Bold and Bright

WHAT IS STUDIOWORKS CREATIVE ACADEMY?

Warmup lesson : MEET YOUR MATERIALS

When I was (unsuccessfully) learning to oil paint in school, I believe that a critical step in my education was glossed over. It would have helped me - so I’m here to help you!

I believe that we need to learn how oils work, how they feel, and how to begin to learn what to expect from this totally unfamiliar paint in a tactile way above all, before thinking about painting “things.”

From the serious to the fun, let’s get to pushing and squishing our paint - to start to understand its possibilities.

We’ll start by getting to know our new materials inside and out. From essentials of studio safety, to “How DO I clean up my brushes?” you’ll know what makes water-soluble oils tick, how to purchase the ones that are right for you, and how to choose brushes and surfaces. We’ll cover colors, pigments, mediums (yes, no, and if yes, when?) and color mixing and management for the real world.

You’ll start with two fun and zero-pressure painting “challenge exercises” that will get you comfortable mixing colors and confident building a painting from the ground up that will work and last the test of time as it dries.

Lesson 2 : BLUE SKY BOLD

“Alla Prima” (literally “in one attempt”) refers to starting and finishing a single painting before the paint dries - normally in a single session or two. Honestly, it’s usually two for me, as it is here.

We’ll start by digging deeper into the highly technically named “stacking and smooshing” technique I like to bring to light-filled landscape imagery, practice some “smooshing” to add to our stacking abilities, and apply this experimentation and play to a painting with rich layers and beautiful clouds. A bit of green on our palette does some unexpected mixing magic, too!

Never forgetting to have fun, never worrying more about what the photo looks like than what the painting wants, and never passing up the chance to sparkle - these are the key takeaways when we paint this unified beauty.

Lesson 3 : A LIGHT WITHIN - AN UNDERPAINTED LANDSCAPE

Balancing play and planning can really enhance our paintings in untold ways. In this lesson I’ll show you just how - we’ll start by painting a bright saturated surface in colors historical painters would have loved to use liberally - and we’ll build a thoughtful but bold fall color landscape using a mindful alternative palette handling approach - after that first color-rich layer has totally dried!

It’s so important to have options and choices - and I’ve made beautiful paintings with this strategy, as well as a more unplanned “throw it together as it happens” one. I think you’ll love this under painted landscape, created in distinct and planned stages of colorful fiery joy and expression.

Lesson 4 : BRIDGING THE DISTANCE - Study - Reference - Painting

Landscape painting can throw some challenging problems our way - what happens when we get stuck in the middle of an alla prima muddle?

Looking to the past masters, looking to our own studies, references and plans can help us out, - but it’s equally as important to listen to the painting itself. In this lesson we’ll look at composition, color, color temperature and some edge and shape management, taking it back to our own interpretation.

When bridging the gap between lots of visual information - the key to success lies in simplification and respecting our own intuition and intentions.

Let’s master the interface between study, reference, and painting freely - and build our bridge.

Bonus Lesson : EXPERIMENTAL EDGE - HOLBEIN DUOS AND ACRYLICS

Time to break the rules! Generally, it’s not a good idea to mix wet acrylic and wet water miscible oil paints.

There’s one exception to this - and it’s Holbein Duos. These paints can be intermixed with acrylic and acrylic media. Holbein recommends doing it a certain way, but many artists have experimented further and with results that haven’t fallen apart. Exciting!

Keep in mind - this is an experimental technique and we don’t know the long term survival of pieces painted with acrylic/oil mixes. Personally I choose to mix the two for experimental work and for work I plan to reproduce as prints, since the jury is out on “will it flake off?”

But it IS absurd amounts of fun to go out onto the edge of mixed media and mix oils, water, and plastics in this wild and free way! Let’s have some fun and create an abstract landscape with knives, acrylics, acrylic medium AND Holbein Duos! Wild!

Who’s This Class For?

This class is for anyone who has dreamed of confidently painting in oils - the inspiration is landscape, but the lessons will point you in the direction of success painting any and every subject, even abstracts and including oil paint into a mixed media art practice. The more I paint, the more I find that all painting is really about seeing shapes, reveling in color, and interpreting the ways we see through our own completely unique perception and spirit. I can’t wait to see what you create!

This class consists of a watercolor component (the first lesson and warmup) and a mixed media/ acrylic/gouache option. I'll be moving from transparent watercolor to opaque acrylic. You can do the same, but you don't have to, it's up to you. For the sketchbook portion of the class, "use what you have" is especially relevant.

STUDIO BASICS

• Water

• Water Containers

• Zip closure plastic bags or plastic bags that can be tied water tight Paper Towels or Shop Rags

• Nitrile Gloves Dish Soap

• Green Degreaser cleaner like “Simple Green” Wax Paper / Disposable Wax Paper Palette

PAINTS

I use and highly recommend Holbein Duo Water Mixable Oils.

• Ultramarine Blue

• Cadmium Red Light Hue (Pyrrol Red)

• Cadmium Yellow Light Hue (Diarylide/Hansa mix with good lightfastness) Permanent or Titanium White, highly recommend the 110 ML tube.

• Pthalo Green Blue Shade (optional but first color beyond the others to add in, I use this in some of the lessons)

• Talens Cobra Professional and Winsor Newton Artisan are also really good water mixable oil paints and can be used with Holbein Duos.

ACRYLIC PAINT

• Pyrrol or Napthol Red

• AND/OR Pyrrol Orange

BRUSHES

You’ll need a stiff “synthetic hog” brush. Princeton Catalyst flats will do well, too. Flats or long flats are the best starter shapes. Natural hog is OK, but it will not hold up to water and washing like synthetics will.

• I highly recommend Trekell Opal if it’s available in your region. Rosemary and co. faux hog is probably almost identical.

• Size 6 and 8. 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch in width.

• Number 2 softer taklon round for detail.

• 4 catalyst rigger/liner with a short handle for detail and branches.

• It’s possible to enjoy this class with a 6 or 4 flat, an 8 flat, and a 2 round in a slightly softer bristle. - 3 brushes!

SURFACES

I like to paint on paper, so I demo painting on paper. Inexpensive, and I can mount only the ones I love best.

• Canson XL’s “acrylic/oil” paper

• Legion Stonehenge Oil (the white and red pad) or Arches “Oil Paper”

OPTIONAL

• Holbein water soluble linseed oil

• Gamblin Solvent Free Gel and Medium with Duos

OPTIONAL - BONUS LESSON

• Acrylic Paints: Holbein Marigold, Opera and Pyrrol Orange, Liquitex Pthalo Green light yellow shade, and Liquitex Pthalo Blue.

• Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid

• Foam Brush

• For the bonus lesson you might also like Catalyst wedges, scrapers, credit cards, brayers, all those kinds of tools (I use mine!)