Mitchell O’Mahoney, whose works are now exhibited in the Channon Gallery near Byron Bay, instructs classes in Singleton in the art of traditional, classical drawing. The style, epitomised by faithful renditions of living tissue, was pioneered during the renaissance by the likes of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

“There’re not many schools for this style left in the world,” Mr O’Mahoney said.

“I’m addicted to detail, the shine on the hair, the reflection in the eyes. I can’t get away from drawing in this style.”

Mr O’Mahoney moved to Vietnam when his wife was offered a teaching position there in 2012. He planned to draw the streetscapes of his new, foreign land but while exploring he stumbled on an art school for teenagers.

In a room lined with plaster-cast heads, 100 students a week were instructed by an elderly Vietnamese man who was, himself, a student of a French classical artist. 

“There was a room full of plastic chairs, each with a student drawing these amazingly detailed, highly skilled portraits,” Mr Mahoney said.

“They were only 13 to 18 but I was struggling to keep up with what they were producing.”

The Vietnamese instructor refused to take Mr O’Mahoney on as a student as neither knew the other’s language. But after Mr O’Mahoney produced a portrait of a Vietnamese girl with his telltale realism, the instructor allowed him to enrol.

Since returning to Australia, Mr O’Mahoney was approved for a government grant to expand his part-time teaching business, Drawing on Tradition. 

The classes, some of the very few of their kind on offer in the country, are open to students in high school and adults and will be held in Tenambit community hall. 

Maitland residents interested in enrolling should contact Mr O’Mahoney directly on 0459 350 219 to register their interest.