Charcoal portrait of a man wearing a hat.

Course:
Charcoal Expressions: Portrait drawing!

learn to draw portraits in Charcoal
Draw 11 portraits in charcoal
lots of extra tutorials
step by step sketch templates
all video's in real time (no time lapses)
Charcoal is perfect to build your drawing confidence!
Get comfortable with portraiture!

Yes, Tell me More

What to expect

For only £90 you will learn all the ins and outs of portrait drawing

11 full portraits in real time tutorials.

15-20 hours of video material.

You will keep access to all video materials.

Learn to draw people's faces

This course is for you:

if you avoid drawing people but would really like to feel confident.
If you have always had a longing to draw portraits.
If you would like to let go of perfectionism.
if you want to try a new art style.
If you want to make drawing people part of your art practice.
if you want to build a drawing habit and create on a regular basis.
if you don't know where to start and you would like to draw as part of a creative community.
if you are looking for a creative, fun and artful month with 30 drawing prompts.
If you want to draw people but don't know where to start.

Do I need to be good at drawing to join?
The course starts really easy, no prior experience needed but the four larger portraits are a little harder and it helps if you have some drawing experience there.

If you are completely new to art, I would recommend to check out my Sketchbook course which introduces you to different mediums and helps you when you first get started.

What are we making?

In this course you will learn how to draw portraits.

Drawing portraits can be daunting and a little intimidating. We will use the entire month to practice with lots of different references and techniques and at the end you will be much more comfortable drawing a face.

ECACA1F9-4983-4E63-9841-B85D94640061 Medium.jpeg

From Doodle to portrait

30 days long you will receive a drawing prompt in the shape of a video, a tutorial or a reference picture. we start really simple by making doodles and just getting familiar with the human face and slowly we progress towards painting and drawing full portraits. we will also practice drawing eyes, noses, ears and mouths and by the end of the course you will feel much more confident drawing faces.

Sketch warmup, learn to draw portraits in our online art class

Start with drawing faces

With a little Help
You can Draw
too

Explore

What my creatives say

I really enjoyed the 'Fill Your First Sketchbook in 30 Days' on line course with Irene from Makings & Musings. It was very motivating. There were lots of ideas for images to draw and resources for where to find them on line. We learned many new techniques. The videos were really helpful. The live sessions were really well presented and complemented the coursework perfectly. I would highly recommend Irene's on line art courses, both to beginners and more experienced artisits.

"Irene was an excellent teacher and would highly recommend her classes."

Hannah

"Brilliant teacher. I found the class very relaxing and engaging as Irene patiently explained how-to paint. Appreciated the fact that she explains well the technique while also encouraging you and giving you the freedom to add your own touch."

Irina

Very enjoyable course and would definitely recommend.

I enjoy all of the classes and courses at Makings & Musings. I love the live Charcoal Drawing Classes on Sunday evenings, I have learnt so much about drawing with Charcoal in these sessions. I have just completed the Autumn Drawing with coloured pencils course on line. It was excellent and I now feel confident drawing with coloured pencils, using different techniques and different mediums.

Good drawing course.

I learned so much and was introduced to so many techniques that I never tried before . The option to draw along also helps to get going

Yes, I want to start too

What Materials Do I need?

Part of the course is experimenting with different materials. You do not need to have all the materials that I use and feel free to try using other materials if you have these already.

As a minimum I would recommend:

a HB sketch pencil, eraser and sharpener
a ballpoint pen
drawing paper.

For the four large portraits I use colour pencils, watercolour paint and charcoals.

For the watercolour portrait I would recommend using watercolour paper as normal drawing paper usually damages easily when using with wet mediums.

You can find my favourite art materials in the FAQ

Join the course

If you would like to draw as part of a fun and inclusive group, why not check out the Makings & Musings Community.

In the community we draw and paint together twice a month, you will find art tutorials and lots of inspiration.

The community is perfect if you want to experiment with materials, if you are looking for a reason to make time for art and it is the perfect place to share your work in a safe non-judgemental environment!

learn more about the community

Hands on approach

I love a no-nonsense approach to art as the best way to learn is by creating.

we start with quick sketches and I invite you to draw along from the start.

My goal is to get you comfortable with drawing faces, as people are a never ending source of inspiration! My hope is that you will carry on drawing people after you have completed this course and that I help you finding your own creative voice in the process.

How does it work?

During the course you can see what I do as if you are looking over my shoulder. I explain each step I take and you can see exactly what movements I make.

If you sign up today you will immediately have access to the day one drawing plus all introduction video's. As I do not want to overwhelm you with video's you will get access to a new session every day after for 30 days.

Share your work

after each session I ask you to share your artwork with me, if you do that in the course I am the only person who will see it and I can give feedback if you like.

You can also share your artwork in the discussion group where all course participants can see it. (This may sound scary but it's a great step towards sharing your artwork with the world eventually if that's something you want to do.)