Essential painting skills

These courses are aimed at beginners or those wishing to renew their skills. There are three terms of 10 weeks. Each term is self-contained covering the basic fundamentals of painting but with an emphasis put on a different aspect of painting in each term.

Students can choose to sign up for one term or three and learn something new each term. Terms cost £495 when booked individually, but if you sign up for the full year the cost is only £1450 and you benefit from a tutorial each term with a tutor of your choice (subject to their availability). Students studying the full year programme are also welcome to come along to lectures by visiting speakers and gallery and art fair visits throughout the year.

All courses will cover:
• Introduction to materials
• Setting out a basic colour palette
• Simple drawing techniques for painting
• How to start a painting
• Looking at artists relevant to the themes
• Working from general observation using still-life and the figure

Spring Term - January 2012 (Sorry, fully booked)
All About Colour
This course introduces students to a basic understanding of colour and how to use it creatively and expressively.
The course will cover:
• Making a colour wheel and exploring mixing
• Using a limited palette to gain confidence
• Working in a loose style
• Mixing flesh tones
• Using colour to convey expression and mood

Summer Term - April 2012 (booking now!)
Exploring Composition
This course focuses on how to compose a painting successfully so that the ‘viewer’ is drawn in to the work.
The course will cover:
• Experimenting with different sizes and dimensions of canvas
• Introduction to ‘structural mediums’
• Using a palette knife and other tool
• Preparing a surface to work on.

Autumn Term - September 2012
Structure, Tone and Light
This course has an emphasis on developing good structure in your paintings and understanding how tone and the influence of light effects form.
The course will cover:
• Basic measuring techniques
• Looking at tone in relation to colour
• Looking at how tone and light convey form
• Exploring structure through different exercises
• Looking at how sculptors draw

If you would like to discuss the course and whether it might suit you, please call us on 020 7407 6969 or e mail us at info@artacademy.org.uk