The Bold Statement: Find Truth in Your Sketchbook with Oil Painter Andreas Liss
Learn to trust your eye and embrace the "magic" that happens when a collection of brushstrokes suddenly transforms into a human face.
Join German painter and designer Andreas Liss for another exploration of the small-scale oil portrait.
In this session (61 mins), Andreas invites you to let go of the pressure of perfection and find your "happy place" within the pages of a sketchbook.
Andreas believes that painting is a search for your own personal truth—a process of learning to see simple shapes and bold angles rather than getting bogged down in complex reality.
"I think it’s more important to paint many paintings instead of a few very good ones. You learn much more by painting and failing."
This lesson focuses on the power of the bold statement. Working with a limited palette and navigating a difficult profile, Andreas encourages you to make loud, decisive choices. You'll learn how to trust your eye over a grid and embrace the "magic" that happens when a collection of quick, rough brushstrokes suddenly transforms into a human face.
What you’ll learn
- The Zorn Palette: See how a limited selection of black, white, ochre, and red can replicate any value and create a perfect portrait
- Sketchbook Freedom: Learn why working in a sketchbook removes the fear of failure and turns painting into an intimate, diary-like practice
- Values Over Colors: Discover why matching the "value" (the contrast) is far more important for a successful painting than matching the exact color
- Simplifying the Form: Practice looking past the "details" to find the negative shapes and reference points that define a subject
Your Toolkit
- Oil Paint: A limited palette of Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, and Ivory Black, plus a light blue
- Brushes: A large, flat, soft brush (Andreas surprisingly uses a watercolor brush for his rough shapes)
- Surface: A sketchbook with paper at least 170g/m², prepared with gesso and a toned acrylic "imprimatura"
- Solvent: Odorless white spirit for thinning paint and cleaning brushes
Andreas paints not for the final result, but for the sheer joy of the journey. Let's get started!
