No painting experience is required.

In this introductory course you will learn the basic tools, materials, and techniques to get started in oil painting. Each student will complete an oil painting by the end of the course.

Covered in this course: 
- brushes, palettes, easels and other tools
- introduction to paints, mediums, pigments & colour. No solvents will be used in these classes and all materials are safe when used properly
- basic painting approaches: direct (alla prima) & indirect (working with an underpainting)
- simple at-home studio setups, including health & safety considerations and lighting

Materials:

- Paint, mediums, brushes and other tools are included in the cost of this course.
- Practice boards/canvas are included
* each student will need to bring their own substrate of choice (canvas, panel, etc.) for the main project of the course. Please bring this on week 2.
* each student will bring in their choice of a still-life object or photograph to be used as reference for our main project.

We will be using a limited palette of 5 colours:
⦁ Burnt Umber
⦁ Ultramarine Blue
⦁ Cadmium Red Medium
⦁ Cadmium Yellow Lemon
⦁ Titanium White

Week One:
- lecture: introduction to materials, tools, setup and techniques, and a very brief history of oil painting
- practical: students will have time to play with materials and try rough vs smooth panel

Week Two:
- lecture: pigments & colour theory, notes on working from photographs
- practical: we will be making some value and colour charts to deepen our understanding of the ways each colour interacts with others. We will also prime our supports for next week

Week Three:
- lecture: ways to start a painting, drawing transfer techniques (charcoal and oil transfers, projection)
- practical: start of final project - monochromatic underpainting from still life or photo

Week Four:
- practical: adding colour as the second layer of our final project

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About the Instructor

Katharine Kennie is a contemporary landscape painter living and working in rural Grey County, ON. Her paintings explore her own relationship to nature and honour the details of natural spaces to nurture stewardship of our land and environment.

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Note: A minimum of 6 students are required to run the course.

Please sign up by January 23, 2026