Introductory Painting for Teens: A Focus on Facial Features
Lorenzo Narciso
July 22 – 26, 2024 (Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm)
Schedule: 10am – 1pm workshop; 1-2pm lunch; 2 – 5pm workshop
Limit: 10 students
Age range: 13 – 18 years old
Tuition: This workshop is underwritten by a generous donor covering 40% of tuition for students accepted into the workshop. Subsidized tuition is $525. Full payment of $525 is due within 48 hours of acceptance.
All interested students must apply.
Early admission applications due by February 25, 2024 at 11:59pm EST.
Notification by March 5, 2024.
*Applications will continue to be reviewed on a rolling basis until workshop & wait lists are filled. Notification within 7-10 days.
Upon acceptance, register within 48 hours to confirm spot.
“I began my studies at GCA when I was in high school. At that time, art was an interest for me, but I was unaware of how much I could pursue in this field. Through a friend, I was able to visit GCA and the first time I saw cast drawings I was blown away. It felt like I finally knew what style of art and training I wanted to study. I immediately joined a part time class with Justin Wood, and delved into the training that GCA and its incredible teachers had to offer. This style of training led me to decide that art is something I wanted to pursue seriously.”
-Rachel Li, GCA instructor, Alumni and Core Student 2014 – 2018
Course Description
In this five-day course, participants will be introduced to painting methods and techniques through an exploration of the human face. This course is designed to build confidence in young artists by equipping them with knowledge and tools useful for painting the model from life and beyond. Using a clear step-by-step approach, participants will paint four facial features referencing masterful paintings from history, as well as a self-portrait of their own eye using a mirror. Lorenzo will guide artists with daily demonstrations and in-depth personal critiques through each stage of the process. Structural anatomy, materials, paint handling, the modeling factors of light, and color mixing and color theory will be discussed throughout each session. Teens of all levels, including complete beginners, are encouraged to participate.
Day 1 – 4:
The first four days of the workshop will each focus on a new facial feature—the eye, nose, mouth, and ear. Each day will be divided into three steps: drawing, color-mixing, and painting. The drawing component begins with a short lecture on structural anatomy, and a demonstration on how to approach drawing with the brush. Following the demo, participants select a masterwork to paint from and begin their own projects with the help of intermittent individual critiques and advice from the instructor. The next steps, color-mixing and painting follow a similar format of lecture and demonstration on color theory and paint handling followed by individual work critique.
Day Five:
The fifth day concludes with the self-portrait of an eye, putting into practice the
painting and anatomy lessons learned in the previous days while exploring the particularities of painting from life. The self-portrait follows the same three steps of drawing, color-mixing and painting as the last 4 days of this course with lectures, demos and individual critiques throughout the day.