The Art of Portrait Drawing

In this 6-week course, teaching artist Michele del Campo will guide students through the essential foundations of portraiture. Each session begins with a live demonstration, followed by hands-on exercises that receive individual assessment and personalized corrections. Through structured practice, students will build the fundamental pillars of portrait drawing, skills that translate seamlessly into painting, sculpture, and any creative discipline that requires a deep understanding of form, structure, and expression.

Group critiques, lively discussion, and direct feedback from the instructor will support each student’s growth throughout the course.

Class Breakdown: 

Week 1: Structure & Proportion: A Constructive Method

Learn the basic structure and proportions of the head using a clear constructive approach. We will break down individual features, eyes, nose, and mouth, and study how to represent them from different angles and in relation to the larger structure of the face.

Week 2: Sculpting with Shadow: Understanding Tonal Values

Move beyond line and construction by shifting to a value-based approach. Students will learn how to “sculpt” form using light and shadow, creating convincing dimensionality and a more intuitive way of seeing.

Week 3: The Geometry of Shadow Patterns

Discover how the geometry within shadow shapes can help maintain proportions. We’ll practice reading and simplifying values, gradually increasing contrast until students can rely purely on observing light and shadow.

Week 4:  Additive vs. Subtractive Drawing Methods

After working on white paper with additive marks, students will explore the subtractive method on toned paper, lifting out lights and carving form out of darkness. Charcoal and pencil will be added at the end to complete the portrait. A live model will be present.

Week 5: Portraits from Life

Continue refining both additive and subtractive methods by working from a live model. This session focuses on gesture, presence, and capturing likeness from direct observation.

Week 6: Self-Portrait from the Mirror

In the final week, students will create a self-portrait, applying all the skills learned—structure, value, proportion, and expression—to bring their own likeness to life.

Instructor Bio:

Michele Del Campo lives and works in Miami. He grew up in San Nicandro Garganico, a small town in Southern Italy. Isolated in the countryside, he would spend his leisure time drawing and painting. At 18, he moved to Milan and then to the UK to become an artist and discover a bigger world. He continued living in multiple cities and countries, adapting to different environments and meeting people from all walks of life, which enriched the narrative of his painting. 

Michele holds a Fine Arts degree and an MFA from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2007, Spain), and a BA(Hons) in Illustration and Printmaking from the University of Dundee (2001, UK). His paintings have been exhibited in art galleries and institutions around Europe, United Kingdom, United States and South America, earning him awards such as the BMW Painting Prize in Spain, the Premios Luces in Peru and the Oil Painters of America Prize in the ARC Salon, among others.