Jamieson/Whitmore Portrait Drawing Workshop

Jamieson/Whitmore Portrait Drawing Workshop

Workshop | FULL

12/6/2024-12/8/2024
9:00 AM-4:00 PM CST on Sun Fri Sat
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$400.00

Jamieson/Whitmore Portrait Drawing Workshop

Workshop | FULL

This workshop presents the fundamentals of portrait drawing in 3 consecutive days developing a single portrait. Topics covered will include:


Drawing Materials: What we use and why we use it. 

The Drawing Process: We employ a 2-staged process for drawing a portrait that begins with a linear block-in, followed by tonal rendering, addressing the structure of the model and the flow of the light independently. This sequence helps us to keep our drawings well organized throughout the process.

Mechanics of Light: Light is the primary subject of realism. The concept of how light works to reveal form will be emphasized repeatedly.

Anatomy and Structure: The general shape of the head and distribution of the facial features are what govern likeness in portraiture and will be addressed first. Later in the workshop, the specific anatomical and structural characteristics of the individual features discussed in more detail.

Modeling Techniques: We use values in drawing to convey a sense of 3-dimensional form and illumination. We’ll explore strategies for getting the most out of our materials to achieve life-like results.

 

This workshop will feature a live model in a single pose for all 3 days. We prefer the long-pose format because it allows time for students to draw carefully and still make significant progress on their work, which we think makes a better learning experience for everyone.

 

As instructors, we take a “show & tell” approach to teaching. That means we’ll pursue ongoing demonstrations for the duration of the workshop, keeping pace with students, and providing real-time examples of the drawing process. When we’re not drawing and explaining to the group, we’ll be working with students individually at their own easels to ensure that everyone does their best work.

  • The workshop will meet in our 3rd floor studio.
Jamieson, David
David Jamieson

David Jamieson began studying drawing and painting in 1996 at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. He went on to receive an MFA cum laude from the New York Academy of Art, where he was awarded the first Prince of Wales Scholarship from that institution in 2000.

 

He has taught figurative drawing, painting and anatomy to undergraduate, graduate and private students in Toronto, Chicago, New York City, and at The King’s Foundation in London, England. His work has been featured in American Artist Drawing Magazine and Poets & Artists Magazine and Manifest Gallery’s International Painting Annual. In 2016, David was named a semi-finalist in the Outwin-Boochever Portrait Competition hosted by the Smithsonian, and in 2024 he won the First Place Award for Drawing in the Portrait Society of America’s International Competition. His work is included in the collection of His Majesty King Charles III, in the permanent collection of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, and other private collections in Canada and the United States.

 

David is a co-founder and primary instructor at Vitruvian Fine Art Studio, where he has taught drawing, painting and anatomy since 2006. David lives with his wife, artist Melinda Whitmore, in Oak Park, Illinois.

Whitmore, Melinda
Melinda Whitmore

Melinda Whitmore received her MFA cum laude in painting from the New York Academy of Art and BA degrees in Art History and Studio Art from Indiana University. She held an assistant curatorial position in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago and sculpts anatomical models for many of the country’s top anatomical supply companies.

Her work has been featured in American Art Collector, American Artist Drawing Magazine, Poets & Artists Magazine, the Art Renewal Center, Manifest Gallery’s International Painting Annual, and numerous exhibitions from New York to Chicago.

 

In 2008, Melinda won the top prize for The National Sculpture Society’s Figure Sculpture Competition and in 2010 was awarded the Agop Agopoff Memorial Prize for Classical Sculpture by the National Sculpture Society. In 2014, she was awarded a Purchase Prize by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art Contemporary Realism Biennial and in 2016, was a semifinalist for the prestigious BP Portrait Award. In 2017, she won an Exceptional Merit Award for Sculpture from the Portrait Society of America, and in 2020, the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) in Barcelona, Spain took possession of two of Melinda’s sculptures for their permanent collection.

Melinda teaches anatomical drawing and écorché at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, at the University of Illinois Chicago Biomedical Visualization Department, and in the Medical Humanities department at Northwestern University Feinburg School of Medicine. She is also co-founder and principle instructor at Vitruvian Fine Art Studio in Chicago with her husband, painter David Jamieson, where they place a strong emphasis on artistic anatomical training alongside traditional painting, drawing and sculpture practices.