Beginning Painting: Opaque Media

Painting is a way to make an image that can seem powerfully real. For centuries painting in opaque media has been a flexible and effective process for making the images that artists have wanted to make and their supporters have wanted to see.

This class will introduce fundamental practices and concepts in working with opaque painting media, in which white is used to lighten colors. Working in either oil or acrylic are options for this class. We will compare and discuss these and other painting media on the first day of class.

Our work in class will be based on direct observation of still life objects and will emphasize patient repetition of step-by-step process. We will learn about the materials we will be using and explore basic paint application and color mixing. We will learn practices and discuss concepts useful for building an effective ongoing painting practice, and considering relationships between painting and drawing practices.

This is a process-oriented class requiring or building patience. Simple procedures and fundamental concepts of painting will be introduced, and time will be allowed on an individual basis for building familiarity with these procedures. In this class we will work slowly and discuss practical concepts for beginning and continuing painting, to build a strong foundation in painting for each participant to be able to paint in a wide variety of styles and consider a wide range of subject matter.

To get the most out of the class students will have taken the Beginning Drawing and the Drawing: Light and Shade Drawing classes through the Center for Lifelong Learning, or have similar drawing class experience.
Supply lists for oil and acrylic painting will be provided and discussed on the first day of class.

Prerequisite (recommended): To get the most out of the class students it will be helpful to have taken a Beginning Drawing and Drawing: Light & Shade class through the Center for Lifelong Learning, or have similar drawing class experience. If you have similar experience and would like an exception, please reach out to us via email at lifelonglearning@ivytech.edu.

No supplies are required for the first day of class. Painting supply lists for oil and acrylic painting will be provided and discussed for subsequent classes during our first class meeting.