!) in lidded container. When buying Gamsol, I'd suggest buying the 16.9oz container or larger.

    Palette (wood, glass, paper, or plexi-glass) - make sure your palette is at least 9 x 12 or larger in size. A Masterson palette seal provides a convenient portable storage solution for palettes up to 12x16 in size.

    Palette Knife (for cleaning palette)

    Portable Easel Light (optional)

    Easels are provided by the school, but feel free to bring your own portable setup if you prefer.

Brenno Kenji