Painting Oil Portraits from Photos

Painting Oil Portraits from Photos

Class | Available

94 Stafford Ave. Manahawkin, NJ 08050 United States
TBD
Intermediate and Advanced
5/11/2026-5/26/2026
12:00 PM-3:00 PM EST on Mon Tue
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$115.00
$85.00

Painting Oil Portraits from Photos

Class | Available

This class is designed for students who have completed a beginner portrait class, as well as artists who are ready to deepen their understanding of portrait painting.

Learn how to transform a flat, two-dimensional photograph into a convincing three-dimensional portrait through careful attention to composition, accurate proportions, and value structure.

Students will explore flesh tone mixing using a limited palette, helping to create harmony, depth, and realism in their work.

Please bring a clear, high-quality photograph of a face you would like to paint. A selection of reference photos will also be available if needed.

  • Please note the adjustment in the schedule due to Memorial Day the last class is Tuesday May 26.
  • Odorless turpentine 
    Canvas…no larger than 16x20
    Brushes…filberts, flats and or rounds sizes 4-10
    Paper towels or rags
    Palette 
    Oil paints: ivory black, titanium white, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium red 
Arlene Marcoe-Davis

For as far back as I can remember, making art in its many forms is the way that I express myself in this world. In school, I studied drawing, ceramics, painting, jewelry, and stage design, and leaving with a modest scholarship, I intended to attend the Art Students League in NYC. Fate, however, had other plans and I moved to the island of Maui.

I was an active member of the Lahaina Art Society and the Hui No‘eau. I furthered my studies with seminars on the mainland with master pastelist Albert Handell and Daniel Greene, as well as watercolorist Judi Betts. After 25 years in the islands, I found myself here in New Jersey, and I took advantage of being able to study portraiture and anatomy with instructor Al Gury at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It was then that I fell in love with oil paint.

Today I work in my studio that overlooks the marshland of South Jersey. I no longer paint for prizes or profit, just the sheer joy of it. I recently withdrew my membership from the Salmagundi Club in NYC and am enjoying teaching locally.