This 7-week course consolidates your painting fundamentals into a single, focused still-life project. Over seven sessions, you will plan and complete an original still life painting while reinforcing composition, value, color, edge control, and paint handling.
This is for:
Intermediate painters who have basic experience with drawing and color.
Students who want concentrated practice applying fundamentals in a single, sustained project.
Artists seeking peer feedback and collaborative problem-solving during the painting process.
You’ll learn:
How to design and balance a still life arrangement: focal point, rhythm, proportion, and negative space.
Creating a reliable reference: lighting, camera angles, and simplifying complex forms.
Value structure and grayscale planning to establish depth and volume.
Color mixing strategies for local color, shadow temperature, reflected light, and atmosphere.
Brushwork and edge control to articulate form, texture, and focus.
Layering and glazing techniques for building form and depth.
Troubleshooting and finishing strategies to bring the painting to completion.
You will work on your own painting while regularly sharing progress with a small group.
Peers and the instructor provide targeted feedback and suggestions.
Homework: between sessions, you can refine your painting, apply instructor notes, and prepare questions for the next group review.
Week-by-week outline
Week 1 — Planning and setup: choose objects, arrange composition, set lighting, and create reference photos or sketches.
Week 2 — Value study and underpainting: translate your reference into a clear tonal map and establish major masses.
Week 3 — Color mapping and first pass: block in local color and key relationships.
Week 4 — Modeling form: refine values and color shifts to build volume and depth.
Week 5 — Surface and texture: develop materials (glass, cloth, fruit, metal) and decide which edges to sharpen or soften.
Week 6 — Harmonizing and corrective passes: resolve color conflicts, adjust contrasts, and strengthen the focal area.
Week 7 — Final polish and critique: finish details, final varnish recommendations, and group review of completed paintings.
You’ll produce:
One finished still-life painting (size determined at enrollment) and supporting preparatory studies (thumbnail sketches, value studies, and color notes).
A documented process timeline you can replicate for future projects.
Supplies you will need:
A small sketchbook for quick thumbnail sketches
Pencil
Canvas/ canvas pad/ canvas panel for your painting/s
Paints of your choice
If you want to paint a specific item, please bring it to the studio. Otherwise, we have an elaborate collection of reference materials that you can choose from.
Sign up for the course HERE.