PORTRAIT ART WORKSHOP

We are super excited to have Dominic Thian with us!

Dominic is a Singapore-based painter whose practice is shaped by discipline, introspection and a deep reverence for the quiet language of images. After leaving Architecture school to pursue art full-time, he spent 1.5 formative years in a dusty New York studio drawing and painting for up to ten hours a day. His early work drew from Renaissance and 19th-century masters, filtered through an evolving interest in Asian visual philosophies and a commitment to painting with honesty rather than calculation.

From 2019 to 2023, Dominic’s still-life paintings examined counter-culture sentimentality, artistic sincerity in an age of cynicism, and the emotional aftershocks of generational diaspora. Today, his practice is shifting toward simpler, more playful still-lifes and larger figurative works that navigate the contradictions and quiet disquiet of being human. Outside the studio, he finds clarity on pre-dawn cycling and running routes with his wife, where ideas form in rhythm with breath and road.

Dominic believes that the meaning in art lives beyond language. He paints with the conviction that true artworks do not require justification, only presence, and invites viewers to meet his work on their own terms.   

PORTRAIT ART WORKSHOP DETAILS
This one-day workshop will introduce students to the techniques to successful draw portraits from life. The focus will be on learning analytical concepts to breakdown the portrait drawing process into simpler steps. They will also be taught how to continually hone these skills on their own.

There will be two sessions: the morning half includes analytical work with plaster casts. In the afternoon, students will be able to experience drawing from a live model. They will be guided and corrected along the way and should be able to bring home a completed portrait sketch.

Date: 20 December 2025

Workshop Schedule:

10am - 12:30pm
- Introduction to comparative measurement
- Learning about expressing volumes through high points and low points
- Value and shading techniques
- Proportion Tips and Tricks
- These will be done with plaster casts and bargue plates.

12:30pm - 1:30pm
- Lunch!

1:30pm - 4:00pm
- Life drawing with a model. Demos done during the first five minutes of each pose of student work.