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Waterhouse Van Dyke Drawing Charcoal Portrait Painting by Mike Malm

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Building Portraits with Shape

🔷 Lay the foundation of strong portraits with shape, structure and clarity. In this demo, Michael Malm walks you through how to build compelling portrait shapes—from analyzing masters like John William Waterhouse and Sir John Burdon Van Dyke to applying those principles in your own work. 


You’ll learn how to:
🎯 Identify and simplify strong underlying shapes in the head and face
📐 Use grid methods and measurement techniques for accuracy and confidence 
🧠 Move from observing master paintings to applying shape-driven decision-making in your own portraits
🖼️ Anchor your portraits with clarity of form so your work reads beautifully—even under complex lighting or pose situations


Perfect for portrait artists who want to deepen their structural understanding and make their figures feel more solid, intentional, and visually compelling. 🕒 Runtime: 2+ hours

  • Michael Malm

    Instructor

  • Fundamental

    Difficulty
Meet your instructor

Michael Malm

Michael lives in the beautiful Cache Valley of northern Utah with his wife, Juanita, and their four children. The surrounding rural communities and setting provide backdrops for his figure paintings and inspiration for his landscapes. His serious study began under Del Parson at Dixie College where he completed his associate’s degree. He then went on to Southern Utah University where he had the opportunity to study with Perry Stewart, and completed his formal education at Utah State University where he received a Master of Fine Arts Degree studying under Glen Edwards. Workshops have also played an important part of his development studying with such master painters as Richard Schmid, Burton Silverman, Daniel Gerhartz, Quang Ho, Ron Hicks, Michael Workman, and Jim Norton.

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