Oil Painting with Colour and Light

Learn to see beyond the bewildering details of your subject to gather the colour information you need to get your painting off to a great start!

Discover how to think of colour in a way that enables you to mix the exact colour that you want confidently and directly, every time. This course in the application of modern colour theory to oil painting focuses on understanding how our perception of light and colour works, avoiding the confusion caused by common colour myths. The approach has given great results with both beginning and advanced students.

*Short courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. For students under 16 years of age there are School Holiday Workshops, Art Club and other youth art programs.

David Briggs PhD trained at the Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney. He specialises in life drawing and painting and in relating modern scientific knowledge to artistic colour theory. He has taught art classes since 1996 at many institutions, including six years as the life drawing instructor for Disney’s Sydney studio and classes in drawing, and art history and theory at the National Art School. He is the author of an extensive website on the theory and practice of colour for painters, The Dimensions of Colour.

Students must supply their own art materials, please refer to the list below.

An assortment of flat and round, bristle and/or synthetic sable brushes of various sizes from fine to large, in good condition.

Artist grade oil paints, preferably including:

• Titanium White or Zinc White
• Permanent Rose
• Bright Opaque Red (like Cadmium Red)
• Bright Yellow
• Yellow Ochre
• Phthalocyanine Blue (e.g. “Winsor” OR “Spectrum” Blue)
• Raw Umber
• Ivory Black or Winsor and Newton Charcoal Grey

And optionally including:

• Bright orange like Cadmium Orange)
• Phthalocyanine Green (e.g. “Winsor” OR “Spectrum” Green)
• Ultramarine

Supports

For new students: pieces of acrylic-primed canvas, a bit bigger than A4 (most offcuts sold at Parkers are suitable)

For continuing students: two stretched canvases, at least 12″ x 16″

Other

• Pencil and notebook
• Ruler
• Tube of Matisse Carbon Grey acrylic paint for toning canvas
• Palette, either wooden (not white) or a small glass clip frame
• Stainless steel palette/mixing knife (not plastic)
• Screw cap container (“dipper”) for painting medium
• Linseed Oil (small bottle)
• Odourless solvent
• Old rags and paper towels