Oil Portrait Essentials

A 3-day workshop of essential oil portrait painting skills | 24 Hours

This technical workshop welcomes artists at all levels seeking to learn and broaden their skills in oil painting. In a small, focused learning environment, participants will discover a comprehensive, logical approach to drawing and painting, along with valuable tools and concepts to create realistic oil paintings from start to finish.

What makes this workshop special is not only the accumulated experience and passion of 2 skilled instructors, but the fact that we have limited the number of participants to 14. This means you are guaranteed timely and regular personal attention.

Each workshop day will commence with a theoretical lesson aimed at introducing essential concepts and techniques. This will be complemented by hands-on work on a multi-day project, allowing participants to apply their newly acquired knowledge. Our activities will be based on carefully curated photo references, tailored to align with the time constraints and objectives of each lesson.

In this workshop, you will delve into:

• Drawing Essentials for Portraits: Learn effective strategies to accurately capture the proportions and unique features of the human face.

• Understanding Facial Structure: Explore key concepts and techniques to simplify and interpret the forms of the head and facial features.

• Light and Form in Portraiture: Discover how light interacts with the forms of the face and how to group tonal values to create the illusion of three-dimensionality and lifelike presence.

• Portrait-Specific Colour Theory: Gain the skills to mix skin tones with accuracy and enhance the realism and vibrancy of your portraits.

• And much more - colour studies | transfer | underpainting & ébauche | modelling | blending | glazing & scumbling

Fri 03/04/2026 - Sun 05/04/2026
Daily from 09:00 - 18:00 (1 hour lunch break)
Zeichenfabrik, Flachgasse 35-37/4-5, A-1150
Vienna, Austria

Price:

How to book:

Dates & Location

Kostas Protopapas (Barcelona Academy of Art)
Carl de Jager (Barcelona Academy of Art)

Instructors

€580 (includes VAT)
This price includes access to all paints, mediums and brushes required during the workshop thanks to our partners at Natural Pigments and Rosemary Brushes.

A €230 (40%) deposit is required to secure your spot. Bookings will be accepted on a first come first serve basis. The balance is due 30 days before the start of the workshop (03 March 2026).

You will receive an email with confirmation of your booking along with instructions on paying the balance when you are ready.

Please read our terms and conditions carefully. By registering and paying the deposit, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to these terms and conditions.

Materials you need to bring

Drawing

• Pencil (HB or B)

• Kneadable Putty Eraser

• A4 Sketching Paper (1 Sheet)

• A4 Tracing Paper (1 Sheet)

General

• Masking Tape

• Paper Towels for cleaning your brush while painting

• Baby Wipes for cleaning surfaces and your hands. They are a life saver.

• Palette - we will provide you with a thin plastic palette that you can attach to the painting board. With this setup you will mix paint on a vertical surface and have the palette right next to your painting. Feel free to bring your own traditional or disposable paper palette if you would prefer to hold the palette in your hand.

Optional but reccommended painting supplies

• A small container of odourless mineral spirits is very useful for cleaning brushes during and after a painting session.

• A small container of linseed oil can be useful for thinning oil paint and cleaning brushes at the end of a painting session.

Materials we will provide

Oil Colours & Painting Medium

Picking which oil colours to buy can be daunting - it can be costly and confusing if you don’t know what to look for. During the workshop we will discuss how you can use the pigment numbers found on paint tube labels, along with online resources, to help you make the best decisions when investing in new colours.

You’re welcome to bring your own paints, but we have partnered with Natural Pigments to provide you with paints and mediums for use during our workshops. We hope you will appreciate the difference that using premium, professional-grade materials can make.

Brushes & Palette Knife

Selecting brushes can be just as confusing - flats, filberts, rounds, synthetics, hog hair and countless variations. We will discuss what types of brushes are useful for different tasks so you know what to look for when buying new brushes..

Do bring your trusted brushes along, but we have also partnered with Rosemary & Co. to provide you with a selection of 5 brushes and a palette knife for use during our workshops. We've been using their brushes for years and are excited to share how selecting the right brush can make your life a lot easier.

Surfaces / Canvas

We will provide you with acrylic primed cotton canvas to work on during the workshop.

Previous Workshop Locations & Dates

27/09/2024 - 29/09/2024
Larnaka, Cyprus

23/03/2024 - 25/03/2024
Athens, Greece