Portrait Workshop With Casey Childs

Have you ever taken a portrait workshop?

I decided to try one.

Taking a three-day workshop from Casey Childs proved to be a marvelous experience.

Over a three-day period, Casey took us through the steps to create a portrait. From the initial monochromatic block-in, through the generalized shapes of light and shadow, to the painting of the final details, he taught us a process that was exciting, grueling and rewarding.

We worked under the lights of an old gymnasium while a blizzard of snow whirled outside. We set up our easels in a half circle around our model, Christina. Each artist selected their own viewpoint of her and began their work. 

I set up my easel just behind Casey's, where my view of Christina was nearly frontal.

Even though I worked hard to complete my portrait of Christina, I wouldn't call it finished. Instead I would refer to it as an excellent visual aid of Casey's portrait painting process. Learning to step away from my easel and call my end product "good enough" was a lesson in itself! 

Here are our final portraits of Christina. They are each as unique as the artists who painted them.