Two-Day Atelier-Method Portrait Workshop

A couple of days ago, my drawing buddy Isabelle emailed me to say that "that guy who lives in Italy is giving a two-day portrait workshop - do you want to go?" Since I am a.) preparing for my three-week portrait workshop at Studio Escalier in France and b.) totally crazy to paint these days (especially portrait & figure), I jumped at the chance to see what he had on offer.

The first time I heard about "the guy who lives in Italy" - Martinho Correia - was when I was railing against the lack of instruction at the Alberta College of Art & Design. Somebody told me there was a realist painter who was coming to Calgary to put on a 2-week workshop. I didn't go, but I checked out his posters and kinda wished I could go. (I did, however, eventually visit the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto, which is the sister atelier, albeit the "stolen sister" in Martinho's words, of the Angel Academy in Florence, where Martinho studied and now teaches.) I have to admit that they produce some very beautiful work, "photographic-quality" in terms of drawing accuracy.

My drawing:




















My underpainting:




















My painting: