Portrait Painting
with Rogier Willems

🗓️ July 24th to 31st 2026

🎨 Portrait Painting

Full Board Accommodation: From 1750€ for 7 nights

Tutor's Fee: 500€

Partners & family may join the trip as non-participating guests without the teaching fee.

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Winner of the William Lock Portrait Prize 2025

Rogier's Website

Accommodation

Course Description

In this 5 days course we explore the human face by quick sketches, technical challenges, focused studies and a full understanding of how to approach the art of portrait painting artistically. Inspired by several different local models you make sketches, quick portraits, tonal studies and some more elaborated portraits, all in oils.

On the one hand, this course discusses important (technical) aspects of portrait painting, such as tone, construction, composition and brushwork. In addition, a lot of attention is paid to the way you personally paint; I encourage a loose, free approach with an emphasis on expression. Participants are challenged to take risks and deviate from the beaten track and to strive for powerful paintings with as much individuality as possible.

The course is in English and Dutch. Best suited for painters with some experience. Material is oil paint on linen or oil paint paper.

About Rogier

Willems’ oeuvre predominantly consists of portraits, rendered in the classical medium of oil paint. The subjects of his compositions are those who personally captivate him —individuals he holds in high regard or those who exert a magnetic allure. Willems finds himself particularly drawn to the complexity and duality inherent within these individuals.

Possessing an unconventional stance towards the conventional art scene, Willems rarely participates in exhibitions and holds an innate resistance towards commission-based work. His motivations for creating art are not driven by accolades or public recognition. Although he did win the William Lock Prize for best Portrait, an honour given to him by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2025 and was long listed twice for the BP Award by the National Portrait Gallery London. Recently he was shortlisted for the Almenara Prize 2025 in Spain. But rather, he finds himself more engaged with the journey of creation and the quest for artistic mastery. The works of his fellow artists, though, hold a special place in his heart, serving as a wellspring of inspiration and a mirror reflecting his artistic journey.

The act of painting, for Willems, is synonymous with liberation—a process that offers him boundless freedom and a platform to articulate his thoughts and emotions. He cherishes this personal exploration and chooses to maintain a sense of privacy around it, an approach that mirrors his personality and resonates with his artistic principles.

Born in Dordrecht 1969, raised and still lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Self-taught painter. Worked for 25 years as a set designer for the theatre for numerous companies. For many years he worked as art teacher at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and at the Wackers Academy in Amsterdam. Used to work in series with specific themes concerning politics and religion. Now focussing on just the portrait and nudes without further narrative context. He teaches often abroad, in Belgium, the UK, Portugal, Swiss and France.

He lives and works near Amsterdam with his girlfriend and two young daughters. In his spacious studio (Studio Willems) he paints and teaches with the help of Pieternel Linssen, his assisting companion in business.

Materials required to bring yourself

Burned Siena, ultramarine blue, raw umber, green earth, carmine red/ rose madder, yellow ochre, cadmium red medium, titanium white, mixed white and cadmium yellow. Linseed oil and sturdy pig bristle brushes, at least 1 cm wide but also a few wider ones. Only organic and odorless thinners are allowed, or Gamsol. Also you need some charcoal and a white soft crayon or pastel. And pieces of cloth to wipe your brushes with. You also have to bring oil-painting paper, canvasses or canvas-boards and some toned paper to draw on.

Anchor 2

Course Outline

Saturday

16:00 - Check in & Estate Tour

18:00 - Welcome aperitivo followed by dinner

Sunday

08:30 - 9:30 - Italian breakfast

10:00 - 13:00 - Morning session

Focus on form, proportions, and tone.
First, a short keynote about the construction of the head. After that, draw the model in charcoal in 3 small studies: one in a single continuous line, one with geometrical, angular planes and one made only with charcoal stains and a kneaded eraser.

Then, on toned paper you draw with white and black chalk, making one completed drawing of the same model in about 1.5 hours. Start very lightly with charcoal, sparingly add white. You practise the construction and placement of the eyes, nose, and mouth. How do you determine proportions, lines, and directions?

13:00 - 14:00 - Farm to table lunch at Rignana

14:30 - 16:30 - Afternoon session

Rogier will do a quick demo of the set-up and you make one small portrait painting with a limited palette: cadmium red, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, and mixed white, focussing on tone and construction to create volume.

18:30 - Aperitivo followed by dinner

Monday

08:30 - 9:30 - Italian breakfast

10:00 - 13:00 - Morning session

First, a short demonstration of the first pass and the mixing possibilities. Make two small portraits of the same model on 1 sheet with blue, carmine, white and ochre from two viewpoints (painters swap places).

Only LARGE planes, no detail at all! Practise light-dark contrasts and proportions. Also, the background tone/colour will need your attention now.

13:00 - 14:00 - Farm to table lunch at Rignana

14:30 - 16:30 - Afternoon session

You make one portrait in the same colours but now with cadmium red and yellow added, which you develop further. We put more emphasis on a complementary colour contrast. Use only a large brush, at least 1cm. Increase the tempo!

18:30 - Aperitivo followed by dinner

Tuesday

08:30 - 9:30 - Italian breakfast

10:00 - 13:00 - Morning session

Proportions

Painters move two positions clockwise.
Today, as far as possible, you make one portrait, we use the full palette now. Emphasis lies on expression and interpretation of the model. First, you briefly explore the model by repeating the singular-line study from day 1. Then take time for the construction of the head and explore the tonality.

13:00 - 14:00 - Farm to table lunch at Rignana

14:30 - 16:30 - Afternoon session

Continue the portrait focusing on details and brushwork; discover how firm mark-making brushwork can enhance the expression of your painting.

18:30 - Aperitivo followed by dinner

Wednesday

08:30 - 9:30 - Italian breakfast

Class Break - Stay at Rignana and relax, or visit Florence, Sienna or a neighbouring village for the day

Thursday

08:30 - 9:30 - Italian breakfast

10:00 - 13:00 - Morning session

Today you start a portrait (of a new model) that you will finish tomorrow. First, briefly make some quick sketches to explore the model. Then make a very small but fast tonal study in burnt sienna, white, and blue.

Now we start our final painting, first focussing on the right proportions. We zoom out a little and include probably one hand, so you must think more about composition and the background’s negative shape.

13:00 - 14:00 - Farm to table lunch at Rignana

Once the construction is firm and you fully understand the tonality of the head you start applying the paint in a powerful mark-making colours; use really big strokes. Be bold!

14:30 - 16:30 - Afternoon session

18:30 - Aperitivo followed by dinner

Friday

08:30 - 9:30 - Italian breakfast

10:00 - 13:00 - Morning session

Today you continue and finish the portrait which you started yesterday. Focus on spatial relationships, dynamics, brushwork, details, and the focal points, and how to handle the background.

13:00 - 14:00 - Farm to table lunch at Rignana

14:30 - 16:30 - Afternoon session

Time for the details but keep painting in a bold and daring way. Don’t avoid risks. We discuss the works after the painting session plenary.

18:30 - Aperitivo followed by dinner

Saturday

08:30 - 9:30 - Italian breakfast

10:00 -Check out

2027Accom Rogier