Classroom Expectations
This class will be a combination of lectures, studio work, presentations, and critiques. Students can expect a lecture at the beginning of each new assignment and a critique at the end as well as some progress reviews during the assignment. The purpose of critiques and progress reviews are meant to provide value feedback, allow students to gain skills in evaluating their own and others’ work, learn from each other, consider new ideas, and stay on task. Students are expected to exhibit attributes expected of a competent learner, an effective communicator, and a responsible citizen. This means that students will have a sound work ethic, respect themselves, others, and the studio environment and contribute to the community of the class. During class you will be expected to fully engage in the activities and the work at hand. This how you can be successful in this class.
Watching programs/videos or scrolling on your phone during class time is not acceptable. Save texting, calls, and social media for break time so you are not distracting to yourself and others. All your attention should be focused on your painting during work time. Please understand that this falls under the 20% of your grade that relates to participation.
**Feel free to listen to music or audiobooks (not videos or shows) while working if you wish, if you are not disruptive to others, and it is your responsibility to ensure you can hear me if I am giving instruction. Otherwise, be off your phone. No movies, etc. because this is distracting from painting time. **
Studio Rules
1) No paint in sink or on counters. Clean your brushes with Gamsol, then wash the Gamsol out with soap/water. Oil Paint cannot go down the sink. Please clean up after yourself before you leave each day.
2) Either claim a locker or bring in a box to store your materials. Box must fit under the counter. All jars, palettes, paint… that are left on counters will be discarded or appropriated.
3) Be courteous to others. During instruction and critiques, show courtesy by listening and speaking politely. Make sure you are cleaning up, sharing the space, and are mindful not to create problems for others. There are other classes that share this room.
4) Be working and off your phone. Please be aware that this affects your grades.
Health related issues and conditions present in studio/facilities
1). Students should always use Nitrile Disposable Gloves when painting. Your skin is your body’s largest organ. Soaking it in paint and solvent will cause injury and sickness.
2). Only Gambin Gamsol should be used in class as a solvent. Turpentine, Mineral spirits—odorless or not, are not permitted and will be disposed of.
3) Used solvent should be disposed of in the red metal cans in the large yellow Solvent cabinet on the west side of the studio.
*** ALL WORK LEFT IN STUDIO WILL BE DISCARDED ONE WEEK AFTER FINAL EXAMINATIONS
*** ALL LOCKERS MUST BE EMPTIED ONE WEEK AFTER FINAL EXAMINATIONS.
LOCKS WILL BE CUT AND CONTENTS WILL BE DISCARDED.
Painting Terms
Alla Prima- Literally means “at first.” Italian expression which can be translated by “at
first try”. Technique of direct painting which completes the painting in a single session,
without previous preparation or later stages.
Dammar – One of the most frequently used resins in making varnishes to be applied to
oil paint. It comes from certain trees in the conifer family. It dissolves well in turpentine or alcohol. It will not completely dissolve in mineral spirits.
Fat Over Lean The rule of painting in layers, in which each successive layer of paint should have more oil than the preceding layer. By increasing the oil content, top layers have increasing degrees of flexibility, reducing the risk of cracking, or flaking.
Frottage- Term derived from French verb frotter (to rub), this is a painting technique that consists of lightly loading the brush with a very small amount of paint and scrubbing on top of an area that has already been painted and is dry.
Grisaille- (Griz- eye) Painting carried out in whites, blacks, and grays. Historically this was used in the European academies when students were painting low relief sculptures. The term today can also be used to describe an underpainting in B&W.
Impasto- A thick layer of paint, often applied with a palette knife or bristle brush, which is heaped up in ridges to create a heavily textured surface.
Imprimatura- A thin over all film or stain of translucent color over a white priming. This is applied before an artist begins to paint. It provides a useful background color and makes it easier to establish light and dark relationships.
Mahl Stick- Thin stick, about four feet long, topped by a small ball. Used as a rest to steady the hand holding the brush when painting small areas, so as not to touch the painting.
Trompe L’oeil- to fool the eye. Technique involving realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions.
Scumbling- Technique in which a heavy amount of paint (often applied with a palette knife or bristle brush) is dragged across the surface of an already dry textured surface. The paint sticks to the high spots and patches of the color underneath show through.
Sfumato- (Smoke or Evaporate) Italian term applied to Leonardo da Vinci’s practice of blurring the outlines of the model.
Sgraffito- A technique, usually involving a sharp knife, in which dried paint is scraped off the painted surface so that the color painted previously is visible.
Simultaneous Contrast- Optical effect in which a color appears darker to the extent that the surrounding color is lighter and vice versa.
Stretcher- Wooden frame that can be taken apart on which canvas is mounted.
Verdaccio- Oil color used by the Northern Renaissance artists in the first phase or underpainting. Applied with solvent, verdaccio was a mixture of black, white, and ochre.
Plein Air- Landscape painted alla prima outdoors.
Glaze- A technique in which paint is made transparent by adding a majority of medium which is painted on top of dry paint. A glaze is most effective when painted on light valued colors.
Chroma- This is the intensity, strength, or purity of a color. Squeezing paint directly from the tube to the palette or canvas is ‘Full Chroma’. Also, Intensity or Saturation.
Medium- Oils, resins, waxes, dryers, or solvents that are added to paint to alter the viscosity and to increase “flow” characteristics (makes paint less stiff) and to speed up or slow down the drying process.
Chiaroscuro – The use of light and dark values to create the illusion of volume in a 2-dimensional work.