June 12
Portrait Drawing Workshop
Hallberg Center for the Arts, MN
In this one-day workshop, students will learn the core principles of portrait drawing using traditional methods and techniques under the guidance of classically trained artist Allison Baxter. Emphasis will be placed on form, light, and proportion, helping students capture both the likeness and the spirit of their subject. Through structured exercises such as value and gesture studies, students will refine their observational skills, improve technical accuracy, and develop their ability to express the subject with clarity. By the end of the workshop, students will have achieved greater technical proficiency and developed a deeper understanding of a classical approach to portraiture.
Following the workshop, Allison will offer a lecture highlighting her favorite and most influential portrait drawings by Italian masters, where we'll explore the techniques and artistic insights that have shaped portraiture through the centuries.
Students are welcome to bring their preferred pencil, sanguine, or charcoal as well as white or toned paper. The instructor will provide pencils and newsprint for students to borrow if they choose not to bring any.
August 2
Lecture on the Sistine ceiling: a restoration reconsidered
The Atelier, Minneapolis
In the 1980s, the Sistine Ceiling endured a restoration that stripped it of its history and age, a process art historian James Beck condemned as an "artistic Chernobyl." This lecture will examine the work done on Michelangelo's frescoes, discussing the historical ethics of the restoration and the repainting that followed. The sculptor's sanguine preparatory sketches will be shown alongside the frescoes, offering insight into his sculptural approach to drawing and anatomical mastery.
August 4 - 8
principles of Sanguine figure drawing
The Atelier, Minneapolis
Drawing the figure is a practice rooted in refining observation, deepening aesthetic judgment, and cultivating a profound understanding of form, light, and movement. Among the most evocative mediums in this pursuit is sanguine—a material employed for centuries by the Old Masters to capture the warmth, vitality, and structure of the human form.
This five-day workshop will explore the principles underpinning the use of sanguine in figure drawing, focusing on its role in both refined figure drawings and serving as a preferred medium for preparatory sketches in painting. We will examine key elements necessary for a successful figure drawing, including the balance between line and mass, the sculptural quality of light and shadow, and the poetic sensibility required to render the figure with elegance and conviction. Additionally, we will study the historical applications of sanguine, its popularity as a medium for preparatory drawings, as well as its continued prominence as a medium for detailed figure drawings. Practical exercises will complement these studies, helping students develop a disciplined and methodical approach to drawing.
Students will work from a live model, progressing from gesture studies to fully realized drawing. Emphasis will be placed on anatomical accuracy, proportion, and sensitivity to the unique qualities of sanguine as a medium. By the end of the workshop, students will have achieved technical proficiency and developed a deeper understanding of the emotional depth and expressive power that sanguine brings to figure drawing.
The workshop begins with a lecture on the history and development of the academic style, with a focus on the role of the sanguine. We will take a look at sanguine drawings by the artists who popularised the material—Tiepolo, Poussin, Watteau, and Rubens. This will be followed by demonstrations of fundamental figure drawing principles and the sight-size method in pencil. Finally, students will be introduced to the unique medium of sanguine, which will be provided for their use.
