Working with Glue Gesso - Painting Course with Tom Robertson

Prior to the widespread use of canvas as a painting support, artists such as Da Vinci and Titian would routinely prepare and work with a material known as glue gesso, which acted as their primary painting surface.

In this course you’ll have the opportunity to prepare and work with painting on authentic glue gesso panels using historical approaches and you’ll learn why this material is still invaluable for artists working today!

Each week Tom will guide participants through a series of exercises, with time for independent working, producing two prepared panels and outcomes.

Course Structure

Week 1, 26th March, 6-8pm: Learn about glue gesso, its differences from modern surfaces and using a period formula you’ll prepare your very own glue gesso from scratch, applying it onto two panels.

Week 2, 2nd April, 6-8pm: Learn about differences in preparation options, including adjusting for absorbency for different methods of paint application. You’ll have the opportunity to apply an imprimatura onto one of your prepared panels, ready to paint on in weeks 3 and 4. During the second half of the session you’ll work on a study to get a feel for this new surface.

Week 3, 9th April, 6-8pm: You’ll begin to build up an underpainting over the imprimatura prepared in Week 2, using an image of your choice.

Week 4, 16th April, 6-8pm: You’ll finalise your painting from Week 3, building on the structure provided by the underpainting.

All materials and equipment for this course are provided. Participants are encouraged to bring a colour photograph to work from between weeks 2-4.

This is an intermediate level course, aimed at those with some experience in painting and/or figurative drawing, and who are looking to develop their skills further. If you are a complete beginner, please consider signing up for one of our 'Oil Painting from Life' workshops first.

Please note the ticket for this event is for all 4 sessions. Each session will run 6-8pm.

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