Spring Acrylic Class: Intermediate Level Portrait Painting

In this Fantasy Portrait Painting Class, you’ll learn how to bring your characters to life with confidence and creativity. We’ll focus on composition, including creating strong focal points, using perspective, the rule of thirds, and odd-numbered arrangements for visual interest. You’ll explore lighting and blending, understanding how ambient light, bounce light, and surrounding objects affect materials, and mastering smooth transitions in skin, hair, and fabrics. Through advanced colour theory, you’ll experiment with complex schemes, unifying colours, and mixing warm and cool tones using both traditional and digital references. By the end, you’ll complete a detailed fantasy portrait (head to waist, including arms, hands, and props) that showcases depth, harmony, and your unique artistic style.

• Weeks 1–2: Composition and Materials
  Learn how to plan and structure your painting through composition studies, focal point placement, and lighting research. Explore material preparation and sketching methods to build a strong foundation for your fantasy portrait.
• Weeks 3–4: Colour Mixing Techniques
  Develop advanced colour-mixing skills focused on texture, material studies, and realistic skin tones. Practice painting different surfaces and experiment with how colour temperature influences depth and mood.
• Weeks 5–6: Portrait Rough Copy
  Create a smaller-scale rough version of your portrait, focusing on underpainting, ambient lighting, and overall tonal harmony. This stage helps refine your concept before moving to your final piece.
• Weeks 7–10: Final Portrait Painting
  Bring everything together in a fully realized fantasy portrait. Refine composition, blending, lighting, and texture to achieve a polished, professional-quality artwork that highlights your creative vision.

Patricia Claro is a passionate Filipino Canadian artist with over eight years of experience in illustration and seven years of experience as an art educator. Currently based in Ottawa, she specializes in traditional and digital mediums, specifically character design, environmental art, and both 2D/3D digital painting. Patricia holds an honours diploma in Illustration from Seneca Polytechnic, has a background in Interior Design, as well as Layout for Animation. Currently a freelance book illustrator with FriesenPress, she’s excited to share her expertise in a hands-on, engaging workshop experience for aspiring artists of all levels.

• Acrylic Paints (Golden, Holbein, Liquitex, Amsterdam, or Wallack's):

Note: Each color is essential for mixing accurate secondary and tertiary colours. Please try to use the exact shades listed, or choose colors that are as close as possible to those specified.

1. Cadmium Yellow Medium (OR Any Warm Tone Yellow)
2. Yellow Hansa Light or Cadmium Yellow Light (OR Any Cool Tone Yellow)
3. Cadmium Red Light or Vermilion (OR Any Warm Tone Red)
4. Alizarin Crimson or Quinacridone Red (OR Any Cool Tone Red)
5. Ultramarine Blue Red Shade or Ultramarine Blue Deep (OR Any Warm Tone Blue)
6. Prussian Blue or Pthalo Blue(OR Any Cool Tone Blue)
7. Mars Black or Lamp Black (OR Any Warm Tone Black or Cool Tone Black)
8. Titanium White
9. Zinc White
10. Quinacridone Magenta
11. Naples Yellow

• Acrylic Retarder
• Sharpener
• White Plastic Eraser
• Kneaded Eraser
• 2H Pencil
• Painter’s Tape
• Brushes: Filbert #2, 4, 8, Flat #2, 4, 8, and Round #2, 6 (or a Set that has a Filbert, Flat and Round)
• 9 x 12 Tape-Bound Mixed Media or Acrylic Pad
• Palette or Palette Paper (Any Size No Larger Than 9 x 12)
• 2 Small Tubs of Water (one for cleaning, one for diluting the paint)
• Paper Towel
• For Final Project: 11 x 14 Canvas or Wood Panel (ONE)
• Additional Materials: Please Bring Your Own Object References (Objects you will be using for the final project. Example: Wood, Shoes, etc.)

NOTE: Please avoid using paint and brushes from dollar stores whenever possible, as the quality and color mixing accuracy can be difficult to achieve. Wallack’s in-house brand paints as well as affordable brush paints, are an affordable option that still provide reliable quality and consistency for your work.

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