2022 Mattelson Fine Art Portrait Academy Online Class Teaching Schedule

Alla Prima Oil Portrait Painting Mastery Online Art Class-2022

I have developed, what I believe is, a new and exiting way to paint in the Alla Prima style that goes far beyond the typical shoot-from-the hip-approach.

New Day, New Site, New Blog, New Class - Starts May 1st

I am very excited to announce that my new website is up and running. And, as you can guess, so is my blog. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic I am now teaching my classes and workshops online.

Marvin Mattelson's Online Virtual Portrait Painting Class - Fall 2020.

Marvin Mattelson offers a more logical approach to painting than the typical dogmatic route of following rules.

Drawing the line: A Virtual Portrait Drawing Workshop

I'll be leading an intensive 5 day drawing workshop starting Monday July 13, 2020. The purpose of this workshop is to transform the way you think about drawing and making art.

NYC Realistic Portrait Painting Workshop • August 5-16 2019

This coming August, I will be teaching my annual two-week portrait workshop at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Fall Continuing Ed Oil Painting Portrait Classes at SVA

First of all, I wanted to share my latest commission with you, a portrait of Robert Cripps, the retiring Chairman of the Board of Velcro Industries.

Featured Course of the Week!

I'm proud to announce that this week my August oil portrait painting workshop, "Portrait Painting: The Real Deal", is featured on the School of Visual Arts' Continuing Education home page.

Marvin Mattelson Summer 2018 Workshops in New York City

This summer I’ll be teaching two workshops at the School of Visual Arts in New York City: a five-day portrait drawing workshop and an eleven-day portrait painting workshop.

Marvin Mattelson's Fall 2017 Continuing Education Classes @ SVA

To me it's pretty obvious what's missing: a strategic picture making mentality that goes way beyond copying, which I rarely see in contemporary realism.

Making Rhyme Out of Reason: An Oil Portrait Painting Workshop

Just to give you some sort of indication, this painting is Marvin Mattelson's latest workshop demonstration.

Oil Portrait Painting Workshop 2016

Painting is a function of problem-solving; the key is understanding how to control pictorial space on a flat surface. Every situation requires it’s own unique solution.

Register now, or forever hold your piece (of charcoal)

I decided to pose some deeply probing questions to myself so that potential students could get a better idea of why they should sign up today.

“When you do what you've done, you get what you've gotten.” Mark Twain

Rita Mae Brown has stated, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Marvin Mattelson’s Winter/Spring Classes at SVA in NYC

Studying with me will not only teach you the technical aspects of painting but transform the way you approach painting altogether.

Realistic Portrait Drawing Workshop with Marvin Mattelson in New York City

Drawing is the backbone of all representational art. J. D. Ingres said, "Drawing includes three and a half quarters of the content of painting... Drawing contains everything, except the hue.

Alla Prima Portrait Painting Demonstration

This past Saturday I did a portrait painting demonstration for my class, alla prima style, to show the students how I paint oil studies of clients.

Marvin Mattelson’s Portrait Workshops - Summer 2015

This summer, ‍regardless of whether you paint with broad strokes or great refinement, if you study with Marvin, you will learn how to take your work to the next level.

Marvin Mattelson's Latest Oil Portrait Commission: Fang Fenglei

I recently completed the above portrait painting of Fang Fenglei. It's a great honor to be chosen to paint such an exceptionally successful gentleman.

Marvin Mattelson Fall 2014 Continuing Education Classes at SVA in NYC

I'll be teaching two classes this fall at the School of Visual Arts. Each class focuses on both Figure and Portrait Painting and runs for eleven weeks.

SVA Spring/Winter Continuing Education Classes: Realistic Figure & Portrait Painting

My classes are for artists of all levels, from beginners to advanced. My students' progress is unfathomable, compared to what you see in other classes and workshops.

Marvin Mattelson Portrait Unveiling: Wil de Hollander, President & CEO, Velcro

On Tuesday September 10, my portrait of Wil de Hollander, the recently retired CEO and president of Velcro Industries N.V., was unveiled.

New York Portrait Artist Workshop Demonstration – Day Four

Today I completed my demonstration of Megan. I followed the same procedure as the previous day's demo, but focused on smaller and more subtle nuanced shapes and transitions.

New York Portrait Artist Workshop Demonstration – Day Three

Today, was the beginning of the end, or the phase I refer to as the initial finish later (AKA the refinement layer).

New York Portrait Artist Workshop Demonstration - Day Two

Today I laid in the color in a logical and methodical way and even had time at the end of the day to start the edge handling.

New York Portrait Artist Workshop Demonstration - Day One

I spent the day explaining and demonstrating my procedure for the wash-in, the painting's foundation layer (see above). My mantra: work large to small. Below you can see the steps I took:

Look Mom! I'm On National TV Tonight

Tonight, January 11, 2013, I'm being interviewed by Kate Snow for the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

New York City Portrait Artist Workshop-Demo Day #4: Grand Finale

On the final day the plan was to modify color nuance, intensity, edges in order to further develop the solidity the forms:

New York City Portrait Artist Workshop-Demo Day #3

Today was my next to last demo for the August Portrait Artist Workshop at the School of Visual Arts.

New York City Portrait Artist Workshop-Demo Day #2

Today, August 9, I laid in the color over my wash-in underpainting during the second demo for my New York City Portrait Artist Workshop.I love brushing in the color.

New York City Portrait Artist Workshop-Demo Day #1

My New York City Portrait Artist Workshop at the School of Visual Arts began on Monday August 6. Below is the progression of my underpainting on the first day of my demo.

The Last Marvin Mattelson Portrait Artist Workshop Ever

What a chilling thought! This is my final workshop for 2012, so if the Mayans turn out to be right, and the world goes poof on 12/21/12, you're out of luck. Y

Atlanta Portrait Artist Workshop – Day 11 Demo

Today I completed my demo painting. Not as refined as my portrait commissions, but a very good representation of my process, none-the less.

Atlanta Portrait Artist Workshop - Day 9 Demo

Today I continued to develop my demonstration painting. I started out by oiling out the painting. First I scumbled over the skin and then began to restate my flesh colors.

Atlanta Portrait Artist Workshop – Day 4 & 7 Demos

My demo painting is moving along very nicely. Here is the progression as I built up color over the umber wash-in under-painting during my initial color lay-in, this past Thursday.

Atlanta Portrait Artist Workshop - Day 1 Demo

Today I started a two-week portrait artist workshop at Binders Art and Framing in Atlanta. This is the underpainting phase of my workshop demo–the first time I’ve ever posted one in progress.

The "You Can't Get There From Here" School of Color Mixing

To me a portrait painting is a giant conundrum waiting to be unraveled. My approach to coming up with the best answer is hierarchical, going from large to small.

A Portrait Artist's Biggest Challenge

outside of a sadist or a bully who would derive pleasure from making someone cry? The obvious answer: a portrait artist.

Marvin Mattelson's Atlanta Portrait Artist Workshop

I will be returning to Atlanta for my annual two-week workshop at Binders Art Supplies and Frames in the fashionable Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta GA.

So You Think You Can Draw?

 In every class I teach, everything is fully demonstrated and thoroughly explained. The above drawing is a detail of my workshop demonstration drawing.

Getting Paid to Learn to Paint

Since the methods the authors of painting books professed seemed so clueless, I did the exact opposite of what they said.