Welcome to

Alla Prima Academy

Comprehensive online courses and interactive workshops focused on painting portraits in oils, designed to help artists of all levels refine their skills and develop their unique style.

Courses and Bundles

Essential Methods of Classical Realism:

Whether you’re starting with the essentials in Fundamentals of Portrait Painting or exploring more advanced aspects of portrait painting in Rendering Skin Tones, our courses are designed to be beginner-friendly and offer comprehensive learning at your own pace.

For those looking for the complete experience, our bundle combines both programs for a deeper dive. Each course includes lifetime access to detailed instructions, professional tips, and high-quality references to guide your progress.

Fundamentals of Portrait Painting

A comprehensive video course focused on rendering form using a tonal approach and a clear, constructive method.

Duration: 6+ hours
Lifetime access.

Enroll Now for $120

Portrait Painting BUNDLE

Fundamentals of Portrait Painting
Renderings Skin Tones in Oils
Exclusive: How to See like a Painter
Reference set: Starter Pack
Duration: 18+ hours
Lifetime access.

Enroll Now for $195

Painting Luminous Skin Tones

A comprehensive practice driven course dedicated to rendering realistic and luminous skin tones in oils using classical methods of temperature and hue shifts

Duration: 8+ hours
Lifetime access.

Enroll Now for $120

Alla Prima Painting:

Join us from the comfort of your home or studio for practice-driven portrait painting demonstrations from life, filled with insights, thorough explanations, and valuable guidance on painting with oils in a single session.

Painting a Female Portrait in Profile

Join Arthur Gain in this 3-hour alla prima portrait session, where he paints from life and thoroughly explains his method and approach.

Duration: 3+ hours
Lifetime access.

Enroll Now for $65

Watch this short video in which Arthur Gain breaks down the structure of a direct painting project, using a short alla prima portrait study as a perfect showcase of this approach.

What Students Are Saying:

“First class.....excellent course... I learnt so much and Arthur was attentive to my progress, patient and super helpful with any issues I was having. I really appreciated the recordings and how information was easily accessible with it being divided into smaller lesson titles. ”

Pavllou Kokko
“This was a very helpful bootcamp both in helping me ground my fundamentals, as a largely self-taught artist, but also to see how Arthur pushes away from the reference/model to make decisions as an artist.”

Martin
“I loved the way Arthur explained so many techniques in detail and shared so many insights... All over my learning curve was very steep and I understood a lot more than what I ever did with just watching YouTube videos or studying books. There is not much to improve - it was really the best art instruction course I ever did”

Sigi Dannheimer
"This was such a wonderful learning experience; I’m saddened that it is over but excited to put all this new knowledge to work! Many thanks for being an exceptional instructor and thanks again to Kelsey, an amazing assistant."

Lori Barrison
"Extremely helpful and thoroughly enjoyed it. The mixing of skin colors was the most beneficial and what colors can do on the canvas next to each other also."

Patrick Stacy
"It was exactly what I needed as I had been away from painting portraits for a couple of years and although had been attempting on my own some self-doubt. This challenge gave me the tools to feel confident and new approaches to make it more interesting."

Santiago Perez
"Completely satisfied. This was my favorite course to date. The instruction was extremely clear and the step by step approach enabled me to build solid foundations and retain important information. I am quite slow and am still working my way through the course but knowing that I can work at my own pace has made the journey a rewarding experience."

Roda Fisher

Welcome to

Alla Prima Academy

Courses and Bundles

Essential Methods of Classical Realism:

Alla Prima Painting:

“First class.....excellent course... I learnt so much and Arthur was attentive to my progress, patient and super helpful with any issues I was having. I really appreciated the recordings and how information was easily accessible with it being divided into smaller lesson titles. ”

“This was a very helpful bootcamp both in helping me ground my fundamentals, as a largely self-taught artist, but also to see how Arthur pushes away from the reference/model to make decisions as an artist.”

"This was such a wonderful learning experience; I’m saddened that it is over but excited to put all this new knowledge to work! Many thanks for being an exceptional instructor and thanks again to Kelsey, an amazing assistant."

"Extremely helpful and thoroughly enjoyed it. The mixing of skin colors was the most beneficial and what colors can do on the canvas next to each other also."

"It was exactly what I needed as I had been away from painting portraits for a couple of years and although had been attempting on my own some self-doubt. This challenge gave me the tools to feel confident and new approaches to make it more interesting."