In this foundational lecture, students will explore three critical aspects of artmaking: Line, Mass (Notan), and Form (Chiaroscuro). These tools are the building blocks for creating depth, structure, and emotion in art.

Key Points

- Line: Understand the use of line to suggest movement, rhythm, and structure in a work of art.

- Mass (Notan): Analyze how artists use value patterns to create balance, focus, and harmony in their compositions.

- Form (Chiaroscuro): Discover the interplay of light and shadow to establish depth and volume in artwork.

In this lesson, we’ll look at how artists use abstraction to guide the viewer’s experience of their work. Students will learn how to simplify, exaggerate, and rearrange elements of a composition for maximum impact.

Key Points

- The power of abstraction: Learn how reducing complexity can amplify a painting's message.

- Controlling the viewer’s experience: Understand how artists subtly manipulate focus and movement through abstraction.

- Analyzing examples: Break down how abstraction can enhance clarity and impact in artwork.

Composition is one of the most powerful tools in an artist's toolkit. In this lecture, we’ll explore how to direct the viewer’s eye and create dynamic visual storytelling.

Key Points

- Directing the eye: How to lead the viewer’s focus through placement of shapes, values, and lines.

- Balance and tension: Explore symmetry, asymmetry, and focal points in creating compelling compositions.

- Contrast and hierarchy: Learn how to use visual contrast and size relationships to establish hierarchy and emphasize key elements in your composition.

A painting’s “key” determines its emotional tone and visual impact. This week, we’ll study how artists create major and minor keys by organizing values.

Key Points

- Major and minor keys: Understand how high contrast creates drama and low contrast creates subtlety.

- Value hierarchy: Learn how artists use value to organize and clarify their paintings.

- Master examples: Study how key structures are used to reinforce mood and story.

In this lecture, we’ll analyze how artists use reference to inspire, guide, and elevate their work.

Key Points

- How to analyze reference: Compare reference material to the finished artwork. What was emphasized, removed, or changed?

- Making decisions: Learn how to filter reference to serve your artistic goals.

- Inspiration, not copying: The balance between drawing from life and creating something unique.

This week, we’ll study how artists arrange shapes of value and color to create unity and clarity in their work.

Key Points

- Value shape design: Explore how large, medium, and small shapes interact.

- Homogeneity vs. variety: Learn how simplicity or complexity can serve the artwork’s narrative.

- Analyzing examples: Break down the matrix of value shapes in artworks.

Edges (the transition of values or colors) are essential for creating depth and focus in a painting. This week, we’ll explore how artists use edges to guide the viewer’s experience.

Key Points

- Soft vs. hard edges: Learn when to blur transitions and when to sharpen them.

- Silhouettes: Understand how clean silhouettes contribute to clarity.

- Mastering subtlety: Study how edge treatment can create atmosphere and mood.

Color is one of the most expressive tools in art. This week, we’ll dive into how artists use color to evoke emotion, tell stories, and create unity.

Key Points

- Color harmony: Learn how to use and identify different types of color harmonies:

• Monochromatic
• Complementary
• Split Complementary
• Analogous
• Triadic
• Tetradic

- The gamut mask: Explore how to limit and shift hues for storytelling.

- Emotion through color: Study how to communicate mood using color relationships.

In this final lecture, we’ll review everything learned throughout the course and discuss how these principles come together in a cohesive artwork.

Key Points

- Review: Recap the lessons on line, mass, form, abstraction, composition, value, edges, and color.

- Integration: See how these principles interact in well-composed pieces.

- Planning your work: Learn how to consciously apply these ideas in your own art.