There was a chance to learn about the art of portraits at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre on Saturday.
Saskatoon oil painter and figure artist Aarin Rinias conducted the workshop after being invited in late 2023 by Jesse Campbell. The class was fully booked with 10 people including prominent Prince Albert artists Jerome Mrazek and George Glenn.
“We do 40-minute poses,” Rinias explained. “Amery, the model, sits there for 40 minutes and everybody does their best to draw him.”
Rinias said attendees work with the same model, but do their work independently.
He also did a demonstration and broke down rules about facial structure and other basics of creating portraits.
“Tthen I let them go at it,” he said. “I walk around and just see how they’re doing, if they’re struggling with anything, if they’re happy about anything, if they’re dissatisfied or looking for a certain result and I work with them to get it.”
During each session, model Amery Martin would assume a new position or change a characteristic such as having his hair down after having his hair up.
Rinias said that the key to being a great portrait artist was a tough question to answer.
“Obviously, (it’s) doing your best to capture the essence of the person you’re trying to draw, whether that’s representational with how they look or whether it’s just capturing an energy or mood or an intensity or everything,” Reinis said.
“I think it’s up to the artists to find their own success in a portrait, just like with any art. Are they satisfied with their work? Are they challenging themselves? Are they growing as an artist? Are they trying? Are they failing? Those are all good things.”
Reinis said that he was glad to be in Prince Albert and appreciated the opportunity to teach the workshop.
“Teaching helps me grow as well, right? I have to be considerate of what I’m looking at, what they’re doing, what I’m doing have to think about how I do things,” he said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
