• Introduction-Intermediate
  • Painting

This is an ONLINE course where only clothed figure models will be used. Instead of posing live online however, the instructor will photograph the models at the TSA studios and email a selection of poses to all class participants. This allows the individual participant variation in pose selection, portrait or full body, various lighting effects and scene set ups. The participant can decide for themselves whether to print these images or use a tablet, phone or split the screen with the Zoom window on a computer.
Each set of photographs will be used as a three week block so participants have time to work on a painting through the stages of 'Block In', colour and finish within that model session. If a student wishes to work on small quick paintings, one or more per class rather than one finished larger piece, they are welcome to do this. There will be a selection of photos to work from to try out different techniques. Before the fourth class, a new selection of photos will be sent out to start the second half of the course.

This course can work for beginners, who will be given step by step instruction on the painting process - introducing figure proportion and anatomy. Also the stages of a painting: beginning with ‘block in’, tonal scale, compostition structure, colour in the master palette and flesh tones to achieve a realistic rendering of the figure. There will be on-line demonstrations of painting techniques by the instructor.

This course is adaptable for advanced painters who may want to use the figure model for more abstract interpretations.

The instructor will be working from their own studio so that their own personal work environment and painting techniques can more easily be shown. Attention will be given to the challenges (and some advantages) of the use of photographs as opposed to painting directly from the live model.

Oil or Acrylic painting will be demonstrated by the instructor but participants are free to use drawing materials, pastel chalks, gouache and watercolour. 

Note: This course is offered in 2 - 6 week sessions. The second 6 week session of this course session (041 Figure Painting Part 2 starts in Feb 2021) can be taken as either a continuation of the first session, or a stand alone.


Winter 2021:

040 - 6 Weeks: Tuition: $275 + Model Fee $20 = $295  

TSA will deliver this course using ZOOM. Prior to the course session, you will receive an invitation for the session(s) via email. You'll need a laptop, desktop or tablet, internet connection with good bandwidth and headset (either wired or wireless). We recommend that you set up a free ZOOM account and be familiar with ZOOM prior to the class beginning.  Here is a link to help you get started: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697

Notes: Tom Campbell, a Toronto-based painter (now based in Stratford, ON), has been an instructor at the Toronto School of Art since 1989, with teaching stints at Sanford Fleming College, Sheridan College and the ROM. Since 2000, he has also travelled to the Aegean island of Ikaria every other spring to teach at the Ikarian Cultural Centre. Campbell had his first major one-man show at Gallery Stratford in 1985, won the Kitchener-Waterloo Gallery prize for painting and joined the stable of artists at the Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto and Vancouver). More recently, other projects of interest have included painting the giant shipwreck mural for John Greyson’s feature film Zero Patience and painting a CD cover for alternative pop band Stars. On television, he was featured in “Artists in the Urban Environment” for Spectrum and Star Portraits, which aired on Bravo. His most recent exhibitions have been in Ottawa at the Galleria St Laurent + HilI and in C Word (Craft in the Fine Arts) curated by Richard Mongiat at The Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto.
* This course is not currently open for registration

What you will learn

  • Figure painting using photographs as references
  • Fgure proportion and anatomy
  • Stages of a painting: ‘ block in’, tonal scale, compostition structure, colour in the master palette and flesh tones 

Materials to Bring

Please keep your receipts to all purchases in case you need to return any materials

Oil or Acrylic Paint Colour List: This list tries to limit the colours that need to be purchased. It consists of two of each of the primary colours so that all other colours can be mixed from them. There are many brands of paint that may have different names. Artist quality paints are more expensive than student quality paints, because student quality paint has less pigment in it, but is fine for getting started. Most brands will have a selection of both.

Yellows:
Cadmium Yellow Light ( greenish yellow)
Cadmium Yellow Deep (orangish yellow)
Blues:
Ultramarine Blue (purplish blue)
Cerulean or Phallo or Turquoise blue ( greenish blue)
Reds:
Cadmium Red Light ( orangish red)
Alizarin Crimson (purplish red)
Then you will need some earth colours:
Yellow Ochre
Burnt Sienna
Raw Umber
And a large tube of Titanium White

Paint mediums:
For Oil Paint: Odourless Mineral Spirit, Gamblin Brand is the best, and Linseed Oil
Acrylic Paint: Matt Medium

Brushes:
Brushes are more personal and their size varies according to the size of painting being made.
Think of 3 sizes, small, medium and large. The large being a brush that can easily cover the surface you are painting without much effort,but without being cumbersome.

Palette and Palette knife

Rags for clean up

Sketchbook and pencil

Canvas to paint on: This can be a stretched canvas, canvas panel, wood panel (which may need to be primed with white Gesso), Canvas Paper.