Bird Painting in Oils

with Sarah Margaret Gibson

This course is open to: students of all levels of experience—from those with atelier training to complete beginners in the medium of oil paint.

‘To capture the bird in paint as if it were living is the great challenge; it comes down to a feeling for rhythm—the defining characteristic of all living things.’

—Sarah Margaret Gibson

We are proud to offer Sarah Margaret Gibson’s first ever in-person course teaching her technique for her famous ‘bird portraits’. In this 6-day workshop Sarah Margaret will take you through her unique method of painting birds in oils. They are named ‘bird portraits’ as her focus is on capturing the individual characteristics and life-force (so to speak) of her aviary subjects, often composing them in a dramatic chiaroscuro lighting against a simple background—much like a classical portrait of a person. This course will guide you through the process of creating two richly textured and highly life-like portraits of birds; Sarah will walk you through all of the steps of her process, from monochromatic underpainting to use of impastos to final rendering. Her technique will teach you to strike a balance between representation and aesthetic considerations of a more abstract nature, resulting in a deeper knowledge of how to create a dynamic painting.

Each day of the course will be divided into two sessions; in the morning session, students will learn the process by watching an in-depth portrait demonstration by Sarah, whilst she simultaneously lectures on the various concepts to be covered that day. After a break for lunch, students will then spend the afternoon session working on their own bird portraits. Sarah will go around the class giving individually-tailored critiques to each student. Working from Sarah’s own collection of taxidermied bird models, students will build up their paintings following the stages of Sarah’s particular method of painting—each step of the process building upon the previous step and culminating in a sculptural and richly textured bird portrait in oils.

During the course, Sarah will guide you through the following stages:

1. Monochromatic wash drawing—a form of underpainting that serves to map out the fundamental drawing language of outline and shadow edges.

2. Value Triangulation: the process of grouping the values in the subject through comparative analysis and setting them within a finite scale to create the ‘key of your painting.’

3. First Painting: the first attempt to resolve light, colour and form in an alla prima style (attempting it one session). This will involve painting directly (wet-into-wet) and building up impastos to describe the form.

4. Second painting: using a second pass on selective areas of the painting through glazing and scumbling in order to add subtlety and tie the painting together as a whole.

   
   

Spots on this course are highly limited, in order to create an intimate learning environment and to give each student maximum time with Sarah, one-on-one. So please, don’t hesitate to book your place!

During this course, you will gain an understanding of the following key concepts:

• Site-size technique, working from life

• How to use a monochromatic underpainting to establish the drawing

• The basics of colour theory, how to select pigments for your subject, mix colours and organise your palette

• How to group values and arrange within a finite scale

• How to block in the colour-values of the bird using a direct painting technique—working wet-into-wet

• How to use selective scumbling and glazing to refine your painting

• The fundamentals about pictorial composition and how to balance a picture from an aesthetic viewpoint

Materials List

All materials can be purchased on either Jacksonsart.com or Cassart.co.uk or supremepaint.co.uk unless stated otherwise. We recommend buying all your supplies in advance of the workshop. Most materials below have a specific product link in gold.

However, if you are traveling internationally and are looking to make packing easier, you can get most of your paints (with the exception of lead white), your mineral spirits and basic linseed oil at the local Cass Art Store, located just 5 minutes’ walk from the studio. Otherwise, to buy supplies in advance you will have to do so from an equivilent art supply store in your own country, as we cannot have supplies shipped to the Academy in advance. Thank you.

Paints:

• Lead white no.1 (Rublev). Titanium is an alternative, if necessary, but it performs very differently. 

• Genuine Naples Yellow Light or Cadmium Yellow Light (Michael Harding)

• French Yellow Ochre (Michael Harding)

• Genuine Vermillion or Cadmium Red (Michael Harding)

• Burnt Sienna (Michael Harding)

• Red Umber (Old Holland)Alizarin Claret (Michael Harding)

• Ivory Black (Michael Harding)

• Cobalt Blue (Michael Harding)

• Ultramarine Blue (Michael Harding)

• Burnt Umber (Michael Harding)

• Raw Umber (Michael Harding)

Brushes:

Assortment of hog bristle and sable filberts and rounds:

• I generally use Rosemary & Co. hog bristle filbert and rounds, sizes 0, 2, 4, 6, (a few of each size). And Sables in sizes 2, 4 and 6 (a few of each size)

• Recommended Rosemary Series: Classic Filberts, Classic Rounds, Sable Filbert Series 91

• A few soft hair pointed “drawing brushes” for precision refinements

  • e.g., Rosemary “Eclipse Rigger,” size 0; or Series 88, Rigger size 0

Mediums:

All mediums can be purchased on Jacksonsart.co.uk

• Gamsol odourless mineral spirits (for those traveling to Scotland by plane, Gamsol will be provided for you)

• Cold-pressed linseed oil (Chelsea Classical Studio, preferably)

• Chelsea Classical Lavendar Damar Varnish

Support:

• 1 oil-primed, fine linen board. 30 x 40 cm. (Available Jacksonsart.com: https://www.jacksonsart.com/jacksons-oil-primed-linens-on-mdf-board-cl540 ) 

Other:

• 1 wooden palette (glass is acceptable too, but please no white disposable palette sheets!!!)

• 2x Palette Knife

• Paper towels and/or cotton rags

• 2 medium cups with lids (or a couple of small glass jars with lids)

• Brush washer with sealable lid

• 1 roll of masking tape

• 1 roll of cling film

• 1 roll of aluminium foil

• 1 tupperware box for storing paints

Instructor Bio

Sarah Margaret Gibson (b. 1988) is from Cincinnati, OH.

Sarah Margaret is a world-renowned master in contemporary realist painting. She specialises in portraiture, bird and floral paintings, and in still-lifes. Characterized by a rich tenebrism, Gibson’s work dramatically juxtaposes light against shadow. She believes that light, and all of its symbolic qualities, are most poetic when contrasted against dark. Through her drawings and paintings, Gibson opens up a dialogue with nature, responding to what she finds beautiful and endeavoring to communicate this through the medium of oil paint.

Gibson received her formal training in drawing and painting in Florence, Italy. She studied at the Angel Academy of Art from 2008-2010, and then completed the full three-year program at The Florence Academy of Art, from which she graduated in 2013 and where she subsequently taught as a Principal Instructor in their Intermediate Drawing and Painting Programme.

In 2015 Sarah Margaret moved to the west coast of Scotland, alongside her husband and fellow artist, Lee Craigmile. Together they co-founded the Glasgow Academy of Fine Art in 2019, a formal training academy at which she taught traditional methods of representational drawing and painting to aspiring professional artists. In 2024, Gibson and Craigmile decided to transition the Academy, moving the school to Lee’s hometown on the west coast and combining it with their personal painting studio to create Ayrshire Atelier of Fine Art. Gibson acts as Creative Director and Principal Instructor of Studio Workshops at the atelier, and she splits her time between painting for galleries and commissions, teaching, and raising her young son.

Gibson's work is shown throughout the U.S., U.K. and Europe and can be found in the New Britain Museum of American Art, The New Salem Museum of Art and in numerous private collections. She is represented by Arcadia Contemporary in Soho, NYC.

ACCOMMODATION and Travel details

Please visit our About the Studio page for more information on traveling to Largs and on finding accommodation.