Oil paint is the medium of instruction for
beginners because it is the most flexible and versatile painting medium and it
is also the primary medium used over time in the development of painting
technique. In Painting III and IV students may chose to work in another medium
experimentation is encouraged but on the introductory level it is best to learn
one medium well. At the first level of painting students learn how to handle
the medium through such techniques as flat paint application, blending,
impasto, glazing and scumbling, and wet into wet.Students work further with
compositional skills acquired in Drawing I and Two Dimensional Design to create
images with interest and tension as well as pleasing relationships of color,
scale, texture, value and line. Students learn how to mix color, which means
having a grasp of color theory and relationships. Students come to understand
how color relates to space. Basic skills involved in rendering are covered: how
to minutely observe surface detail and color and light to "paint what you see".
At the second level, students consolidate skills learned at the beginning level
and progress to more difficult and challenging problems in representation and
abstraction. At the next levels students broaden their field of reference to
include the work of contemporary painters and work on problems that are
important to the contemporary moment in painting. They also are trying to
identify the style and subjects which engage them as art practitioners.
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