Painting in Acrylics

Beginning and advanced students will learn to paint the still life and landscape in a setting that is both supportive and challenging. Students will learn the foundations of acrylic painting, including, how to create textured grounds as under painting, how to use different acrylic mediums, and brush or palette knife techniques for applying paint. Interesting still-life setups and close instruction will help students develop a keen eye for color and composition, allowing them to solve problems and develop their own style. The class will have ample opportunity to examine artists, both past and present, to see their unique use of paint, color, space, and composition. Beginning students will begin the class with black and white value studies to become familiar with acrylics before delving into color. More advanced students will solve more challenging color problems while painting more complex still lives. Subjects include still life, looking at the landscape through the studio windows, and interior spaces. In the beginning of the semester, if the weather is warm, we will try to be outside painting landscapes as much as possible.

Wednesdays, 10 Weeks, 09/20 – 11/29, 2023 ( No class 10/11)

12:30 – 3:30 PM

Materials students need to purchase:

Acrylic paints: lemon yellow and cadmium yellow medium, alizarin crimson and cadmium red light, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, viridian green, raw umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and a large tube of white.  The paints can be any brand and can be student grade. (The cadmium colors can be hues.)

Brushes: Several different kinds of brushes, soft bristle or hog bristle, one flat, one filbert, one round (we will discuss brushes during the first class so just bring a few. Start with size 6,8, and 10.

Also: Paper palette (other palettes will be discussed in class), jar for water, small bottle of acrylic matte medium, 16×20 stretched canvas, pencil for sketching, eraser, small spray bottle (to mist the paints to keep them wet).

This class will be filled by lottery.