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Oil Painting
with Thomas Fluharty

Learn the historic approach of the Dutch Flemish masters through the incredible brush of Thomas Fluharty! In this course, Thomas will lecture on the principles of Dutch and Flemish painting and guide students through the process of creating a portrait in this method. He will discuss his techniques for creating a strong initial sketch, methods for laying down a good underpainting, color, and final adjustments. And of course, throughout the lectures, Thomas will reveal his best oil painting tips, tricks, and secrets that help set his work apart from all other painters. This course will be presented over five lessons and will run for nine weeks.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

(This list is for reference only to help you gauge the cost of materials. Please DO NOT purchase these items until after you have watched Lecture 1.)

Paints:
Old Holland brand - Cremnitz White (A3)
Old Holland brand - Green Earth (A52)
Old Holland brand - Yellow Ochre Light (A53)
Any brand - Flesh Ochre
Any brand - Raw Umber
Any brand - Alizarin Crimson
Any brand - Cadmium Red
Any brand - Cadmium Orange
Any brand - Cadmium Yellow deep
Any brand - Cobalt Blue
Any brand - Burnt Umber
Any brand - Ultramarine Blue
Any brand - Ivory Black
Any brand - Burnt Sienna

Brushes:
Long bristle flat #2
Long bristle flat #4
Long bristle flat #6
Long bristle flat #8
Long bristle flat #10
(recommended - Robert Simmons Signet Filibert brand)

Turpentine or turpenoid
Cold-pressed linseed oil (or recommended - walnut oil)
Canvas (recommended - Claessens Linen #C13)
Palette (recommended - wood or dark surface)
Palette knives
Palette cups

(For Thomas' Schoolism starter kit at Utrecht.com, please CLICK HERE)

Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan

Lesson 1 - Supplies

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.

Lesson 2 - The Sketch Phase

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.

Lesson 3 - The Underpainting Phase

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.

Lesson 4 - The Underpainting Phase Part 2

Lesson 5 - The Color Phase

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.

Lesson 6 - The Adjustment Phase

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.

2 Ways to Learn

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Scheduled Course Dates:

Open

Jul 12, 2013

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Self-Taught (100 Days)

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