Beginners Drawing and Water Mixable Oil Painting
– Ako Lamble
Little and Often.
Written by Ako Lamble
My beginners class is focusing on “Little and Often” “Repetition”. I will help you setting up the system so you can draw/paint daily for just 15min. It’s much more beneficial to do it for 15 min daily than for 2hours weekly.
Improving drawing skills is very important in my class. Drawing enhances the way we see the world around us, conditions us to capture the details. Furthermore, drawing can improve our memory.
You will spend first 2-3classes on drawing (Shape, Tone, Edge) then move on to the water mixable oil painting.
Why Water mixable oils
I had to stop oil painting more than ten years ago because I could not tolerate turpentine. Even when I tried odourless alternatives, I still experienced uncomfortable sensations in my mouth and throat.
As a result, my focus naturally shifted to watercolour, a medium I still deeply love and continue to work with. However, when I first encountered water mixable oils, everything changed.
I realised that water mixable oils were not simply a replacement for traditional oil painting, but an entirely new medium in their own right. They allowed me to combine the depth and richness of oil painting with techniques I had developed through watercolour.
For example, you may be familiar with the principle of “dark to light” in oil painting and “light to dark” in watercolour. In traditional oils, highlights are usually created by applying white paint over a darker base.
In my practice with water mixable oils, however, I often use watercolour techniques such as lifting colour and revealing the white of the canvas to create highlights. What began as an experiment has proven to be both effective and expressive.
In this class, I would like to share how I use water mixable oil painting in my own work, and how this medium can open new possibilities for painters coming from different backgrounds.
Suitable for;
- Absolute beginners
- People who have done watercolour or acrylic and are curious about oil
- Those who love drawing but want to bring depth and richness into their work
- Anyone who wants a slower, more tactile and satisfying painting experience
We will cover;
- Drawing with pencil to learn how to see shape, value, and edge
- Understanding your art materials: water mixable oil paints, canvas/boards, brushes, sealed palette containers to keep paint workable for longer, and mediums
- Setting up a simple, portable art kit
- Drawing an egg using a monochrome palette to learn the four types of edges: hard, firm, soft, and lost
- Developing a 15-minute daily drawing and painting habit
- 15 min daily drawing & painting habit.
- Painting techniques, including working from dark to light, negative painting, glazing, dry brush, lifting, and more
- Introduction to colour mixing
- Preparing canvas and boards with gesso
- Learning from great painters around the world
Art Materials
You may need to invest some money to set up your art kit, but my aim is to help you do so with confidence.
I have spent many years testing a wide range of art materials, investing both time and money, so that I can offer clear and practical guidance before you make any decisions.
If you already have art materials, please bring whatever you have to class. There is no need to purchase anything new until we have discussed it together.
You do not need to prepare everything at once. The materials listed below will be introduced gradually over the course of the term.
- Artist-quality water mixable oil paints (Holbein Duo, Winsor & Newton Artisan)
- Brushes: Bristle filbert, bristle bright, small round brush
- Palette: Sealed container with clove oil
- Watercolour paper: Arches smooth & Medium
- Canvas and board
- Canvas pads
- Mediums: including Water mixable Linseed oil
- Varnish
Day and Time
- Tuesday evening: 7 – 9pm (2hours)
School Term Dates
Please see the School Calendar: Click Here
Fee
- 2hour class: $480 per term (10 weeks)
- 2hour class: $65 per casual class
Teacher
Class Limit
12 people
