Local portrait artist Major Hughes will present his approach to painting a portrait in oils from life at the Bald Eagle Art League meeting on Thursday, Feb. 1, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Thomas Taber Museum, 858 W. Fourth St., Williamsport.

Hughes will cover topics such as drawing, proportion, basic anatomy, color, and light and shadow. Hughes will also share various philosophies he has come to develop over his years of drawing and painting.

Questions are welcome during the demonstration as well as after. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Major Hughes is a graduate of the Laguna College of Art and Design. He was trained in figurative and representational drawing and painting with a focus on the portrait and figure.

Hughes has several works in private collections and in 2022 was selected to produce an honorary portrait of the renowned human rights activist and Catholic priest Father Hans Zollner.

Zollner’s portrait now hangs in the Vatican City in Rome.

Hughes currently holds open sessions of figure drawing in his Bloomsburg studio and has done various short-term workshops and consulting meetings. This is all done between his work on an upcoming show of small works for the end of the year.

His main philosophy is, “There is no more valiant pursuit than to dedicate one’s life to the mastery of a craft, and indeed, there are few that require as much knowledge and skill as the craft of painting from life. To create a painting of worth in craft is to uplift one’s self from idleness and to take up the charge of responsibility; to devote one’s self to the discovery of deeper mysteries.”

Major Hughes can be emailed at majorart193@gmail.com.