Sight-size portraiture in oils

with Sarah Margaret Gibson

This course is open to: students with some previous experience. This course is more advanced, and is therefore best suited to students who have a) taken another workshop with Sarah before, b) had some atelier training or c) taken a workshop at another atelier school.

‘Sight-size—when used correctly—is a powerful tool for the portrait painter, which empowers their intuitive faculties whilst encouraging a breadth of treatment in keeping with the tradition of “portraiture in the grand manner”.’

—Sarah Margaret Gibson

In this exclusive 5-day workshop, Academic Director of the Glasgow Academy of Fine Art—Sarah Margaret Gibson—will take you through her method of portrait painting in oils, using the traditional technique of sight-size. Sight-size is the historic practice of setting up one’s canvas and easel so that they are directly beside the subject in the artist’s field of vision, making the painting optically appear the be exactly the same size as the subject. Sight-size has been used for hundreds of years in the art of oil portraiture, as it aids the artist in achieving a likeness and enhances their ability to observe subtle, visual relationships by allowing the artists to intuitively compare their painting directly with the subject. In this course, a select few students will get to learn from Sarah by watching her demonstrate this technique as well as working alongside her on their own oil portraits in sight-size.

Each day of this 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 portraits. Sarah will go around the class giving individually-tailored critiques to each student. Working from the live model, students will build up their paintings following the stages of Sarah’s method of painting, each step of the process building upon the previous step and culminating in a sculptural and richly coloured portrait in oils.

Spots on this course are highly limited—only 6 in total—in order to allow each student to work in North light and at life size. There will be one model per every two students. Please, don’t hesitate to book your place now!

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

1. Blocking in the underpainting directly on the canvas in monochrome.

2. Ebauche/'First Painting' of the portrait: the first attempt to the portrait, balancing light, colour and form while focusing on broad priorities.

3. Blocking in the the background and clothing directly, in a single session.

4. Second painting: the second and final attempt to properly paint the portrait, in which we improve paint quality, transitions, subtlety of expression and add selective details.

5. The houding: the bringing together of the painting in all respects, including edge, value, colour, and texture. 

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

• The theory and practice of Sight-size technique

• How to simplify a three-dimensional subject into two-dimensions on the canvas using sight-size

• The stages of building up an oil painting using a direct method of painting

• The basics of colour theory and how to mix colours using a limited palette

• How to group values and arrange within a finite scale

• The fundamentals of pictorial composition and how to work these out directly on the canvas

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 Dark (Michael Harding)

• French Yellow Ochre (Michael Harding)

• Genuine Vermillion (Michael Harding). If you cannot source this, then Vermillion Extra by Old Holland will work, too.

• Burnt Sienna (Michael Harding)

• Red Umber (Old Holland)

• Alizarin Claret (Michael Harding)

• Ivory Black (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

• 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:

• 1x 40 x 50 cm. oil-primed, Belgian linen canvas

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.