Year Two: Intermediate Drawing & Beginning Painting

In their second year at GAFA, students will make the transition from drawing media into oil painting, with an emphasis on cast work and intermediate projects from the live model.

Course Schedule:

DAYTIME LESSONS:

Monday - Friday, 10 am - 5 pm

EVENING LESSONS:

Monday, Wednesday & Thursday, 6 pm - 8 pm

Having mastered the fundamentals of drawing in their first year, students now shift their focus towards the more advanced aspects of drawing as they make the transition into oil painting.

The year begins with a cast drawing exercise in charcoal and white chalk on toned paper, which creates a conceptual bridge into oil painting technique through the common use of a toned ground and the approach of building values from the mid-range outwards. Next, students move on to grisaille (monochrome) paintings, which ease them into the world of oils by removing the element of colour, allowing them to better focus on the method of oil painting, on paint application, and on mediums and materials. Finally, students end the year with an ambitious final cast painting, employing the Zorn limited palette: lead white, yellow ochre, venetian red and ivory black. Using just four pigments initially yields better control over colour mixing, a heightened sensitivity to colour variations in the subject, and a sense of unity in any given painting.

Simultaneously, students will complete a series of extended figure drawings and paintings from the live model. The medium of the figurative projects will follow the progression of media used in the studio projects, allowing for an enhanced understanding of each medium. The second year will also introduce a more advanced level of artistic anatomy; students will create an ecorchè anatomical drawing to accompany each figurative exercise through-out the year.