(Please Scroll down the page for more info about the lesson and the materials you will need)

*Unless booking on the day of the lesson, you will receive the zoom link and the images on the day before the lesson (PLEASE CHECK JUNK MAIL IF YOU DON’T RECEIVE THE EMAIL)

Oil Painting Lessons - Thursdays 6.30-8.30pm, £12

• All levels welcome, from beginners to the more advanced

• Gain an understanding of oil painting fundamentals: LINE, FORM, TONE, COLOUR, COMPOSITION and EDGES

• Discover how to bridge the gap between drawing and painting

• Learn all about the techniques and materials of oil painting

In these fun and relaxed lessons we will be covering the basics of painting in oils plus much more. I will be painting along side you, talking through the entire process and answering any questions you may have. You can show me your work at any time if you’re needing help and at the end of the session I will have another look at the work and offer guidance on how you could continue to develop the painting. You don’t need to complete the work within 2 hours. Do what you can, have fun with it and learn something new every lesson!

Each lesson we will sketch from a different painting so a range of subjects will be covered: Portrait, Human Figure, Landscape, Still Life and more…

These classes are and ideal for anyone wishing to keep up the practise of oils, explore different ways of handling and controlling the paint, and gain more confidence in their brushwork.

For those wishing to develop their skills even further, or work on an individual piece over an extending period of time, I recommend the one-to-one lessons I offer, which allow for more tailored learning and in-depth critiques.

MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED:

Brushes: Owning a range of sizes and types of brushes is ideal, and you can never really have too many. For these sessions however, 2 or 3 brushes will be adequate. I will generally be using bristle brushes (round 1, flat 2, filbert 4) although they may be some variation on these.

Surface: Oil painting paper or canvas (A4 or similar size)

Oil Paints (student or artist quality): Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow (pale or medium), Cadmium Red (deep or medium), Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber

These are the colours I will be using, although if you have different a yellow or red you should be fine, as long as they look fairly close to what you might consider primary. I do strongly recommend the ultramarine blue for these purposes however as more useful for general use than other blues, and burnt umber is also advised. Feel free to contact me if you're unsure about colours.

Palette: A tear away palette is ideal (A4 or A3) as you can throw it away afterwards, although plastic or wooden (treated) are also fine.

Palette Knife: Very useful tool for mixing colours on the palette, scraping paint off your painting, and applying paint. (We won't always be using a palette knife and for these session they are not a requirement, but they are recommended)

Extras: LOTS OF PAPER TOWELS, masking tape, drawing board, easel or something to support the drawing board

There is no need for solvents and mediums for these sessions although of course you are free to use them if you wish. At the end of the lesson you can clean your brushes using paper towels and mineral spirits, then rinse under the tap with some fairly liquid. If you’re using hog brushes you can simply clean your brushes with fairy liquid and water. During the session, I will show you how to clean brushes between colour mixtures.

LESSON SETUP:

I will be using Zoom for these sessions, so once you have booked a place and received your confirmation email, I will then send you an email with a link to the lesson (please allow a little extra time for this email, and check your junk mail if you don’t receive it). Unless you are booking on the day of the lesson, you will receive the link and image on the day before the lesson. All you will need to do is click the link when it's the date/time for the lesson to begin (6.30pm Thursday) and you will be prompted to either “Open Zoom Meetings” or if you haven’t used Zoom before “download & run Zoom”.

In seconds you will be directed to the lesson! (Check image below)

You don't need to have a Zoom account.

You will however need a laptop/desktop computer or tablet (preferably with a webcam and mic).

Attached to the email there will be the images of the painting we’ll be studying. The image that we’ll be sketching from can either be printed out and attached to your drawing board next to your paper/canvas, or it can simply be download onto your computer, so you can sketch directly from your laptop screen.

If painting from your computer screen, you'll just need to split the screen (as seen above) so you can see both the image and the Zoom session. I will have one screen on my drawing board showing you everything I'm doing and talking through the process. Another screen will be for my face so I can also talk directly to you. I will also display the palette so that we can discuss colour mixing.

You are welcome to talk, ask questions and show your work through your webcam if you'd like extra help, although if you prefer to have your webcam off and just listen, that's fine too. There is also a chat window if you prefer to type your questions.

Oil painting is hard, but it's also very forgiving. The marks you initially make do not need to be the marks that stay. Through the continual application and removal of paint you will discover that you are in control and, with practice, can overcome many of the difficulties we are faced with. Learning how to see and what to look for when painting from observation is perhaps the most valuable lesson, and from there we can explore an endless range of possibilities.