Fauve Portraits

Learn to paint a face in the style of the French Fauves. This course will help you express a human face with unusually bright colors without any restrictions. Just like the Fauvists, we will work from observation and will not strive for complete realism. The French Fauves unleashed the expressive power of color, broke the boundaries of Impressionism, and became the trailblazers of Expressionism. They were interested in the intensity of color in their portraits; their focus was on exaggerating colors more than accuracy or naturalism. That style quickly became big among artists, not just for its refreshingly vivid colors, but also for its simplification of the features, and its colored outlines. 

In the beginning of the 1900s, when the Fauve movement started, the term “fauve” meant “wild beasts" - referring to the "wild" colors used by artists like Matisse, Vlaminck, and Derain. That style of painting created public outrage. To the contemporary viewer, the palette of the Fauves is not only acceptable, but exciting, fresh, vibrant, and beautiful. In this course, you will learn more about Fauve painting, what the reason for the colorful exaggeration was, and how it influenced the art of today. 

Even though there is nothing “classic” in the appearance of the Fauve portraiture, it was influenced by the eternal artistic pursuit of likeness, liveliness, painterliness, and effortlessness. You will be able to loosen up and create portraits that are expressive, bright, and happy. You will learn how to create three portraits in this style, unleash your brush, and paint with pigments extra-bright and pure. 

What you'll do:

• Develop your sensitivity to color
• Learn about art history and the lasting effects fauvism generated
• Practice painting portraits from observation with a fresh, bright palette
• Create three fauve portraits in five weeks