Theme: Portraiture
From Realism to Reinvention 
🗓 Course Dates: Fridays, 24th  April – 22nd May 10-12.30 📍
Hoby village hall, Main Street, hoby, le14 3dy.
This 5‑week art course invites you to explore the portrait as a living, changeable form — moving from careful realism to playful reinvention. Through drawing, manipulation, and mixed media, we’ll discover how identity can be mapped, stretched, and re‑imagined. Each week offers a fresh lens on portraiture, blending technical skill with expressive experimentation.
✨ Course Structure
Week 1: The Basics – Observational DrawingWe begin by learning the foundations of portraiture: where features sit, how proportions guide the face. Using mirrors, we’ll map the “eye line” and “nose line,” creating simple, honest pencil sketches that capture presence without embellishment.Bring: 2B pencil, rubber, sketchbook, small hand mirror.
Week 2: Stretching the Truth – Giacometti StyleThis week explores “linear portraiture,” inspired by Alberto Giacometti. Through continuous and searching lines, we’ll create scribble portraits that show energy rather than smoothness. Mistakes are welcome — every line adds life.Bring: Black fine‑liner pen or biro.
Week 3: The Big Mix‑Up – ManipulationWe’ll experiment with distortion and reinvention.
Inspired by :
Bobby Neel Adams: Cut and splice printed photos of yourself and a relative to create a hybrid face.
Henrietta Harris: smudge and stretch drawn Bring: Two printed A4 photos of faces, scissors, glue stick, paintbrush.
Week 4: Starting Your Final Piece – Choosing Your Style  you’ll begin your main portrait project, choosing the style that resonates most: realism, Giacometti’s scribbles, or Harris‑inspired distortion. This is your chance to shape a personal “mini‑masterpiece.”Bring: Acrylic paints (red, blue, yellow, white, black) or your preferred media — watercolours, pastels, collage materials.
Week 5: Finishing Touches & Pop‑Up GalleryWe’ll complete our portraits with highlights, shadows, and final details. The course closes with a shared “Gallery Walk,” laying out all works to celebrate the many ways identity can be seen and reinvented.Bring: The same media used in Week 4.
🌿 This is a nurturing space for all stages of creative journeying.Some come to refine, some to begin again. Gentle grounding practices may be woven in to support presence, connection, and a deeper appreciation of portraiture as both art and self‑reflection.
There will be a strong emphasis on developing your personal style, alongside opportunities for collaborative exploration. Together, we’ll grow, support, and create.
Price includes refreshments and a delicious snack.