30th May | 13:00 - 14:30 GMT
One of the greatest portrait painters that has ever lived, Alice Neel’s work is radical in it’s sensitivity, emotion, honesty and an interest in all humanity. Never concerned with being fashionable or avant garde, she was always ahead of society’s acceptance: whether the plight of labourers, the poor, women’s freedom from stereotypes, their equality of eroticism and intelligence, gender discrimination including gay rights and racism. She did not depict the human body in a highly realistic manner; it was the way she was able to capture and dignify her sitters' psychological and internal standpoint that made the portraits realistic.
After taking in her extraordinary paintings in part one, we’ll work from life or photographs to create our own emotionally charged portraits via a series of experimental and technical exercises, focusing on expressive line, vibrant palette, and psychological intensity.
Materials required: pencil, charcoal, chalk, paper & eraser. Colours (pencils, pastels, chalks, paints, inks etc.) would also be helpful