2017 Fall Philadelphia Portrait Academy

The Portrait Academies have always been a favorite event for our members and a great way to experience the educational instruction of the annual conferences in a more intimate format. This past October, the first of our fall academy series was held in Philadelphia, PA at Studio Incamminati School for Contemporary Realist Art, where attendees meet with and learned from faculty artists, Adrienne Stein, Alexandra Tyng, Lea Wight, and Quang Ho. The two-day event kicked off on Friday night with a face-off demonstration, where Stein, Tyng, and Wight worked simultaneously from three different model and talked through their creative process.

Saturday offered a full day of programs, beginning in the morning with breakfast and a 3-hour demonstration by Quang Ho. With his usual wit and conversational ease, Ho spoke about his development as an artist and how he approaches a new canvas. After lunch, Ho sat down with everyone to discuss his thoughts on realism and self-identity, asking audience members to question what is real to each them. Citing his personal inspirations from Rembrandt to Helen Keller, Ho reminded viewers that sometimes you must step away from what you already know to learn something new. Next was a lively Q-and-A panel, where our faculty artists fielded questions about everything from soliciting new commissions and working with child models to prepping canvases and achieving those illusive flesh tones. The day ended with a critique session of attendee’s original artwork, where everyone received valuable feedback and advice for refining their work.

The weekend’s success would not have been possible without Studio Incamminati’s incredible team of instructors, staff and volunteers, who seemed to possess the ability to be two places at once and could transform their studio space in the blink of an eye. As well, the event was achieved through the support of our faculty artists, who committed their time and knowledge, and our dedicated members who often travel hundreds of miles to attend our programs. A great thank you to all!