About the course

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In this 6 week course for novice painters, you will discover all the secrets to a great painting.

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What mediums to use, why all artists are talking about 'colour value'. How to emphasise what people want to see in your paintings and how to create  "harmony" through clever colour combinations and that secret ingredient light to make your paintings 'glow'.

 

You will practice techniques, take away useful website links, find artists to follow, questions to ask and valuable checklists.

From the end of week 4 you will start your own oil painting on canvas or board. You'll come away inspired and armed with all the know how you've previously been struggling to find.

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Lesson 1: Getting Started

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• In your first lesson we will talk about materials, why you should try oils if you don't already! and why it’s not as scary as you might think.

• In this lesson you can ask questions about what materials to buy, from which suppliers and we’ll look at best ways to get started on your painting.
   

Lesson 2 – What is value and why every artist talks about its important

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• Value is the light and dark of a colour. If you master value in your paintings you are halfway there.

• In this lesson you will learn the importance of value if you want your painting to look realistic this is what you need to understand.

Lessons 3 and 4 - Color and light creating harmony through mixing colour

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• This is such an important area for us to cover I have given it 2 weeks. Having the theory is all very well but if we can’t put it into practice then…

• You will learn about colour mixing to prevent them going muddy.

• You will learn what the main colours you should have on your palette.

• How to create harmony and what are the 3 main questions you need to ask yourself when mixing colours.

• How to make colours stand out or “pop” and why “underpainting” is your secret weapon.

Lesson 5 - Creating Interesting Compositions

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• To create a great composition we’ll break it down into the “rules”.

• You'll learn how to use the rule of thirds to make a great composition.

• How getting it wrong can make a fundamental difference to the look of your painting.

• Why taking time to crop and adjust your focus in a painting is SO important

Lesson 6 - The Painting Process

 

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In this final lesson we will talk about how to bring it all together.

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• Why your camera reel is your best friend.

• How to turn an idea into a painting.

• How to identify and fix mistakes.

• How to make everything work together and be able to critique your own work.

• Apps that help you to see what you are looking at.

In Summary

Throughout the course we will practice techniques so you feel confident you’ve tried them in the comfort of the studio.
From Lesson 4 to 6 you will work on your final piece, putting into practice all that you have learnt.