Portraits are often thought to be an intimidating subject matter, but this course seeks to simplify the process and embrace imperfection. We will focus on mastering the initial stages of painting an alla prima portrait, finding and essentializing large shapes of color that become the face. We will work on the essential building blocks of making a painting (that also happens to be a portrait): color, light, and shape. This is not a class primarily about learning perfect anatomy or “getting the eyes just right” – it is about seeing masses of color and slowly breaking down these masses into more specific form if it is necessary to the composition. We will learn that likeness is often not about getting the details perfect, but about seeing something larger.