After my last attempt at portraiture—where my portrait of Frida Kahlo went through five reworks—I decided it was time to get back to basics. It also doesn’t hurt to learn from a master! Ignacio Rojas, an incredibly talented Adelaide artist, offers small, insightful classes at the Fullarton Community Centre Art Workshop. I recently attended one and created a painting of my son that I’m genuinely proud of.
In these classes, we paint from photographs. I started by sketching the face in charcoal to get the form right, ensuring the sketch was fixed to prevent it from bleeding into the paint. Then, we worked exclusively in black and white—a technique that’s particularly useful for me right now.
I tend to overwork my paintings in an effort to perfect them, so this process has been a lesson in restraint. The key to a good painting? Knowing when to step away. ABANDON… ABANDON… NOW!
I shall be taking his ‘limited palette’ class next year to learn more invaluable tips from this master artist.
January 19th 2025. You can find him on INSTAGRAM Ignacio_rojas_artist
barbaraharkness.com 