The human figure is probably one of the most satisfying subjects to paint as witnessed by the infinite number of artworks created from antiquity to today

Let’s keep this tradition, or maybe the obsession, going, with this 6-session, online course dedicated to the foundation oil painting techniques for figurative artists.

We will create a number of figure paintings working from photographs of models,  practicing painting the real forms of the body. We will also copy master’s artworks to study a variety of painting techniques to develop and improve our own. Working from master’s work will also give us the opportunity to appreciate different styles and work toward developing a personal one.

Each 3 hour session is designed to improve your overall figure drawing and painting techniques: measuring, tonal study, posterization. We will practice direct and indirect painting, color mixing and color theory, glazing, blending, reduction technique, limited palette, extended palette and more.

This course is part of a series of core courses dedicated to painting the Figure and the Portrait in oil and it is open to all levels.

Materials

Paint: alizarine crimson, cadmium red medium ultramarine blue, cobalt blue cadmium

• yellow lemon, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, black, white.
• A wooden, plastic, or disposable palette. If you buy a wooden palette, make sure it is treated with a few layers of linseed oil to prevent the untreated wood to soak up the oil from the paint. I can show you how to do this in class, but you’ll need a disposable or plastic palette for the first class.
• A variety of brushes: hog and synthetic will do; Filbert or bright, #2, 6, 8, and 12 will do. You will also need a few round, synthetic brushes, #2 and 4. You can also use the colors that you already have and we will discuss about these materials in class.
• Linseed oil (refined linseed oil will suffice), Galkid or Liquin, Turpenoid or other low odor solvent
• Charcoal in sticks or pencils. I like to use General’scompressed charcoal pencils in hard and medium gradations or Wolff’s compressed charcoal pencils in B and 2B gradations, but you can also use any charcoal you are use to
• Rags or paper towels.
• A metal cup for the medium and a palette knife.
• Canvas or canvas boards size 20”by 16”, or so.