Shalmah Prince
Portrait Drawing & Painting
Thursdays from 5:30-8:00pm
4-Week Session: January 22, 29 & February 5, 12
A great addition to our Try-It-Out series, the Beginner Portrait Drawing and Painting class is a chance to try out, or rekindle, a love of art in a fun, laid-back environment. For $169, everything you need is provided! Just show up and enjoy being taught by Shalmah Prince, an instructor whose portrait portfolio is in the permanent archives of The White House!
Painting someone’s face, known as Portraiture, is as much about capturing personality as it is about depicting appearance. A slight tilt of the head or the direction of the gaze can change the entire story the portrait tells. We will introduce you to the basics and how subtle cues—like posture, lighting, clothing, and even background
objects—can reveal a subject’s status, emotions, or inner character.
Bio
My love for painting was born when I was a young girl at the Cincinnati Art Museum. I received my first formal portrait training at Gebhardt Art School attending adult classes. I went on to study at the Maryland School of Art and Design as a teenager. Later I earned my BFA from Abilene Christian University (ACU). Moving to New York City, I studied at the Art Students’ League, the foremost school of traditionalist art in America.
The predominance of my studies were in figure and portrait painting. I studied anatomy under Robert Beverly Hale, curator of drawing for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I also studied with John Howard Sanden, who later became the White House portrait artist for George and Laura Bush.
My most notable studies were with the late Daniel E. Green, one of the most accomplished pastel artists in the United States. Learning from Greene’s power of observation granted me a pedagogical perspective on portraiture that I have passed on to many others. Since living in New York I have continued my studies, recently focusing on commissioned work of executive, university, family, and children’s portraiture.
My gift—I have been told—is capturing the essence and spirit of an individual, be it an athlete, bride, puppy, or governor of a state. I work to capture the unseen through the seen, and provide timeless portraiture in the process.
Questions? Email Shalmah at portrait2024@icloud.com.