Portraits from Photos
To be or not to be? 
 
Online Seminar with Ilya Gefter
 
Monday 16.03.2026 // 19.30 - 21.30
 
You are warmly invited to a new online seminar devoted to portrait drawing and painting from photographs!
 
Using photos as references is tempting and convenient, but it also presents serious artistic challenges. Too often, portraits based on photos appear flat, rigid, and lifeless.
 
In this seminar, we will examine both the advantages and the limitations of working from photographs. You will learn practical approaches that allow you to enjoy the convenience of photos to attain both likeness and aliveness in your work. 

Seminar Themes:
Working from photos: benefits and pitfalls
Choosing suitable reference photos
Which photos to avoid
Starting a drawing from a photo
Using light and dark to build form
From flat image to three-dimensional structure
From frozen snapshot to natural presence
And more...

Seminar Registration:
The seminar will be conducted in Hebrew
Online registration only
Zoom link and password will be sent by email 
(please check spam folder)
Registered participants are invited to send reference photos in advance to: visualartcenter.ta@gmail.com
Some of these images will be used during the seminar discussion.