VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques
2016 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 mornings, 10am - 1pm
Saturday 30 January - Tuesday 18 October
Easter Break (no classes): 26 March, 2 April & 9 April
Mid-year Break (no classes): 25 June, 2 July & 9 July
Spring Break (no classes): 24 September & 1 October
Final class Monday 17 October (exhibition install)
Exhibition Tuesday 18 October
Venue
VCA Art Enter via Gate 4
Dodds Street
Southbank VIC 3006
Contact
Aline Gouger
Program Coordinator
E: [email protected]
P: +61 3 9810 3381
W: vca-mcm.unimelb.edu.au/shortcourses/art
VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques Course Outline 2016 (correct as at 18/12/15)
1
Term 1
(may be subject to change)
Date
Venue
Staff
Content
30 Jan
Art
Auditorium
Lecturer: tbc
Tutor: Kez
Hughes
Lecture and Class Discussion
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Pigments
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Kez Hughes
Painting
Utility
Room
Rob
McHaffie
6 Feb
13 Feb
20 Feb
27 Feb
5 Mar
12 Mar
19 Mar
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.
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.
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.
Dutch Grisaille (continued)
Glazing Layer for Grisaille.
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.
Easter Break (no classes): 26 March, 2 April & 9 April
VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques Course Outline 2016 (correct as at 18/12/15)
2
Term 2
(may be subject to change)
Date
Venue
Staff
Content
16 Apr
Art
Auditorium
Lecturer: tbc
Tutor: Rob
McHaffie
Lecture and Class Discussion
23 Apr
Painting
Utility
Room
Rob
McHaffie
Gouache / Watercolour continued
30 Apr
Painting
Utility
Room
Rob
McHaffie
Gouache / Watercolour continued
7 May
Painting
Utility
Room
Rob
McHaffie
Gouache / Watercolour continued
14 May
Painting
Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Grounds
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.
Demonstration and preparation of a range of grounds, including
paper, canvas, board, aluminium and Perspex.
Materials required:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
21 May
28 May
4 June
11 June
18 June
Painting
Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Paint Mediums and Tools
Painting
Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Properties of Acrylic Paint
Painting
Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Application Techniques
Painting
Utility
Room
Nadine
Christensen
Acrylics: Acrylic and Mixed Media
Painting
Utility
Room
Colleen
Ahern
Oil Techniques
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.
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.
Oil techniques, monochromatic value study and texture achieved
through scumbling
Materials required:
•
•
•
•
Oil painting kit
Pre primed grounds (2-3) Rag
Charcoal
Mid-year Break (no classes): 25 June, 2 July & 9 July
VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques Course Outline 2016 (correct as at 18/12/15)
3
Term 3
(may be subject to change)
Date
Venue
Staff
Content
16 July
Art
Auditorium
Lecturer: tbc
Tutor:
Colleen
Ahern
Lecture And Class discussion
Painting
Utility
Room
Colleen
Ahern
Oil Techniques
23 July
Class meets in the school of art auditorium for a lecture from an
artist, followed by a class discussion.
Oil techniques, monochromatic value study and texture achieved
through scumbling
Materials required:
•
•
•
•
30 July
Painting
Utility
Room
Colleen
Ahern
Oil Techniques
Alla Prima or wet into wet
Materials required:
•
•
6 August
Painting
Utility
Room
Colleen
Ahern
Painting
Utility
Room
Colleen
Ahern
Palette preparation, colour mixing and brush techniques; use of
photographic source material.
Materials required:
Painting
Utility
Room
•
•
•
Ry Haskings
Oil painting kit
Pre primed ground
Monochromatic value study from class
Oil Techniques (continued)
Materials required:
•
20 August
Oil painting kit
Pre primed grounds (min 2)
Oil Techniques
•
•
•
13 August
Oil painting kit
Pre primed grounds (2-3)
Rag
Charcoal
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:
•
•
•
•
•
•
A roll of new masking tape
Acrylic Matt Medium
Acrylic Paint: Red, Yellow, Blue,
Black and White
Various brushes
Stanley knife or scalpel
A4 or A3 canvas boards (at least 3)
One large canvas between 60cm2 and 100cm2
VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques Course Outline 2016 (correct as at 18/12/15)
4
27 August
Painting
Utility
Room
Ry Haskings
Hard Edge Techniques – Hard edge and the use of chance,
numbers and rules to compose abstract paintings and its
authorial implications
Contemporary and art historical reference: look at examples of hard
edge painting today. Discuss contemporary process, techniques and
composition through artists who employ automatic means to make
paintings.
3 Sept
Painting
Utility
Room
Ry Haskings
Hard Edge Techniques – Hard edge and Texture applications
through the diagrammatical imagery and its political and social
contexts
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.
10 Sept
17 Sept
Painting
Utility
Room
Ry Haskings
Painting
Utility
Room
Ry Haskings
Spray Methods – Intro to Cutting Stencils and spray techniques
Materials required:
•
•
•
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
•
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.
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: 24 September & 1 October
VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques Course Outline 2016 (correct as at 18/12/15)
5
Term 4
(may be subject to change)
8 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.
15 Oct
17 & 18 Oct
Painting
Utility
Room
Student
Gallery
Darren
Munce
Hanging Techniques
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.
Exhibition installation and opening
Monday 17 October 6 ‐ 9pm: Arranging and Hanging the Exhibition
Tuesday 18 October 6 ‐ 8pm: Exhibition Opening all invited
VCA Visual Art Studio: Painting Techniques Course Outline 2016 (correct as at 18/12/15)
6