LEWISTON — L/A Arts will host a weekend portraiture workshop taught by artist Pat Chandler at the Downstage, located in downtown Lewiston, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 26 and 27.

The portraiture artist will lead students step by step from a beginning drawing on the canvas to a finished oil portrait. Students will learn technical methods of mixing painting mediums, laying out colors on the palette, color mixing and flesh tones.

There will be drawing demonstrations as well as hands-on help. The workshop is appropriate for artists with some previous portraiture and/or oil painting experience.

On Saturday morning students will begin by sketching from a model, laying out the image onto the canvas with either colored pencil or thin paint. There will be a drawing demonstration on the anatomy of the head and face, as well as on mixing light and shadowed flesh tones. Students will then proceed to the next stage, creating a thin wash painting of the head and shoulders.

The afternoon session will begin with a demonstration on rendering facial features, i.e. the details of eye, nose and mouth structure. Continuing on with the wash, the day should end with a finished under-painting ready for the final layer. Some students may have enough experience to be working on the final painting layer by the end of the day.

On Sunday students will work out the final image with assistance and further demonstrations from the instructor.

Each day will have an hour break for lunch. Participants may choose to go out for lunch or they may bring their own and eat at the DownStage.

Chandler is a teaching artist, living and working out of Norway. In addition to having a nationwide clientele for her portraits, she has taught numerous portraiture workshops, including several at the Maine College of Art.

She said, “We seek to honor and remember those we love with images of them.” To learn more about Chandler, visit www.chandlerfineart.com.

The fee for the weekend is $120 a person. Financial assistance, through the newly created David Footer Scholarship Fund, is available for candidates meeting specified guidelines.

Students may learn about and apply for the grant as well as enroll for the workshop online at www.laarts.org or by contacting L/A Arts at 782-7228. Questions about the workshop should be directed to Chandler at 743-8033 or pchandler08@yahoo.com.

The DownStage at L/A Arts is a versatile art space in downtown Lewiston. The entrance is on Canal Street Alley, just off Pine Street. Free parking is provided in Camden National Bank’s parking lot on Canal Street.