Working from your own image, I will guide you through a stage by stage process to create an 8” x 8” Pet Portrait , in Oils or Acrylics.

I recommend that you choose to work from an image that has good light and shade, fits well within the square format and has the animal’s eyes in focus. We are aiming to make the eyes come alive and give the animal and your painting lots of personality!

You will begin by ‘gridding-up’ and carefully drawing out the animal to scale. We will discuss colour mixing and which paints, colours and brushes to use. I will also demonstrate how to apply the paint in a dynamic and interesting way to suggest the texture of fur.

This class is suitable for all levels and abilities, whatever stage you are at in your painting journey – there will be lots of examples on display to inspire you and useful information, ideas and techniques that you can take away from the class and apply to your own work at home.

You will be working from your own image, either from an I-pad OR you can use a photograph at least 5” x 5”. The animal’s eyes must be clear and in focus. Crop your image so that it is square. The head of the animal should take up most of the frame. For good (free to use) reference images see www.pixabay.com The better the reference image – the better the painting!

Available to Buy on the Day:

• An Ampersand smooth panel board (value series) 8” x 8” x 3mm (£5)

Materials to bring:

• An 8” x 8” canvas or board (or buy from Lucy on the day)
• A colour photograph of your animal or an image on an ipad / tablet
• A black and white print out of your square cropped image as large as you can make it on an A4 piece of paper (example above)
• A selection brushes eg. Rosemary Ivory Short Flats nos. 2,3,5, Ivory Filbert size 0
• A selection of artist quality paints oils or acrylics eg. Daler Rowney starter set
• Palette knife – eg. Winsor and Newton size 22
• Paper Palette and a box to take your work home in
• Oils only: A jar and some low odour thinners/ white spirit substitute for cleaning your brushes, some rags or plenty of tissues to wipe brushes clean
• ‘Liquin’ painting medium if working in oils
• A ‘Stay-wet’ palette if working in acrylics