Painting the portrait en plein air (Summer 2020)

Makeup Classes from Spring 2020 

Portrait Painting in Oils Class 

at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts

Instructor: Sarah Thibodeaux

Location: Crescent Park - Mandeville Shed , 100 Mandeville St, New Orleans, LA 70117

The Mandeville Shed is a former industrial wharf space that overlooks the river. It is a covered open-air community and event space and includes restroom facilities.) Meet inside the shed at the entrance at Mandeville and N. Peters St. (ADA accessible elevator/bridge). 

Parking: On street parking is available on N.Peters Street close to the elevator

2020 Dates: Fridays June 26, July 10, July 17, July 24, July 31.

Time: 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Materials List: 

Register with the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, www.noafa.com

Learn to paint the portrait out of doors.  

This class combines the two skills of painting the head and shoulders portrait with the light and atmosphere of painting outdoors. We will paint a portrait model from life in a covered, outdoor park  overlooking the Mississippi River with the wind and the container ships passing around us.  

This class teaches the fundamentals of painting the head in oil. Students will paint the model from life. Beginning with a toned canvas, students will execute a careful drawing and subsequently build up the structure of the head from darks to lights. Emphasis is on understanding the structure of the head and learning to mix colors to create realistic and harmonious flesh tones, as well as the timing and shifting light of plein air painting. The class will begin with a demonstration of the alla prima technique, used by John Singer Sargent and handed down through generations of atelier painters and teachers.