For centuries, artists have used oil paint to represent the physical world. Oil was the medium of choice for masters like Van Gogh and Monet. Now you too can learn how to paint—online.

In this course, you'll learn a traditional approach to oil painting. After a thorough orientation to the painter's materials (paint, canvas, brushes, and solvents), you will study a systematic and time-honored approach to oil painting that enables you to capture proportion, perspective, and lighting in the world around you.

Each lesson guides you systematically through a disciplined approach to creating art. You'll learn how to build a foundation with preparatory sketches and underpainting, and find out how to mix your paints correctly. You'll gain control over value through monochromatic painting and color studies. As you paint a series of still lifes, you'll explore different painting techniques and conceptual approaches.

Never thought you could paint? With the guidance and encouragement of fine artist Jordon Schranz, you'll surprise yourself by creating a series of paintings you can be proud of. Get a professional's perspective on painting materials and techniques, and enhance your skills.

Add Painting Studio to stretch your skills.

Jordon Schranz, a 7-year inhabitant of Brooklyn, New York, is represented by the Black and White Gallery in New York, New York. He has had one-man shows in both New York and Chicago and he has participated in several group shows in the USA and internationally. His work is also included in several private collections as well as the collection of the Museum of Air and Space in Moscow, Russia. His work focuses on the idea of social and political interaction and how the media influences it. In addition, Jordon Schranz regularly stages, performs, and promotes avant garde, free jazz and experimental music performances, and is a recording artist on the Black Saint record label with his group The Eastern Seaboard. Jordon is Director of the Sessions School of Fine Arts. Jordon earned his BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art.

To take this course, you'll need:

• Computer with Internet connection (56.6 Kbps modem or faster is recommended).
• Oil paints, canvas, brushes, and other art supplies are described in depth and available at a discount at the beginning of the class. Supplies may vary based on student needs and should be purchased after entering the class.
• Basic experience in drawing.
• A digital camera (or ability to digitize film photos) to present your artwork digitally.

Students can expect to learn how to:

• Learn a step by step method for oil painting that will provide a foundation for all your future work.
• Use basic drawing skills as effective preparation for oil painting compositions.
• Create preparatory pencil sketches demonstrating perspective, shading, and contour.
• Select quality paints, brushes, and painting surfaces, and handle them safely.
• Load a palette, mix paint colors, and hold a brush effectively.
• Prepare a canvas and create an underpainting as a painting guide.
• Identify value levels in a subject and accurately translate them on monochromatic and color paintings.
• Use light sources to create various effects and tones on a subject.
• Effectively brighten, darken, and adjust the saturation of a paint color.
• Use color wheel relationships to create intensity, warmth and coolness, push and pull, and other paint effects.
• Apply traditional painting techniques to create realistic and abstract effects.
• Create paintings using the alla prima technique.
• Choose and compose painting subjects to maximize contrast and visual interest.

Lesson 1: Preliminary Drawing
Every painting starts with a number of preliminary drawings. This lesson focuses on the fundamentals of drawing as they relate to oil painting. You'll look at methods for accurately representing objects in your sketches by using perspective for interest and depth, and applying believable shadows and highlights. Get your sketchbook and some household items ready for the first exercise, where you'll prepare a still life arrangement and explore your subject by drawing it from different perspectives.

Lesson 2: Materials, Workspace, and Canvas
The range of paints, brushes, and surfaces that can be used by oil painters is almost infinite. In Lesson Two, you'll learn to sort through the options and choose the materials that are best for your needs. Solvents, canvas types, and equipment are explored, along with techniques for safely handling them. Then you'll learn to load up your palette and mix colors. In the exercise, you'll prepare your canvas for your first painting and create the underpainting that will guide your work.

Lesson 3: Light and Value
Value doesn't just mean how much your art is worth in the marketplace—it refers to the amount of light that is present in your subject. Painting is all about representing light values with color, and accuracy is key. In this lesson, you'll learn about the techniques artists use to represent light and dark with paint and how to capture depth through your color choices. You'll create a value scale in paint and a monochromatic still life in this lesson's exercise, paying close attention to highlights, midtones, and shadows.

Lesson 4: Combining Color in Paint
This lesson takes your study of light to the next level, exploring the color wheel, color harmonies, and color contrast. You'll learn how colors relate to one another, and how to use these relationships to create interesting effects. You'll mix paints to make your own color wheel in the exercise and also create a full-color still life painting, learning to use color as value.

Lesson 5: Painting Techniques
Using color and value, you're on the right track to bringing your paintings to life, but you need another major component: technique. Painters use a wide range of practical and stylistic techniques to develop their signature works. You'll learn about some popular historical approaches and styles in this lesson and explore a start-to-finish process for creating a painting. In the exercise, you'll practice this process and the styles of your choice in two still life paintings.

Lesson 6: Making a Painting
In Lesson Six, you'll wrap up the course with a look at the creative side of painting: How to communicate your ideas in paint. Three painting case studies are explored, teaching you about visual metaphors and how to create intriguing compositions as you explore the beauty in everyday objects. You'll also learn techniques for painting in natural and artificial light. In the exercise, you'll practice everything you've learned to create two final paintings.