Introduction to Oil Painting with Sara Reeve

Spend a weekend learning how to get to grips with everything you need to know about painting with oil paints. Artist & tutor Sara Reeve will build your confidence with a plain-speaking and practical introduction to oil paint, answering all your questions and demystifying the medium.

This will be an information-packed weekend full of top tips about how to use oil paint – we will be exploring the materials and equipment you can use, techniques for applying oil paint, colour mixing, and approaches to creating paintings of a range of subjects. We will be working from still life set ups and photographs in the studio, looking at examples by other artists and creating resources for future work. Please note, this is a general introduction to oil painting and not portrait specific.

This course is aimed at both complete beginners and artists who want to refresh their oil painting knowledge and build their confidence. Places are limited and pre-booking is essential.

What to expect

The weekend will be a fast paced with demos and plenty of exercises to build your confidence in using oil paint! We will be working from still life set ups in the studio and painting from photographs, and creating resources to take away for future work.

Day One: We will look at all the materials and kit you need to get started with oil painting, and will begin getting used to drawing with paint. We’ll then be moving on to look at tonal studies, working from a still life set up. After lunch, we will be exploring colour mixing looking at warm and cool tones, and learning how to avoid muddy tones. We will finish the day learning how to clean up after an oil painting session!

Day Two: We will learn all of the stages of creating an alla prima (all in one sitting) oil painting - attendees can work from the still life set ups in the studio, a mirror, or work from a photograph – and we will explore techniques and mediums you can use. We will build on our knowledge to explore different options of limited palettes and colour mixing, and will aim to complete our painting by the end of the day.

Sara will provide individual guidance, feedback and demonstrations throughout the weekend. There will be a 1-hour lunch break and tea breaks throughout both days; if you have any questions just get in touch on [email protected].

What to bring:

We will supply oil paint, oil painting paper and low-odour solvent. Everybody attending will have a drawing board, a chair and an easel.

You will need to bring the following materials with you for the course:

• A palette (Sara recommends an old glass fridge shelf as a palette, or a simple wooden one)

• Palette knife (Sara uses a Seawhites T18 diamond palette knife)

• Brushes suitable for oil painting (we recommend a large, medium and small brush as a minimum). Sara uses Rosemary & Co Ivory Short Flats (long handle) in sizes 12, 8 & 4.

• Rags or kitchen roll for brush cleaning

• Apron & suitable painting clothes

• A flat A3 box to take your paintings home in

We will be providing oil paint, but if you want to buy some, this is what we’ll be using. Sara recommends Winton or Jackson’s Artists Oil Paint range:

• Titanium White

• Ivory Black

• Yellow Ochre

• Cadmium Red Hue

• French Ultramarine

• Burnt Sienna

• Raw Umber

Getting to the studio
West Hove Art studio is located at 16 Kingsthorpe Road, Hove, BN3 5HR. The studio has paid, on-road parking spaces outside the building. It is a 15-minute walk from Aldrington Station and is near to a variety of bus routes. The studio has paid, on-road parking spaces outside the building. There is free parking from 11am-7pm in the nearby Parking Zone W. You're welcome to arrive from 9:45am on the day.

Discounts

The discounted rate is available for anybody on low income, full-time students or Draw Patreon supporters. You can become a Draw Patreon supporter for just a few pounds per month, giving you access to the discounted rate, tiered access to our extensive artist’s photo reference library, live online life drawing & portrait drawing classes, online recorded courses and much more.

Safety & accessibility

West Hove Studio is on the ground floor with step-free access and has two standard (non-accessible) toilets. If you have any accessibility needs, please do let us know beforehand on [email protected] and we will do everything we can to make sure you can enjoy the classes here. If you have covid, flu or bad cold symptoms we ask you not to attend - you will receive a refund as well as our appreciation!

Cancellations

Bookings are non-refundable and cannot be transferred to another course. If you are unwell with a contagious illness please get in touch by email and we’ll issue a refund, minus Eventbrite’s fees. If you are unable to attend, please do get in touch with us on [email protected] to discuss the options for transferring your place to another attendee.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Draw Brighton