VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques
2017 Course Outline
Tutors: Various
Course Objectives
The painting technical course is a ground up introduction to the basics and fundamentals in painting and
its associated contemporary forms. The course will predominantly cover painting in oil and acrylic, and
will also look into areas of watercolour, and gouache. Pigments, grounds, mediums will be analysed and
the course will week by week run through brushing techniques to finishing varnishing and hanging.
A variety of contemporary practices of painting will be explored including wall painting, stencilling, spray,
resin and masking.
The beginning of the course focuses on the various grounds/supports for painting, materials etc. The
course comprises of little master classes - taught by seven different teachers throughout the year
concentrating in their specialist fields.
Each class will have demonstrations of various techniques, from which students will then produce a
work under the teacher’s guidance.
Dates
Saturday 4 February - Tuesday 24 October
Saturday mornings, 10am - 1pm
Easter Break (no classes): 11 March, 8 April & 15 April
Mid-year Break (no classes): 10 June, 8 July & 15 July
Spring Break (no classes): 30 September & 7 October
Final class: Monday 23 October (exhibition install)
Exhibition Opening: Tuesday 24 October
Venue
VCA Art Building
Enter via Gate 4
Dodds Street
Southbank VIC 3006
Contact
Francis Pavez
Program Coordinator
E: [email protected]
P: +61 3 8344 6951
1
Term 1
(May be subject to change)
Date
Venue
4 Feb
Art
Auditorium
11 Feb
18 Feb
25 Feb
4 March
Tutor
Content
Lecture and Class Discussion – Lecturer
Class meets in the school of art auditorium for a lecture from a guest
artist, followed by a class discussion on the lecture and an
introduction to the course.
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Pigments
A look at the history of pigments their production and uses. We will
cover popular pigments for oil and acrylic painting and look at the
properties of historical pigments and their application within
contemporary painting. Practice mixing oil paint and complete a
series of historically poignant colour wheels so students will know
how to manipulate colour to communicate through their paintings.
Egg Tempera
We will take a brief look at egg tempera and mix our own paint using
traditional pigments. In this class we will create a tempera ground
and lay down gold leaf. This class will focus on the oldest painting
medium in the world and we will also learn how to incorporate the
craft of gilding within the production of 2D artworks.
Brushes and Foundations
Brushes and Foundations In-depth look at the manufacturing of
brushes and their specific uses. We will sample brushes appropriate
for all media and techniques. In the second half of the class we will
look at gessoes, cotton and linen. Students will gain a thorough
knowledge of how to create a foundation for any type of media in an
archival way. We will sample many types of gessos,and paint over
samples of linen and cotton available on the market today.
Dutch Grisaille
Dutch Grisaille Students will come prepared with a support to paint
on and create a glazed study of a still life. This tonal rendering in oil
paint with traditional colours will form the base of a two-week class
on the traditional style of Dutch Painting.
11 March
No class
18 March
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
25 March
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
1 April
Painting
Utility
Room
Dutch Grisaille (continued)
The "Dead Layer" otherwise known as grisaille will be completed in
this
class. Students will focus on tonal painting in oils creating the
second layer of a traditional Dutch Painting.
Glazing Layer for Grisaille
Lecture and Class Discussion – Lecturer
Class meets in the school of art auditorium for a lecture from a guest
artist, followed by a class discussion on the lecture and an
introduction to the course.
Easter Break (no classes): 8 April & 15 April
2
Term 2
(May be subject to change)
Date
Venue
Tutor
Content
22 April
Utility Room
Rob
McHaffie
Gouache / Watercolour
Over four classes, we will explore the use of gouache and watercolour
sessions, beginning with a slide show looking at the history of watercolour and
gouache painting and the approach of
Contemporary watercolourists.
Students will be taught the various applications for water-based paint namely
'wet-in-wet', 'wet on dry', 'graded washes' as well as brush techniques such as
'dry brush', painting loosely and painting detailed areas as well as techniques
appropriate for landscape such as flicking the wrist and blotting, and various
glaze techniques for portrait painting. Students will become familiar with
appropriate brushes and materials for watercolour as well as stretching paper
for water-based painting.
29 April
Painting Utility
Room
Rob
McHaffie
Gouache / Watercolour continued
6 May
Painting Utility
Room
Rob
McHaffie
Gouache / Watercolour continued
13 May
Painting Utility
Room
Rob
McHaffie
Gouache / Watercolour continued
20 May
Painting Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Grounds
Demonstration and preparation of a range of grounds, including paper, canvas,
board, aluminium and Perspex.
Materials required:
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27 May
3 June
PVA glue
10 canvas boards no smaller than A4
Palette knife
Synthetic hair brushes (range of sizes)
Charcoal
A1 pad of drawing paper
Range of acrylic paint including black, white and primary colours
A4 acrylic paper pad
Painting Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Paint Mediums and Tools
Painting Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Properties of Acrylic Paint
Complete three still life compositions utilizing a range of acrylic painting tools
and mediums demonstrated at the beginning of class.
Discuss, experiment with and then apply paint to sample tablets to record
acrylic properties demonstrated.
10 June
No class
17 June
24 June
1 July
Painting Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Application Techniques
Painting Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Acrylic and Mixed Media
Painting Utility
Room
Collect resources for, and design with, collage and frottage, a work that
incorporates techniques demonstrated at the beginning of class.
View and discuss contemporary acrylic painting that incorporates collage and
three dimensions, using this knowledge to remake some of the work viewed.
Lecture and Class Discussion

Class meets in the school of art auditorium for a lecture from an artist,
followed by a class discussion and a look at the array of different
drawing materials and paper available to the artist.
Mid-year Break (no classes): 8 July & 15 July
3
Term 3
(May be subject to change)
Date
Venue
Tutor
Content
22 July
Utility Room
Colleen Ahern
Oil Techniques
Oil techniques, monochromatic value study and texture achieved
through scumbling
Materials required:
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Oil painting kit
Pre primed grounds (2-3)
Rag
Charcoal
Lecture And Class discussion
Class meets in the school of art auditorium for a lecture from an artist,
followed by a class discussion.
29 July
Painting
Utility Room
Colleen Ahern
Oil Techniques
Oil techniques, monochromatic value study and texture achieved
through scumbling
Materials required:

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5 August
Painting
Utility Room
Colleen Ahern
Oil Techniques
Alla Prima or wet into wet
Materials required:
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12 August
Painting
Utility Room
Colleen Ahern
Painting
Utility Room
Palette preparation, colour mixing and brush techniques; use of
photographic source material.
Materials required:
Colleen Ahern
Materials required:

Painting
Utility Room
Oil painting kit
Pre primed ground
Monochromatic value study from class
Oil Techniques (continued)
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26 August
Oil painting kit
Pre primed grounds (min 2)
Oil Techniques
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19 August
Oil painting kit
Pre primed grounds (2-3)
Rag
Charcoal
Ry Haskings
Oil painting kit
Prepared ground (canvas)
Printed photographic reference (own photo, or magazine / book
/ newspaper image)
Pencil
Abstract Painting through Hard Edge and spray methods
Hard Edge Techniques - Introduction to Masking and Stencilling in
Painting
Historical reference: Look at hard edge abstraction and context within
the broader field of non-representational abstract painting.
Discuss techniques and composition.
Activity: demonstrate techniques and composition for hard edge
abstraction. Review and discuss artistic directions.
Materials required:
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A roll of new masking tape
Acrylic Matt Medium
Acrylic Paint: Red, Yellow, Blue, Black
and White
Various brushes
4
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Stanley knife or scalpel
A4 or A3 canvas boards (at least 3)
One large canvas between 60cm2 and 100cm2
2 Sept
Painting
Utility Room
Ry Haskings
Introduction to Application of Masking and Stencilling in
Contemporary Art
9 Sept
Painting
Utility Room
Ry Haskings
Hard Edge Techniques (continued)
Painting
Utility Room
Ry Haskings
16 Sept
Further contemporary art reference: look at examples of artists related
to the topic and in relation to student directions.
Discuss the future applications of hard edge painting for contemporary
studio practice.
Spray/ Stencil
Spray Methods – Intro to Cutting Stencils and spray techniques
Materials required:
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Pens/pencils
Sharp scalpel
Sheet of cardboard and/or sheets of acetate for stencil cutting
Images of patterns ie. op art/Islamic/baroque fabric/found
patterns mesh
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1 can of spray paint (preference brand Belton but not
imperative). Colour is your choice but remember we will all be
using each other’s’ cans so stick to hues rather than primary
colours so we don’t all have the same colour.
Cardboard sheets min 3 min A2 and/or canvas - This will be used for
your final work but I will leave it up to you how many works you want to
produce. Once the stencils are cut, the process can be quite fast and
intuitive.
23 Sept
Painting
Utility Room
Ry Haskings
Spray Methods – Capturing negative and positive space through
silhouettes and their political implications
Develop stencils that take into account ideas related positive and
negative space and the questions visual binaries might raise.
Spring Break: 30 September & 7 October
Term 4
(May be subject to change)
14 October
Painting
Utility
Room
Ry Haskings
Spray Methods – Text as stencil imagery, the extended
parameters of visual communication.
Consider the nature of using text as a communication device and its
relationship to imagery in painting
Hard Edge Techniques and Spray Methods – Coalescence of
techniques allowing for layering and visual experimentation
A look at the crossover between the two techniques offered and the
experimental possibilities for larger and ongoing projects
Discuss the future applications of hard edge and spray method
painting in a contemporary studio practice.
21 Oct
23 & 24 Oct
Painting
Utility
Room
Darren
Munce
Hanging Techniques
Student
Gallery
Ry Haskings
Exhibition installation and opening
Monday 23 October: Arranging and Hanging the Exhibition.
Tuesday 24 October: Exhibition Opening. All invited.
Introduction to basic hanging techniques for framed and unframed
works. Look at examples of experimentation with hanging.
techniques as contemporary art installation. Discuss techniques and
possible application to existing student works.
5