Gibson School of Art hosts Lorraine Simonds

In this workshop we will paint watercolour portraits with an emphasis on light, story, and honest expres-sion – without getting stuck in perfectionism or over-detailing. Lorraine will guide you through a clear, repeatable painting process designed to help you build confidence with washes, edges, and intentional brushwork, while still leaving room for spontaneity and emotion.

To make our time together more accessible (and more focused on painting), this course will not cover preliminary sketching or drawing instruction. Tracings can be provided for beginners, so you can jump straight into the painting process and spend your energy learning the watercolour skills that make por-traits feel alive – values, colour temperature, brushwork, and the handling of light.

Expect step-by-step demonstrations, guided practice, and plenty of individual support as you work through portraits from strong reference photos (provided, with the option to bring your own).

Over the course of the workshop, Lorraine will weave in the following lessons:

• How to choose and simplify a reference photo for a portrait that reads clearly and carries feeling.

• Understanding basic head structure – proportion, planes, and how to keep features believable with-out overworking.

• Brushwork for portraiture – when to use confident shapes, when to soften, and how to avoid fuss-ing.

• Preserving light with masking fluid – where it helps, where it hurts, and how to use it with restraint.

• How to camouflage masking – integrating edges so masked areas don’t look cut-out or overly sharp.•Values and focal points – placing mid-tones and darks to create form, mood, and a clear centre of in-terest.

• Skin tones and neutrals – mixing warm vs cool greys and keeping colour harmony without muddi-ness.•Painting facial features with simplicity – suggesting eyes, noses, and mouths without outlining or “drawing with the brush.”

• Painting hair with intention – grouping shapes, finding rhythm, and using edges and value shifts in-stead of individual strands.

• Rendering clothing and fabric – simplifying folds, choosing what to emphasise, and using value and temperature to describe form.

• The effects of ageing – how to suggest structure, texture, and character with sensitivity and re-straint.

• Children vs adults – the nuanced differences in proportion, softness, edges, and colour that change the feel of a portrait.

• Finishing well – knowing what to strengthen, what to leave, and when to stop.

MARK YOUR DIARIES - REGISTRATION OPENS IN LATE JANUARY 2027