Introduction to Painting

Introduction to Drawing I

One of my favorite lines in all of literature finds its way to my heart from the garden of Monsieur Bienvenu in Les Miserables. One day, Sister Simplice, a nun who runs the household, works in the garden. She notices that among the four beds, three are vegetables and one is flowers. She admonishes the bishop that the other bed used for flowers could feed more of the poor if put to better use. Bienvenu disagrees and replies, “The beautiful is as useful as the useful… Perhaps more so.” Every student needs some flowers amidst their wonderful garden of vegetables. Come, step into a beautiful potager right outside your own door!

Join me in discovering the beauty and relaxation of painting! Begin by learning about different types of brushes and their uses, different types of surfaces, different types of painting media, the four types of ways to paint watercolor: wet-on-wet, dry-on wet, dry on dry, and wet on dry; impasto, glazing, and scumbling for oils. Begin with color grid learning different names of colors and move into replicating Albrecht Dürer’s Rabbit, Winslow Homer’s Sailboat, J.M.W. Turner’s Burial at Sea and end the year with van Gogh’s Still Life: Vases with Irises Against Yellow Background.

Course Objectives:

1. Learn different types of brushes and when to use what
2. Learn different types of surfaces and how their distinctions from one another
3. Learn the differences between watercolor, acrylic, oil, and gouache paints
4. Learn the different methods of applying paint for watercolor: wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, dry-on-dry, dry-on-wet.
5. Learn how to mix colors by creating full color grid
6. Monochromatic, value, secondary colors, tertiary, analogous, complementary, double complementary, limited analogous, expanded analogous, split complementary, and triadic color schemes.
7. Learn how to replicate what you see through armature lines
8. Be familiar with the following painters, their genres and styles: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bellini, Rembrandt, van Gogh, Sargent, Homer, Turner, Waterhouse, Degas, Monet, Picasso
9. Learn how to achieve accurate Proportions on canvas: how to apply images to surfaces and using fixatives
10. One painting per quarter
11. Students not graded on likeness of Masters’ pieces but on effort, faithfulness, and coursework vocabulary assessments throughout the quarters.

Materials List:

• 36 set watercolor tray
• Full assortment of brushes; must include: flat, round, dagger, mop, filbert: please make sure the label says that they can be used for “watercolor and oil.” Expensive brushes not needed at this time.
• 4: 18X24 canvases
• 2 wood panels, any size 10X10 or larger, can be square or rectangular, latter preferred
• 1 mechanical pencil
• 1 Sharpie
• Aerosol Hairspray bottle
• Watercolor paper 11X15 from Walmart
• 1 Desk
• Ruler, preferably 18 inches
• Oil paints: Titanium white, lamp black, alizarin red, cadmium yellow medium, ultramarine blue, Prussian blue, burnt umber, raw umber, Naple’s yellow, Payne’s gray
• Terpenoid Natural
• Brush Cleaner
• Old Mason or Pickle jar with lid (for brush cleaner)
• Pink Soap
• Easel (any kind, from any place; suitcase easel works well for compactness and versatility, but not needed)

Note: There is no brand specificity for this class. But, pencils must have the range indicated. Finding mechanical pencils last minute will not suffice. Almost all of these supplies can be purchased from Hobby Lobby with the exception of the Turpenoid Natural and hairspray. The first can be bought cheapest at Blick art. Walmart has a great price on 11X15 Coldpress 300 lb Watercolor paper.