Painting Curriculum 2: Prompts

Part 2 of this painting curriculum provides painting prompts that will stimulate all areas of painting, and that can be done in any paint media: color, brushwork, thumbnails, composition, and more in order to gain a well rounded skill set in painting. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Alex Rowe. Video […]

Painting Curriculum 1: Types of Paint

This video explains the various types of paint: oil, acrylic, flashe acrylic, encaustic, casein, mixed media, fresco, outdoor paints, egg tempera, air brush, ink, enamel, oil bars, gouache, acryl gouache, and watercolor. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Lauryn Welch, who outline part 1 of our painting curriculum for self-taught artists.  […]

BBQ Squid: Mixed Media Acrylic Painting

Teaching Artist Lauryn Welch demonstrates techniques for creating a mixed media acrylic painting that is inspired by a taste of a texture. Inspired by her experience eating BBQ squid at a Japanese restaurant in New York City, Lauryn creates a thumbnail sketch using Copic sketch markers to plan for the acrylic painting. Lauryn explains different […]

Intro to Oil Painting: Part 2 – Step by step

Part 2 of this intro to oil painting tutorial walks you through every step of the process to paint a lobster in a still life. Watch Part 1. Prof Lieu talks about how to premix your colors with a palette knife, lighting & shadow, brush techniques, how to layer your oil paint, the differences between […]

Intro to Oil Painting: Part 1 – Basics

In part 1 of this oil painting tutorial, essential techniques, materials, and approaches to oil painting are thoroughly covered. (Watch Part 2) Topics covered include all of the supplies: brushes, palette knives, oil paints, palettes, surfaces, and more. Safety hazards which include ventilation and disposal are explained in depth, as well as brush techniques, painting […]

Oil vs. Acrylic

Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Alex Rowe discuss all of the differences between oil and acrylic paint in great depth, as well as their similarities. It’s essential for any artist who paints to know what the technical differences are between oil and acrylic paint. The dry time varies tremendously, the solvents and mediums […]

Intro to Gouache Painting

This video comprehensively covers the fundamentals of painting with gouache by showing the process of painting a book cover illustration based on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. The process begins by shooting reference photos at a graveyard in Concord, MA, moving on to thumbnail sketches, painting color studies, and then exploring techniques […]

Intro to Acrylic Painting

This video demonstrates important acrylic painting techniques in order to create a still life painting from beginning to end. Techniques covered in the video include palette knives, choosing acrylic colors, using a palette knife, mediums that can be added to the acrylic paint, acrylic varnishes, painting details, and much more.  Demo led by Teaching Artist […]

White on White Paintings

PromptCreate and paint a still life using only white objects. Supplies Tall container for water Palette Knife Acrylic paint Acrylic Matt Medium Slow Drying Medium Acrylic brushes Pro Acrylic gloss varnish Pro Acrylic semi-gloss varnish Blue painter’s tape Freezer paper clamp light or desk lamp Still Life Items White objects: bed sheets, bottles, cups, bowls, folded or […]

Complementary Color Chart

This video shows a color chart mixing exercise based on complementary color pairs, using purple and yellow. This color chart is very effective in terms of training your eye to see subtle shifts of color. This video shows how to develop a more sensitive color mixing technique, and mixing different levels of saturation with the […]