The Fundamentals of Portrait Drawing

This drawing class is suitable for both beginners in portrait drawing and advanced students looking to strengthen their fundamentals. Beginners will learn techniques to draw or paint realistic portraits. You’ll explore new methods that will help you better understand the structure of the human head and add more depth to your portraits. We’ll start with various exercises before moving on to drawing from photos. In the final session, we will draw from a live model. Advanced students can refine their fundamentals or learn new techniques. The class is tailored to you – we focus on your individual needs and artistic goals.

The instructor will regularly demonstrate exercises or sketch a quick portrait before you work independently. We provide support for your individual questions and artistic challenges through verbal feedback or correction drawings on tracing paper.

Content of the Drawing Class

Individual guidance – nothing is forced upon you

• Skull structure and planes of the head
• Measuring and shading
• Improving likeness to the reference
• Drawing portraits from photos
• Techniques with graphite, charcoal, and pastel
• Drawing from a live model (only if there are enough participants)

Prerequisites for this Drawing Class

You should already be able to confidently draw a head with correct proportions and understand basic concepts such as lines, shapes, and values. The recommended preparation for this class is our Portrait and Figure Basics class.

Drawing Materials

For this drawing class, we recommend using charcoal pencils on newsprint paper. Alternatively, you can also use pencils and other smooth paper, at least in A3 size. You can find recommendations for drawing materials in our material lists.

Group instructions will be in German. And your personal feedback in English.

If you have any questions about the classes, take a look at our FAQ.