Pet Portrait Painting in Oils

Discover the art of oil portraiture and take your painting skills to the next level with this hands-on pet portraiture course.

Designed for those with a basic understanding of painting, this course will deepen your knowledge, refine your technique, and help you create stunning portraits.

Explore the timeless methods of the Old Masters, learning techniques like layering, glazing and achieving life-like skin tones and fur textures. Capture the essence of your subject by focusing on expression, character, and composition.

Through step-by-step demonstrations and one-to-one mentoring, you’ll build confidence in your abilities while developing your personal artistic style. Whether you’re inspired by classical approaches or modern interpretations, this course will equip you with the skills to bring your vision to life. By the end of the five-week course, you’ll have created a beautiful, finished portrait to be proud of – and gained a deeper appreciation for the art of oil painting.

Each week, you will learn through:

• Group explanation and demonstrations, taking your through each stage of the portraiture process.
• Personalised mentoring: one-to-one support to help you refine your skills and overcome challenges, with an emphasis on building confidence and creative expression.
• Life coaching principles: Encouragement and mindset techniques to help you unlock your full potential, embrace your unique artistic voice, and stay motivated.
• This holistic approach ensures students feel empowered and supported, fostering both artistic and personal growth.

Week One: Setting the Stage

• Welcome and introductions
• Overview of the course structure
• First steps in portraiture
• Creating a preliminary sketch or monochrome study of your subject
• Capturing your subject through photography
• Drawing with charcoal

Week Two: Image Transfer Techniques

• Using a grid: learn how to create and use a grid to accurately transfer your image onto canvas
• Exploring other transfer methods, such as freehand drawing, tracing and projecting
• Introduction to underpainting

Week Three: Laying Down the Foundations

• Understanding Your Canvas: explore different materials for painting, preparing your surface and more.
• Introduction to Grisaille painting
• Blocking in the foundation

Week Four: Introducing Colour

• Colour theory for portraiture
• Adding colour to your underpainting
• Bottom of Form

Week Five: Refining and Polishing Your Portrait

• Highlights and lowlights
• Lines of distinction
• Backgrounds that pop
• Final Adjustments

By the end of week five, your portrait should be polished, dynamic, and ready to showcase, reflecting the skills and techniques you’ve developed throughout the course!

About the tutor:

Tutor Lis Naylor, new to our team of tutors here at Attenborough Arts, is an award-winning artist, sculptor, and qualified life coach based in Leicester, with a deep commitment to equality, family, and living life to its fullest.

Her passion lies in helping others express themselves, gain confidence, and develop a better understanding of the world through art. In 2018, Lis was honoured to receive the Attenborough Award at the Leicester Society of Artists Annual Exhibition. With a BA Hons and an MA in Fine Art, Lis’ practice spans vibrant oil paintings, dynamic gel prints, and expressive silk screen prints. She particularly enjoys animal and human portraiture, as well as life drawing.

Lis loves sharing her knowledge and skills through teaching. In her workshops, she combines clear, step-by-step group demonstrations with one-to-one mentoring to create a supportive and inspiring environment. Outside of art, she finds joy in spending time with her dogs and horses, who are a constant source of inspiration and love. Her passion for animal and human portraiture reflects this connection, capturing the unique character and spirit of her subjects. Find out more about Lis’ work at https://www.lisnaylorart.co.uk/

Further information:

All materials are provided.

Participants must be aged 18+.

This course will run on Friday mornings for 5 weeks, 10am – 1pm, starting on 13 October with the final session on 10 November 2025.

If the course/workshop you’d like to book is sold out, we do operate a waiting list – simply contact our box office team on 0116 252 2455 / arts-centre@le.ac.uk and ask to be added to the waiting list. We’ll then contact you if a place becomes available, with absolutely no obligation to accept it if you’ve made other plans!

Please ensure that you agree to our updated Terms & Conditions before booking as courses/workshops are non-refundable in some circumstances.

We aim to make all our sessions as accessible as possible and carers/PAs are very welcome – just remember to book their free place when you book your session. If you’d like to talk to us in advance of booking or attending your sessions to discuss your access needs, our Box Office team is here to help! Email arts-centre@le.ac.uk, pop in or call 0116 252 2455, open 7 days a week.

We have four blue badge parking spaces outside Attenborough Arts Centre, plus double yellow line roadside parking very close to the building for blue badge holders for up to three hours if our parking spaces are occupied.

Free parking for all customers is available after 5pm on weekdays and all day at weekends in the University of Leicester car park next door to Attenborough Arts Centre on Lancaster Road.

The closest public car park for parking at all other times is Victoria Park, 5-10 minutes walk from us.