We are excited to announce that the incredible Chris Nightingale will be joining us in Summer 2026 to teach traditional portraiture in oils.
 
Over this weekend course, Chris will take you through the fundamentals of portrait painting from life, building the structure of the face, exploring shape, colour and tone.  The focus will be on strong drawing, simplification, rational colour mixing and modelling form using a limited palette.
 
This course is suitable for both beginner portrait artists and those with more experience, however a working knowledge of oil painting is required. 
 
About the Artist
 
Born in Walsall in 1983, his work is rooted in the timeless principles of classical realism, drawing deep inspiration from masters such as Anders Zorn, John Singer Sargent, Joaquín Sorolla, and Antonio Mancini. More recently, his artistic curiosity has led him to explore the styles of J.W. Waterhouse, Ramon Casas, and Ivan Kramskoi.
 
Working primarily in oils, graphite, and charcoal, Chris’s portfolio spans portraiture, figure studies, still life, and landscapes. While photographic reference is a practical necessity for portrait commissions, Chris remains firmly committed to the belief that artists - especially those in their formative years - should work from life whenever possible. He credits this practice as the catalyst for his own artistic development. His still life and landscape works are created exclusively from life, embracing the initial connection with the subject as the beginning of a visual dialogue - a dance between artist and muse.
 
Chris’s dedication to his craft has earned recognition, including exhibiting at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London, with his piece ‘Sketch of a Tattooed Man’.