Art 220
Syllabus/ Painting 220
Instructor: Jeffrey Bailey
Phone: 1317
Email address:
jbailey@bcc.edu
Office hours:
M: 12:00-1:00 Parker 319G Advising: 1:00-2:00
Parker 319G
T: 1:00-2:00 MT HLY 120/215
W: 2:15-3:15 MT HLY 120/215 Advising: 3:15-4:15
MT HLY 120/215
Th: 12:30-1:30 Parker 319G
F: 5:30-6:30 MT HLY 120/215
Required Text: The Artist’s Manual
Burlington County College
Pemberton, NJ 08060
Objectives and Outcomes
for the Course
The learning objectives for this course are to give the student a
thorough introduction to the materials, techniques and principles of
basic oil painting. The student will learn to accurately represent in 2
dimensions the 3 dimensional world we observe. The student will
learn about the basic visual elements that are used to create images:
line, shape, value, light, pattern and texture, space and color. The
student will receive some basics in drawing as it relates to
representational painting and will learn how to organize (compose) the
above visual elements. The student will learn techniques such as
Alla Prima (direct painting), Grisaille, Glazing and Scumbling
(indirect painting). The student will be introduced to some basic
ideas related to color theory and the student will be introduced to the
practice of creating studies in preparation for larger, more ambitious
works. The student will be introduced to terms and definitions related
to the study of oil painting.
1. Learning Objective: Drawing
Learning Outcomes
a. The student will receive drawing fundamentals as drawing is at the
basis of representational painting.
b. The student will learn the importance of line, placement, and shape
as it relates to drawing/painting
c. The student will learn to use drawing aids like viewfinders,
measuring and grid systems.
2. Learning Objective: Value/light
Learning Outcomes
a. The student will learn the importance of recognizing and creating
effective patterns of dark and light to both accurately describe what
they observe in the world.
b. The student will learn how to use patterns of light and dark as
compositional elements.
3. Learning Objective: Color
Learning Outcomes
a. The student will be introduced to the basic color relationships of
color theory: primary color, secondary color, tertiary color, and
complementary color relationships.
b. The student will learn to describe and utilize a full range of grays
(neutrals) as an introduction to warm-cool color relationships and
color saturation.
c. The student will be introduced to a “full” palette with its
fuller range of possibilities after gaining competency working with the
limited palettes.
4. Learning Objective: Composition
Learning Outcomes
a. The student will learn how to organize (compose) the various
2-dimensional elements to create a successful image that suggests 3
dimensional space and 3 dimensional volumes in space.
b. The student will learn how scale can be used to create different
effects and evoke different responses from a viewer.
c. The student will learn how to use the format of their work (shape of
image area) as part of a composition strategy.
5. Learning Objective: Painting Techniques
Learning Outcomes
a. The student will practice Alla Prima painting (a direct
technique where the painter spontaneously records what is observed).
b. The student will be introduced to traditional indirect oil painting
techniques including: imprimatura, grisaille, glazing and scumbling.
Indirect painting involves a series of steps with drying time
in-between the paint layers.
6. Learning Objective: Preparation and Planning
Learning Outcomes
a. The student will be learning the importance of preparing and working
through a project.
b. Through the creation of: preparatory drawings and color studies the
student will learn the importance of trying several ideas and learning
to “think out loud” visually.
c. The student will learn the benefits of planning and study for the
completion of a more in-depth final work.
General Guidelines and
Procedures
1. Class time is to be used for the purposes of painting, lectures and
critiques only.
It is not the time to buy materials, doing work for other classes or
doing homework assignments.
2. Each student must take responsibility for cleaning up after him or
herself. Your work area should be clean and neat when you leave the
room. Remember, another class is coming in right after ours leaves.
They should not have to spend any of their class time cleaning up after
you.
3. Deposit all trash in designated trashcans. Do not pour any solvents
down the drain. Solvents go in designated receptacles.
4. Smoking is not allowed in the classroom or the building.
5. Music will be allowed in the class if there is a consensus on what
will be listened to. It must be played quietly. If it disturbs any of
the students it must be turned off.
6. Leaving early is not okay. Leaving before the normal class time ends
more than three times will affect your grade.
7. Cell phones must be turned off during class time!
8. For information regarding the school’s attendance policies see pg.
18 in the Burlington County catalog; for the school’s grading system
see page 19.
9. All assigned class work must be completed on time. Late projects
will drop by one letter grade.
Museum Trip
There may be a museum trip during the semester (this is tentative). If
the trip is scheduled during our class time and you do not go you will
be required to do additional work.
Grading
I will use a grading system called Rubrics. In this system each
assignment will have a set number of objectives/criteria with a
particular point value for each. The point value will measure the
student’s competency in each area. The points per grade are as
follows:
90-100 = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D
Below 60 = F
Final grade will be based on a total point value that includes:
75 pts. in-class studio assignments
25 pts. for any additional assignments (homework) and quizzes.
Participation in each class has a point value assigned to it. If you
are not in class, you are not participating. 2pts will be deducted from
total for non-participation when absent unless absence is excused.
If homework is assigned you are expected to spend 2-3 hours on the
assignment. Homework is worth 2 pts; late homework is worth 1 pt.
There will be 6 quizzes. Each quiz is worth 2 pts. The quizzes will be
pass or fail; there are no make-ups.
X and I Contracts
If, during the semester, unforeseen circumstances occur which prevent
the student from finishing the course work the student may apply for
either an X contract or an I contract. However, the student must have
shone a good faith effort to keep up with the course work in the
preceding time. The student must contact me no later than 2 weeks prior
to the end of the semester. Approaching me about this matter after the
semester ends is not acceptable.
Supply List
1 palette knife
1 non-glass container for mineral spirits
Mineral spirits (this is cheaper in a hardware store)
Oil Paint
(If you are not an art major I recommend buying the student grade
version of the paint. It is about a third cheaper. Student grade paint
is inferior to professional grade. Art majors may want to purchase the
better paint but it is you r choice. Talk to the store clerk if you are
not sure which are professional and student grades)
Alizarin Crimson
Cadmium Red medium (hue) (cadmium is toxic and can’t be flushed down
the sink. Hue is an imitation. This is important.
Cadmium Yellow (hue)
Ultramarine Blue
Viridian Green (hue) if viridian is not available Hooker’s green is a
good substitute.
Dioxazine Purple
Titanium white
Ivory Black
Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber
Brushes
For oil paint you need natural bristle brushes. Do not get nylon
brushes designed for acrylic. You will need 1 # 2, and 1 # 6 in
the 2 following brush types: a round and a filbert
For Blocking -in you will need #12 in a flat and a round (it’s
important to have this large size)!
You should have a total of 6 brushes.
Supports
3 pre-stretched canvases in the 18”x24” range.
6 10”x 14” canvas boards (10”x 14” is a ball park size)
Palette:
A large wooden painter’s palette or disposable paper palettes.
You will need several rags -- you will need several rags -- you will
need several rags. Remember!
1 Art Bin box to carry your supplies in (looks like a fishing
tackle box
Portfolio at least 18” x 24” You will need something to carry and
protect your work. The art store sells both inexpensive manila-paper
type portfolios and more professional ones.
Beware -- students that have opted for the cheaper ones found that the
handles rip off very easily.
Painting Medium A small bottle of Alkyd painting
medium. (Liquin is preferred. It is made by Windsor & Newton, a
paint manufacturer. Other brands will do.)
Medium cups 2 small medium cups with lids. Often they
come with clamps to adhere them to your palette.
Pencils a pack of graphite pencils and charcoal
pencils (a mix of hard and soft leads).
Miscellaneous A small pencil sharpener. A gum
eraser or hard eraser.
Paper 1 pad of newsprint (18”x24”)
Class schedule for Art 220
Week 1
Review syllabus
Slide lecture
Homework 1
Familiarize yourself with the following for a quiz
the beginning of next class:
1. Support -- Support refers to the surface that is to be painted on.
Typical supports include: canvas, linen, cotton duck, paper, wood
panel, and plaster (in fresco)
2. Ground—The ground is a layer that lies between the support and the
paint. It is used to protect the support (particularly when using oil.
Oil will eventually rot paper and canvas). The ground also creates a
brilliant white surface to begin a painting on which enhances the
brilliancy of the applied color. Grounds are traditionally a mixture of
lead white paint mixed with various other components depending on the
painting medium and the desired surface quality. Wax, or resins can be
mixed with lead white or white chalk and resin to create gesso. Most
modern painters use a manufactured gesso that is used to “prime” the
canvas. The gesso that is on your canvas is made from acrylic polymer
and a non-lead white pigment. The traditional lead white is no longer
available due to its toxicity.
3. Pigment—pigment is the color component of paint. They are derived
from minerals, ground to a fine powder and then mixed with a medium to
make paint.
4. Mediums—mediums are mixed with pigment to make them workable. With
acrylic paint the pigment is added acrylic polymer, a synthetic resin.
Acrylic is the medium and binder. Over the centuries pigment has been
mixed with many kinds of mediums i.e.: the extracted oils from seeds
and nuts (linseed, walnut oil), wax, egg, etc.
5. Binder—a binder is a substance mixed with the pigment and medium to
help the molecules of pigment and medium bind together, to enhance
strength to the paint film and ensure adhesion to the ground.
6. Glaze—a glaze is a thinly applied coat of transparent paint. Often a
specific medium is added to the paint to create a glaze. This a
technique used in indirect painting.
7. The picture plane -- The image area. The picture plane is a flat
2-dimensional area. A composition is comprised of organizations of 2
dimensional patterns (and in the case of representational painting, the
illusion that there is a recession of space behind the picture plane.
8. Visual elements- the elements that make up an image including: line,
shape, value, color, texture, pattern and space.
9. Format- the shape of the picture plane. The shape of your canvas is
one of the contributing factors in the composition.
10.Composition- the organization of the visual elements. It is the
“design” of the image.
For next week you will need:
1 canvas in the 18”x24” range.
Your newsprint pad
Pencils and sharpener
Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna oil paint
Brushes
Rags
Palette
Week 2
Quiz 1
Slide lecture on value and light
Homework 2
1 monochromatic copy, on a small canvas board, of
fig. 1. (Illustrations are in a supplemental packet. Generalize, leave
out details. This is to be a “study” in the direct painting technique).
This assignment is to introduce the student to the idea of tonality
(seeing the world in a range of values: gradations grays between black
and white. Titanium white and Ivory black will be mixed with either
Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna to create a range of values. There is no
set number but you will want to keep the number manageable but with
enough variety to show a full range from darkest dark to white. I
suggest 7 values. The idea is to block in the large shapes and get the
value as close to what you are observing as possible.
Painting 1
Learning Objectives and Procedure
(Painting #1 will be either a still life or, depending on weather, a
landscape.
The objectives of this painting will be to develop an understanding of:
value relationships and value’s relationship to color; we will use a
color scheme that emphasizes warm and cool color relationships; we will
explore the use of neutrals; we will explore the importance of
negative/positive shape; repeating similar shaped elements in a
composition
Materials
A pre-stretched canvas
Pencils and newsprint pad
An earth color and brushes.
Palette knife and palette
Procedure
The first class in each 4-week block will be dedicated to creating a
strong working drawing for our painting. We will start with 10
“thumbnail sketches” (small quick composition sketches that indicate
placement of elements). One of the “thumbnails” will be developed into
a line drawing the same dimensions as your canvas.
Drawings will be transferred to the canvas. A tone called an
imprimatura will be applied to the canvas after the drawing is
transferred. Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna will be mixed with Liquin or
another “alkyd” painting medium (to speed drying time) and applied over
the entire canvas surface. The “tone” should be somewhere between 3-4
on value scale of 1-10. The pencil lines will then be darkened
with an earth colored paint that will dry over the next week.
Be sure to mix a small amount of alkyd medium to your paint to ensure
it is dry by next week. Mix the medium thoroughly.
Week 3
Critique of last week’s work
Slide Lecture
Homework 3
On a small canvas board to a quick copy of the
Cezanne painting featured in fig. 2 of the supplemental packet. The
palette of colors you will use will be:
Titanium white, Ivory Black, ultramarine blue,
orange (mixed from cadmium yellow and red.
Like the “monochromatic”, this study will be an
interpreting and simplifying color. You will be limited to expressing
warm and cool color. Blue and orange will have to represent the full
range of color Cezanne used. Note the way his grays vary from warm to
cool. Gray is not simply black and white mixed together. Note the
interplay between warm and cool colors.
(Generalize, leave out details. This is a “study”).
This assignment will introduce the student to the idea of organizing
color by contrasting warm color areas against cool color areas and
working with “neutrals” and color saturation. Do your reading first.
Read pg. 63,65,67 & 72-76 and chapter on color
pg. 172 in Artist’s Handbook in Artists’ Manual
You will be quizzed on the following questions next class
1. What are the characteristics of oil paint that have attracted
painters to it for over 500 hundred years?
2. What is oil paint made from?
3. What is the difference between student and professional grade
paints?
4. What is meant by “tinting strength” regarding oil paint?
5. Why would you not thin oil paint too much with mineral spirits (or
turpentine)?
6. Which of the drying oils that pigments can be mixed with darkens as
it ages?
8. Which oil is better for light colored pigments because it
doesn’t darken very much as it ages?
9. Why should oil paint made with poppy or safflower oil not be used
for an under painting?
10. Why has Mineral Spirits replaced Turpentine as the dilutant
(solvent) that is mixed with oil paint?
Define the following
Primary colors
Secondary colors
Tertiary colors
Compliments, and neutrals
Split complement
Warm/cool colors
Values, tonal color
Hue
Intensity (saturation)
Tints and shades
Painting 1: under-painting
(block-in)
Materials
All your paints and brushes, palette knife
Rags
Your canvas
Palette
Titanium white and Ivory black will be mixed with either Burnt Umber or
Burnt Sienna to create a range of values. There is no set number but
you will want to keep the number manageable but with enough variety to
show a full range from darkest dark to white. I suggest 7 values. The
idea is to block in the large shapes and get the value as close to what
you are observing as possible. The imprimatura we laid in should serve
as your middle value. (You will not need to over paint the middle value
areas). Use your largest brushes.
Be sure to mix a small amount of alkyd medium to your paint to ensure
it is dry by next week. Mix the medium thoroughly.
Week 4
Quiz 2
Critique of last week’s work and homework
Slide lecture
Homework 4
On a small canvas board make a copy of the Michelangelo detail from the
Sistine Ceiling in fig. 3 Note how the artist orchestrates
the use of pairs of compliments. (Generalize, leave out details. This
is a “study”). This assignment will introduce the student to the
principle of complimentary colors. Note how Michelangelo uses the
compliments of red and green to organize his image and frame the
figures. Use your primary colors to make secondary colors and then
neutrals.
Read pg. 78-83
You will be quizzed on the following questions next class
1) Why are bristle brushes preferred most of the time for oil painting?
Where do the bristles come from?
2) What are sable brushes used for and what are their characteristics?
3) What are the different types of brushes and what are they used for?
4) What is the proper way to clean brushes?
5) What is the proper way to store your brushes?
Painting 1: over painting
Materials
All your paints and brushes, palette knife
Rags
Your canvas
Palette
Procedure
The palette (in this case “palette” refers to the colors you will use,
the colors that will be laid out on your palette) we will use for this
painting will be limited to 4 colors: 2 “complements + black and white.
They will represent the warm and cool range of a full palette of
colors. We will use ultramarine blue and orange (orange will be made by
mixing cadmium yellow and cadmium red.) These 2 compliments will
be evenly mixed to create a neutral. A neutral is a characterless gray
or brownish color that is created when 2 compliments are mixed
together. Other mixtures of the 2 will create colors that progress from
the neutral to blue and orange respectively. You will use ivory black
and titanium white to create tints and shades of all the color
mixtures. There should be at least 3 mixtures (gradations) in-between
the neutral and the pure colors on both the warm and cool side.
After your palette has been mixed and approved block-in the
over-painting with the colors you have created.
Be sure to mix a small amount of alkyd medium to your paint to ensure
it is dry by next week. Mix the medium thoroughly.
Week 5
Quiz 3
Critique of last week’s work and homework
Slide lecture
Homework 5
On a small canvas board, do a small study of several
fruit on a tabletop. Create a strong light source for it so that there
are clear patterns of light and dark. Paint the study with a full range
of colors including primary and secondary colors mixed from primaries.
Develop the gradations we explored in class (a neutral, one or more
gradations moving towards each of the component colors + white or black
to create value gradations of each new color you mix).
Painting
1 over-painting
Material
Same as last week
Procedure
This is our last week to work on painting 1. Complete over-painting.
Make whatever revisions are necessary.
Week 6
Quiz 4
Critique of painting 1 and homework
Slide lecture
Homework 6
Read pg. 86-95& pg. 94-101 in Artist’s Handbook
Familiarize yourself with the following questions and terms. There will
be a quiz at the beginning of next class.
What is a mahlstick used for?
What is meant by fat over lean and why is it
important in oil painting?
How can oil be “leached” out of paint?
What are the advantages of using an under painting?
What is meant by alla prima painting and how does it
differ from the indirect method? What are some of its advantages?
What is meant by impasto?
What is meant by scumbling?
What is dry brush?
What is meant by blending?
What are 2 different ways glazes can be used?
On a canvas board make a still life study (quick and
generalized) that “emulates” the Manet painting in the homework packet.
Emulate doesn’t mean copy so much as it means use the ideas in the
Manet. Your painting should be symmetrical, it should use flowers and a
vase as a “motif” or subject and the subject should be about the same
scale as Manet’s. Use a full range of color in your study.
Painting
2 Learning Objectives and
Procedures
(Due the end of 4th class)
Develop an understanding of: working with a full range of color based
on the color relationships developed from the 3 primary colors.
Materials
A pre-stretched canvas
Pencils and newsprint pad
An earth color and brushes
Palette knife and palette.
Procedure
We will start with 10 “thumbnail sketches” (small quick composition
sketches that indicate placement of elements). One of the “thumbnails”
will be developed into a line drawing the same dimensions as your
canvas.
Drawings will be transferred to the canvas. A tone called an
imprimatura will be applied to the canvas after the drawing is
transferred. Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna will be mixed with Liquin or
another “alkyd” painting medium (to speed drying time) and applied over
the entire canvas surface. The “tone” should be somewhere between 3-4
on value scale of 1-10. The pencil lines will then be darkened
with an earth colored paint that will dry over the next
week.
Week 7
Quiz 5
Critique of last week’s work
Slide lecture
Painting 2: under painting
Materials
All your paints and brushes, palette knife
Rags
Your canvas
Palette
Procedure
Titanium white and Ivory black will be mixed with either Burnt Umber or
Burnt Sienna to create a monochromatic study of the subject. There is
no set number but you will want to keep the number manageable but with
enough variety to show a full range from darkest dark to white. The
idea is to block in the large shapes and get the value as close to what
you are observing as possible. The imprimatura we laid in should serve
as your middle value. (You will not need to over paint the middle value
areas). Use your largest brushes. Be sure to mix a small amount of
alkyd medium to your paint to ensure it is dry by next week. Mix the
medium thoroughly.
Week 8
Critique of last week’s work
Film
Quiz 6 (questions related to film)
Painting 2: over-painting
Materials
All your paints and brushes, palette knife
Rags
Your canvas
Palette
Procedure
Use a full range of color based on your 3 primaries. Use supplemental
secondary and tertiary colors (rather than colors derived from mixing)
when you want a greater intensity. Block in your colors over the
under-painting.
Week 9
Critique of homework 6 and last week’s work
Slide lecture
Painting 2: over painting
Make any revisions need to finish painting 2
Week 10
Critique of painting 2
Slide lecture
Painting 3
Learning Objectives
Due: the end of last class for semester (this is a 3 week painting)
Develop an understanding of how to apply direct painting techniques to
a larger format. Use contrasts of: scale, value and color to
create focal points in a composition.
Materials
1 pre-stretched canvas
all paints and brushes
rags
palette and palette knife
newsprint pad
pencils
Procedure
Create 6-10 thumbnail sketches in your newsprint
pad. Choose 1 sketch to develop into a larger sketch the same size as
you canvas.
Transfer sketch to canvas.
Begin painting directly onto the canvas using a full
palette of colors including all secondary colors purchased.
Week 11&12, 13
Critique of last week’s work
Slide lecture
Materials
Same as last week 10
Procedure
Same as week 10
Week 14 Independent
Critiques during exam week
