About the Course

Explore the wonder of painting the Still Life with Sophie Newnham. Working with oils over the 12 week course we will be learning a range of techniques to get the best out of this beautiful medium. Suitable for beginners and beyond. Taking inspiration from natural forms.


We will learn

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- Drawing from life and understanding line, tones and mark making, when drawing plants.

 

- Gain an understanding of proportion and perspective, to create realistic images.

 

- Shading, tuning the eye into tonal differences. Where does the light come from? Learning about negative space, where to plot objects. Vertical spacing vs horizontal.

 

- Botanical plants will be our inspiration. ​

 

- Preparing the canvas and mixing the palette. 

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- Painting in oils, building a series of layers, we will cover how to strengthen tonal gradients and create volume through shadow and light. Mixing a both a monochromatic and earthy tones.

 

- Composition - learning how to plan out, measure and place several plants within a space. Measuring angles, heights, widths and understanding negative space.

 

- Understanding colour theory and mixing the palette from marking out with thin layers to adding thicker layers of rich buttery oils.

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-  Gain confidence with colour application. 

- Building up colour through impasto application. Learning how to create depth and definition with oils.

 

- Fine-tuning and balancing out our paintings, looking at background vs foreground. How can we create highlights and add depth. Creating an overall balance to each composition.

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- creating a series of paintings from several compositions over the weeks.

Over the 12 week course you will

- Fine tune colour mixing paint on a palette.
- Understand composition, scales and proportion when drawing and painting.

- Gain confidence with tones and highlights and observing angles.
- Create a series of paintings in oils.