Life Drawing in Oils

A five-week course focusing on life drawing in oils - all the techniques you'll need to successfully paint the nude in this bold and expressive medium.

This is an intensive and thorough course in oil painting, with many step-by-step demonstrations to illustrate the basic techniques. Not only will you learn how to successfully paint the nude, you will also pick up useful tips and hints which will be helpful to the beginner and the more advanced painter.

The tutor will introduce the Zorn palette and the Spanish palette, both ideal for painting flesh tones. Participants will be talked through the creation, organisation and application of the palettes.

For this course, all participants will be required to provide some of their own materials and equipment.

These are as follows: Oil paint in the following colours as a minimum - black, white, yellow ochre, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, ultra marine blue and burnt umber. We will use more white than any other colour.

Plus: odourless turpentine, flat brushes and an all-important rag! Although this is a basic stock of colours, a lot can be achieved with them, and if you really want to paint in oils, then you will need to invest in paint anyway. You will also need to bring a canvas or canvas board to each session.

Other materials such as charcoal, pencils, palettes and paper will be provided.

There are also brushes at the centre that you may use if you wish.

In addition to actual painting techniques, this course has plenty of useful information on materials and equipment and how to prep for a painting.

Each session will look at a different way to begin and progress an oil painting, and the five-week course will end with a single more ‘finished’ painting of the nude.