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 mix the exact colour you want confidently and directly, every time.

A structured series of tutorials and still life painting exercises that cover the practical application to oil painting. You’ll learn many key points about
colour and its attributes, oil paints and media, paint mixing, and light and colour perception.

The course progresses through a structured series of tutorials and still life painting exercises, covering the practical applications of oil painting. Learn the key points of current understandings of colour and its attributes, oil paints and media, paint mixing, and light and colour perception.

The course assumes no prior knowledge and has delivered great results with students ranging from beginners to advanced levels. Former students of this course or of David’s online lecture course “Understanding and Applying Colour” (which can be
taken before or after this course by those wanting additional theoretical understanding) can skip the introductory exercises and focus on the tasks they'd like individual help with.

*Drawing and painting short courses may
be held in upstairs studios. If access to stairs is not suitable, please contact NAS Short Courses Administration at short.courses@nas.edu.au

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.

BRUSHES: An assortment of flat and round, bristle
and/or synthetic soft-hair brushes of various sizes from fine to large, in good condition.

PAINTS: A selection of oil paints, preferably artist’s grade, including:

Titanium White

A bright magenta such as “Permanent Rose”

A bright red such as a cadmium red

A bright yellow such as a cadmium yellow

Yellow Ochre

A phthalocyanine blue such as “Winsor Blue” OR “Spectrum Blue”

Raw Umber

Ivory Black OR W&N Charcoal Grey

Optional additional paints:

A bright orange such as a cadmium orange

A phthalocyanine green such as “Winsor Green” OR “Spectrum Green”

Ultramarine

SUPPORTS: Pieces of acrylic-primed canvas, a bit
bigger than A4 or optionally, stretched canvases. Most offcuts sold at Parkers are suitable but check that they are not oil-primed.

OTHER ESSENTIAL MATERIALS

Pencil and notebook

Ruler

Masking tape

Tube of Matisse Carbon Grey acrylic paint for toning canvas (or similar middle grey acrylic)

Palette (preferably either wooden or grey, not white) or a small glass clip frame

Stainless steel palette knife/mixing knife (not plastic)

Small screw cap container (“dipper”) for painting medium

Linseed oil (small bottle)

Odourless solvent

Old rags and paper towels

Protective clothing and covered footwear
essential