Everything you ever wanted to know about oil paints!
From the period marking the transition from the Early Renaissance to the Renaissance, the use of oil paints has had a decisive influence on European painting. The advantages of these paints are still just as highly valued today as they were back then. Oil paint allows for ‘wet-on-wet’ painting, the application of both very impasto and very transparent (glazed) layers of paint, and, above all, the quick and easy creation of colour gradients and transitions. The binders in oil and resin-based paints are drying oils and resins, which lend the colours a brilliance and depth that can never be achieved with gouache or tempera paints.

As well as teaching the technical fundamentals, this course naturally focuses on painting and individual artistic projects. The lessons will address technical painting issues just as much as questions of representation. Given the time available, the practical work will focus primarily on what is known as ‘Prima Malerei’, though painting techniques involving layering are also welcome to be discussed and tried out. The choice of subject matter is free within the broad framework of figurative painting and can range from still lifes and interiors, through figurative depictions and portraits, to landscapes or even entirely imaginary subjects. The painterly approach can be precise and detailed, or expressive and free. No prior experience is required.
This course is also aimed at anyone seeking general guidance on choosing the right materials and painting techniques to realise their artistic concepts.