We will start the course off by talking about the preparations I make prior to painting. Like any artist, I have my favorite materials, which I will discuss at length. I will talk about my favorite paints, mediums, turps, varnish, brushes, canvases, boards, and pallet layout options. Also, we will answer the question, "Why do some paintings grab your attention over other paintings?" We will examine some ideas on what makes a great painting and how to achieve it. (Note: I buy my paints from www.wetpaintart.com and my canvases from www.newtraditionsartpanels.com. If you can't find the materials that I talk about where you live, you can try them if you don't mind paying shipping.) For your first assignment, there are three portrait images attached to the Assignment page in JPG format. Please select one and sketch it in detail.

In this lecture, I will demonstrate how I make a sketch, paying particular attention to lighting, drawing, and form. This will be followed by how to transfer the sketch and size it properly on the board. For your assignment, please do a sketch of Mike and transfer it onto your canvas. We will be building up this portrait as we go along.

The underpainting phase is crucial to the success of your final piece. All problem solving occurs in this phase (which is why I love it!). In this lesson, I will talk about how to control the canvas with the underpainting through a series of set-ups using indirect painting. This lecture will be very extensive and cover such topics as hard and soft edges, lines and transitions, lighting effects, lines vs. forms, form plane changes, and opacity vs. transparency.

The underpainting phase is crucial to the success of your final piece. All problem solving occurs in this phase (which is why I love it!). In this lesson, I will talk about how to control the canvas with the underpainting through a series of set-ups using indirect painting. This lecture will be very extensive and cover such topics as hard and soft edges, lines and transitions, lighting effects, lines vs. forms, form plane changes, and opacity vs. transparency.

My goal in this lecture is to show how little work is actually done in this stage because, while the color phase is critically important, it is built upon the success of the underpainting phase. I will talk about my palette, the colors I use, and how I apply them to my painting, their thickness and transparency. For your assignment, start applying your colors using the techniques from the lecture.

The goal of the adjustment phase is to establish the obvious. In this lesson, I'll discuss how to achieve this by adjusting planes and lighting effects, refining the painting form, and using glazes to solidify the image. For your assignment, perfect your image by adding highlights, subtle details (such as hair and skin texture), and adjusting lighting.