‘Portrait Drawing in Mixed Media’ with Sarah Margaret Gibson
Course Fee: £ 600
Total Spots on Course: 9
This course is open to students of all levels of experience & is ideal for beginners. It’s also a great starting point if you would like to take oil painting courses at the Atelier afterwards.
Course Times:
Morning: 10 am-1 pm | Afternoon: 2 pm-5 pm
Course Dates:
July 20th -24th, 2026 (SOLD OUT)| June 28th-July 2nd, 2027
Learn the art of drawing in mixed media in this 5-day course with Ayrshire Atelier of Fine Art’s creative director, Sarah Margaret Gibson.
In this course, Sarah will take you through each step of her process for drawing a portrait from life in mixed media—from how to tone your paper and prepare your materials to how to capture the model’s likeness, translate values and render. She will guide you through the process of which mediums to use at which stages, and teach you how to give structure and three-dimensionality to a portrait drawing whilst exploiting the various mediums to their best advantage.
“Drawing in mixed media allows one to combine the worlds of drawing and painting in a single image; one can fluidly switch from line to mass and back again for a more sculptural approach to rendering form.”
-Sarah Margaret Gibson
Book an Upcoming Course
Spots on this course are highly limited in order to create an intimate learning environment and to maximise each student’s time, one-on-one with Sarah, so don’t hesitate to book now!
In this 5-day course, learn the exciting practice of drawing a portrait from life, in mixed media. Ayrshire Atelier’s creative director, Sarah Margaret Gibson, will guide you through each step of her process, from how to tone your own paper to capturing the model’s likeness.
Course Structure
Each day of the course will be divided into two sessions; in the morning session, students will learn the method by first listening to a brief lecture on the concepts to be covered that day, and then by watching a comprehensive drawing demonstration by Sarah. Once the demonstration is complete, students will spend the remainder of the morning session, and the entirety of the afternoon session working on their own drawings. Working from the live model, students will build up their drawings in a series of simple stages.
Morning Session (10am - 1pm)
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.
Afternoon Session (2pm - 5pm)
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.
What you will learn on this course:
During this portrait drawing class, Sarah will guide you through the various stages of creating a mixed media drawing. You will also gain an understanding of the following core principles and concepts relating to portrait drawing .
Key Stages & Core Concepts:
How to tone your own paper with ink
How to prepare your drawing materials (chalks and pencils) to use with precision
How to layer multiple mediums in a single drawing.
How to break down the portrait into abstract shapes to create a likeness
How to accurately measure proportion through comparative measure technique
How to express form through line and value gradation (modelling)
How to use line weight, line direction, and hatching to create an expressive sketch
BOOK NOW
In this 5-day course, learn the exciting practice of drawing a portrait from life, in mixed media. Ayrshire Atelier’s creative director, Sarah Margaret Gibson, will guide you through each step of her process, from how to tone your own paper to capturing the model’s likeness.
Required Course Materials List
We recommend you buy all your supplies in advance of the workshop.
All materials can be purchased on either Jacksonsart.com or at the Cass Art Store in Glasgow, which is a 40 minute’s train journey from the studio. Otherwise, you may buy your supplies before travelling and pack them in your bag (with the exeption of the stanley blade). We cannot have supplies shipped to the Atelier in advance of the course, though. Thank you.
Drawing Materials
1x pack of Prismacolor Col Erase Pencils (if you cannot find these, please buy a high-quality brown coloured pencil/brown chalk pencil)
(Optional) Staedler or Faber Castell graphite pencils: 2B, B, HB, H
Paper:
No need to purchase paper. A sheet of paper and materials for toning will be provided for each student on the first day of classes.
Other Materials
1 Stanley blade or exacto knife for sharpening pencils
Your Instructor: Sarah Margaret Gibson
born 1988, 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 & Travel details
Please visit our About the Studio page for more information on traveling to Largs and on finding accommodation.
In this 5-day course, learn the exciting practice of drawing a portrait from life, in mixed media. Ayrshire Atelier’s creative director, Sarah Margaret Gibson, will guide you through each step of her process, from how to tone your own paper to capturing the model’s likeness.