Alice Neel

Alice Neel (1900 – 1984) was an American visual artist, who was known for her portraits depicting friends, family, lovers, poets, artists and strangers. Her paintings have an expressionistic use of line and color, psychological acumen, and emotional intensity. Neel was called "one of the greatest portrait artists of the 20th century”. A painter of people, landscape and still life, Neel was never fashionable or in step with avant-garde movements. Sympathetic to the expressionist spirit of northern Europe and Scandinavia and to the darker arts of Spanish painting, she painted in a style and with an approach distinctively her own.

Workshop

Let’s create colorful portraits inspired by Alice Neel, by sketching simple outlines of each other with crayon.

1. Find a partner (Can be a virtual partner too!)
2. One partner can pose, and the other can draw
3. If you are posing, find a comfortable position
4. If you are drawing, choose any colors of crayon and any size paper
5. Spend about 15 minutes drawing/posing and then switch roles
6. While drawing, simply focus on outlining your partner - their pose, clothing and expression. 7. Be loose and quick with your sketches

Materials

• Crayons
• Paper
• Each other :)

Follow Up

Did you prefer to draw or pose?
What kinds of fun details did you notice while drawing your partner?
Do you think your partner’s personality came through in the drawing?

“The place where I had freedom most was when I painted. I was completely and utterly myself.”

-Alice Neel