About the Course

Discover the joy of Oil Painting 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. This term we will be inspired by the rich compositional works of Ben Henriques and Euan Uglow.


We will learn

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

 

- 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. ​

 

- 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.