In this intensive two-day workshop, 2023 Archibald Packing Room Prize winner Andrea Huelin will demonstrate how to simplify the portrait process to capture a likeness without overworking your canvas.

Andrea will guide you through her specific methods for navigating the most challenging features—eyes, hair, and hands—and share her personal colour recipes for creating bright skin tones. Through the alla prima oil painting method, you will learn to prioritize tonal values and confident brushwork over laborious detail. You will leave with a portrait study and a refined toolkit for painting with confidence and efficiency.

What will be covered:

• The Foundation: Choosing a subject and deciding on a composition

• Colour mixing: Andrea’s techniques for keeping colours clean

• Speed and soul: Mastering the alla prima (wet-on-wet) method to keep your work fresh.

• The Tonal Map: Using value to create form and three-dimensional presence.

On day one, we will practice Andrea’s methods using a supplied photograph, or you may bring one of your own (see the attached guidelines for choosing a photograph), and on day two, we will apply our techniques with a live (clothed) model.