Old Masters, Modern Techniques: Renaissance Portraiture With Tara Panesar (Cambridge)

In this workshop, we will be exploring the techniques of Renaissance Masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Credi to recreate our own Renaissance-styled portraits. Tara, who has a degree in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge will introduce the lesser-known drawings and techniques of the Renaissance Masters, before advising participants on how to recreate these techniques with easily accessible materials. The class will begin with a short-form lecture on Renaissance portraiture, covering important historical terms such as sfumato, pentimento and invenzione. This is followed by guided experiments in using charcoal, coloured chalks, graphite, and pen and ink, as well as techniques to perfect anatomy. Finally, participants will be encouraged to start working on a larger, A3 portrait using the trois crayons method, as perfected by Rubens.