Portrait basics – 4 weeks

Start Date: Wednesday 2/07/2025

Time: 02:15pm

Duration: 2.5 (total 10 ) hrs

Price: £260.00

Ability: All Welcome

Tutor: Rachel Labovitch

Tickets Available: 6

About this course

Learn the Basics: Portrait Drawing & Painting in Water-Based Oil Paints

A 4 week course starting Wed 2nd July 2.30pm - 5.30pm

Join artist and experienced tutor Rachel Labovitch for a welcoming and practical 4 week course designed to introduce you to the art of portrait drawing and painting using water-based oil paints. Whether you're new to art or exploring portraits for the first time, you'll build strong foundations in drawing, proportion, color mixing, and painting techniques.

Rachel is a skilled portrait artist known for her expressive work and approachable teaching style. She brings warmth and expertise, helping students grow their skills and creative confidence, at our inspiring studio in Twickenham. You will receive step by step instruction & guidance, practice of techniques with group and individual feedback.

The 4 sessions will focus on working from photographs and ref supplied

This short course also acts as an extended taster for two more in-depth courses coming to Colne Road Studios later this year:

Week 1: Foundations of Portrait Drawing

  • Explore drawing materials (graphite, charcoal, toned paper)
  • Understand facial structure, gesture, and proportion looking at the skull
  • Deep dive into facial features and structure
  • Construct a portrait drawing incorporating planes of the face and skull
  • Practice tonal drawing from a reference.

Focus: Building confidence in seeing and sketching the face

Week 2: Drawing to Canvas – Paint Prep

  • Transfer drawing to canvas
  • Common issues in rendering features - troubleshooting
  • Intro to water-based oils: palette, mixing, and setup
  • Learn to mix realistic skin tones using a limited palette
  • Strengths and weaknesses of using the Zorn palette 

Focus: Drawing in and developing likeness

Week 3: Developing Your Painted Portrait

  • Establishing values
  • Block in dark, light and mid tones
  • Work with layering techniques and tonal transitions
  • Enhance depth, expression, and facial form
  • Guidance on brushwork and technique

Focus: Bringing realism and emotion into your painting

Week 4:  Creative Direction

  • looking at hard and soft edges 
  • Developing tonal transitions 
  • Adjusting warm and cool hues
  • Add highlights, colour shifts, and final details
  • Receive individual feedback and group critique

Focus: Complete your portrait and reflect on your progress, recommended next steps

Whats Included : all materials to make a start.

What to bring : A3 cartridge paper sketch pad and some pencils, rubber, if you can.

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Reviews

“Taking the time to learn in the inspiring environment of Colne Road Studios was such a treat! The group was welcoming and supportive and Rachel is an extremely talented and generous teacher, sharing her skills and knowledge to give us fresh perspectives and a wealth of useful advice and feedback. I felt my ability and interest in drawing had been revived after many years dormant, learning how to observe as well as how to draw. I would encourage anyone willing to pick up a pencil to have a go, and have already signed up to Rachel’s next course!   “CB  March 2025

‘I decided to do the Drawing for Beginners class at Colne Road Studios as I have recently started painting for the first time since school and felt that doing a beginner drawing class would aid me with this in looking at image and form.  That and the fact that I hadn’t picked up a pencil to draw since I was a teenager.   The course exceeded my expectations.  The group were lovely and from very different backgrounds – some beginners, some already dabbled, and a couple were professionals who used drawing in differing forms in their careers.  Rachel Labovitch is an exceptional tutor.  She is informative in her teaching approach bringing in examples of other artists as we went along meaning that new or well-known works of art were discussed and techniques explored.  She is positive, supportive and very encouraging.   I left each class feeling inspired and even did ‘homework’ during the week to practice what I’d learnt – something I didn’t do at school.  I would highly recommend this course to anyone and everyone – if you think you can’t draw, you’ll be proved wrong and you’ll start to notice the world around you with fresh eyes.’  LA Feb 2025

 

Can I park nearby ?

A CPZ is in force from Mon to Sat 8.30 – 6.30pm
Limited paid spaces available in surrounding roads with Ring Go cashless Parking

Max stay 4 hours during operational hours

Holly Road Car park, behind Marks & Spencer TW1 4HF

Mon to Sat – 8am to 6.30pm.
This car park is accessible and free to park in outside of these hours. Max stay 4 hours during operational hours – walking to the Studio approx 9mins

Are your courses just for adults or do you offer any courses for children ?

At the moment the courses at Colne Road Studios are designed for adults over the age of 18 . The aim is to create a relaxed  environment, provide  a bit of an escape and switch off from every day responsibilites. We are not able to accommodate children in our classes, nor do we provide children’s classes at this time.

Enrolment deadline

To secure a course, please book at least 8 days before the listed course start date.

Any course with no bookings 8 days prior to it’s start date will then be removed from the website .

Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.

You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you  instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us .    This might take 5-10 days to come through.

Where is my course taking place ?

100 Colne Road Twickenham TW2 6QE. map ref

WHAT3WORDS : location kind.cook.honest

What is your refund policy?

All of our longer courses are exchangeable up until 28 days prior to the start of the course. After this, you are able to change your booking to a different course for a £20 admin fee. Please note that from 14 days prior to the start of the course, your booking is non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

Our refund policy is strict because it enables us to pay ourselves and our tutors a fair wage, and remain accessible as a studio.
Every time we are asked to to accommodate a refund request, we would be forced to lower our staff wages or increase our prices – both of which we really want to avoid. We hope you understand that this is why there are no exemptions to our refund policies.

What if the course is cancelled by Colne Road Studios ?

Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.

You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us . This might take 5-10 days to come through.