May 1-3, 2025
Thursday-Saturday
9:30 am-4:30 pm
$595 includes model fees

This workshop will help students to make competent portrait drawings, step by step demonstrations will help students to understand the structure of the face in terms of shapes, planes change, anatomy and value by using lines and value rendering.

Students will learn the techniques of mastering expressive portraiture drawings with vine charcoal, charcoal pencils on drawing papers, and tonal papers. All levels are welcome! Oliver will begin the workshop on the first day using photo references to teach the structure of the face and on days 2 & 3 students will work from the live model.

Oliver’s work has been deeply inspired by a 20th Century master artist, Nicolai Fechin, and he employs his influence in creating sensitive, emotional, and dramatic portraits in vine charcoal. To capture the insight and warmth of each subject, then transfer it from life to drawing paper is Oliver’s motivation. To leave behind an essence of personality on drawing paper, along with intense personal feelings, is Oliver’s attempt to reveal his approach towards art and life.

Follow him on Instagram @oliversin to see more of his recent work.

Biography:

Oliver Sin is an alumnus of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, with a BFA in Illustration. After graduating in 1996, he started his art career as a computer game concept artist at LucasArts. From 2001 until now, Oliver has returned to his own school to be an art professor for the School of Fine Arts and 2D Animation. Oliver has been so drawn to art even as a little boy, he once recalled that he started drawing at the age of 3. Somehow, portraiture seems to be his favorite form of expression which he constantly practices, not only as an art professor but as a favorite hobby as well. Since 2011, Oliver has been lucky enough to come across a few distinguished contemporary artists as his mentors, ZhaoMing Wu, Henry Yan, and Chung-Wei Chien. Their tireless guidance has urged him to put greater efforts into capturing fleeting human expressions and paying more attention to precise composition in figurative portraits. Oliver’s first art book, “Drawing the Head for Artists” was published by Rockport publisher in the year 2019, the Spanish & Dutch versions are available in the year 2020. Oliver's first educational step-by-step DVD, "Portrait Drawing Simplified" was published by Streamline Publishing in April 2022. Oliver's vine charcoal portrait drawing of his dad won First Place in Drawing at the Portrait Society of America International Art Competition in 2021. For consistent achievements of artistic excellence in the art field of fine art portraiture, Oliver has earned "Signature Status" with the Portrait Society of America in 2022.