Description
Create Charcoal Portraits That Feel Solid, Expressive, and Alive.
Join Aaron Blaise for a live one-day virtual workshop exploring the timeless art of charcoal portrait drawing.
Aaron will draw from live models throughout the day, completing several portrait studies and sharing his entire process from the first rough marks to the final highlights and darkest charcoal accents.
This live workshop is included at no additional charge with an Annual Premium Membership or Lifetime Premium Membership. Streaming Members save 25%.
There Is Something Timeless About Drawing With Charcoal.
It is direct, expressive, forgiving, and capable of producing some of the most beautiful portraits an artist can create.
During this live workshop, Aaron will work from several live models, giving you the opportunity to see how he approaches different faces, lighting conditions, proportions, expressions, hair, and clothing.
Rather than showing only a polished final result, Aaron will begin each portrait from the first marks and explain the decisions, corrections, and discoveries that gradually bring the drawing to life.
What You Will Learn
- How to begin a charcoal portrait with a loose, confident initial drawing
- How to establish and refine accurate facial proportions
- Understanding the major anatomical structures of the head, face, and neck
- How to simplify complex features into clear, understandable forms
- Drawing convincing hair, clothing, and supporting details
- How lighting creates depth, volume, mood, and drama
- How to establish an overall charcoal tone without losing the drawing underneath
- Pulling highlights from the drawing with a kneaded or traditional eraser
- Refining the darkest darks and brightest lights with charcoal pencils
- Aaron’s personal charcoal techniques developed through years of portrait drawing
Watch the Complete Drawing Process Unfold.
Aaron will demonstrate how a portrait develops in deliberate stages:
Establish the pose, placement, and major proportions.
Clarify the anatomy, features, and likeness.
Build the larger light and shadow relationships.
Use an eraser to reveal highlights and dimension.
Strengthen the darkest darks, brightest lights, and essential details.
Draw From Live Models With Aaron
Working from a live model requires an artist to observe, simplify, and make decisions in the moment. It encourages you to look beyond a flat reference image and understand the head as a three-dimensional form.
By watching Aaron work through several different portrait studies, you will see how the same fundamental process adapts to different faces, poses, expressions, lighting situations, hairstyles, and clothing.
Why Charcoal?
Charcoal allows you to move quickly, make broad statements, soften edges, erase, redraw, and gradually build rich value relationships.
Its flexibility makes it approachable for newer artists while still offering the depth, subtlety, and expressive range experienced portrait artists value.
This Is Not a Pre-Recorded Lesson
This is a real-time portrait drawing experience. You will see the setup, first marks, adjustments, corrections, tonal decisions, erased passages, refinements, and final accents as they happen.
No skipped steps.
No polished edit hiding the problem solving.
Ask questions while Aaron is working.
Watching an artist make and correct decisions in real time reveals far more than seeing only the finished portrait.
Who This Workshop Is For
- Beginners who want a clear introduction to charcoal portrait drawing
- Artists who want to improve facial proportions and head anatomy
- Portrait artists looking for a more expressive and flexible drawing process
- Painters who want to strengthen their understanding of values, light, and form
- Illustrators and animators who want more confidence drawing the human head
- Experienced artists interested in Aaron’s personal charcoal techniques
You do not need prior charcoal experience. Aaron will explain his process from the beginning while also sharing techniques and insights useful to experienced artists.
Complete Charcoal Supply List
A complete recommended supply list is available so you will know which charcoal, pencils, paper, erasers, and related materials Aaron suggests using.
+ VIEW THE COMPLETE SUPPLY LIST
Art materials and supplies are not included with workshop registration.
Live Workshop Schedule
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
11:00 AM to approximately 5:00 PM Eastern Time
A scheduled 30-minute break begins at approximately 2:00 PM.
About Aaron Blaise
Aaron Blaise is an Academy Award-nominated director, animator, illustrator, painter, and teacher.
During 21 years at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Aaron contributed to films including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Mulan. He later co-directed Brother Bear, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.
His approach combines strong draftsmanship, anatomy, structure, light, emotion, and storytelling to create subjects that feel dimensional, expressive, and alive.
Attend Free With Annual or Lifetime Membership.
This workshop is included at no additional charge for active Annual Premium Members and Lifetime Premium Members.
Active Streaming Members receive 25% off workshop registration.
This Workshop Will Not Be Sold After It Ends.
Attendance is capped to keep the live experience interactive.
Registered participants may re-watch the workshop as many times as they like. However, you must register before the live event concludes.
The recording will only be available to registered participants and will not be reopened for general sale after the workshop.
After registration, we will email participants a private access link approximately three days before the workshop begins.
Draw Charcoal Portraits Live With Aaron.
One day. Several live portrait studies. Aaron’s complete charcoal drawing process.
Attendance is limited. Pre-registration is required.
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