A group of Fayette County artists came together recently to experience “Painting the Portrait from Life,” a three day intensive workshop with Atlanta-based fine artist and portrait painter Charles Young Walls. The Fayette Art Center hosted the gathering at their new studio location on the square in historic downtown Fayetteville.

Fayette Art Center director Kathaleen Brewer has been instrumental in bringing high quality fine art programs to the area. As the organization prepares to expand into their new studio location, you can almost feel the excitement building in the local arts scene.

This most recent workshop offering began with a morning lecture and portrait painting demonstration by Walls. After a break for lunch, the attending participants set up their easels around the model, a local art student who jumped at the chance to sit in on the instruction.

“This group made huge strides this weekend,” said Walls. “They accepted a tough challenge and took in a tremendous amount of information. Painting a portrait from a live sitter is a very different proposition than painting from photographs.”

Charles Young Walls is a New York-trained portraitist and fine artist who currently resides in the Atlanta area. He is an award-winning painter whose works have hung in prestigious juried exhibitions in New York and San Antonio as well as throughout the southeast. This is his second workshop for the Fayette Art Center.