Paint - Mixed Media and Abstraction. Mondays, 10am - 5pm (4.45-5pm for clean up) 11/01/16-21/03/2016 (no class on 15/02/2016 for half term)

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1 Course Title Tutor Day & time Dates Course Code Level Paint - Mixed Media and Abstraction Alison Hand Mondays, 10am - 5pm (4.45-5pm for clean up) 11/01/16-21/03/2016 (no class on 15/02/2016 for half term) D1501P35 Room Foundation/Optional What is this course about? This exciting and experimental course aims to explore, test, and discover the properties and potential of a range of traditional and non-traditional paints and surfaces. Over the ten weeks, we will expand and develop our understanding of what paint can do, and the specific material qualities of numerous paints. We will investigate how various paints - including acrylics, spray paints, and gloss paints - feel and handle, and how using different approaches with them can shape our paintings, such as process, chance, transparency, and found surfaces. Throughout the course we will explore how modern and contemporary artists use the medium of paint, and take inspiration from them as starting points for our own paintings, along with other ways of creating source material for paintings such as collage. We will explore paint as a tactile material rather than purely as a representational medium, thereby enjoying and utilising its plasticity, luminosity and surface texture. We will also be really experimental and playful with the surfaces we paint on, in order to question the role of the traditional rectangular/square canvas, and discover how the use of different and irregular surfaces can create new meanings and visual intrigue and excitement. Content The course will cover: Further exploring various types of paint mediums; watercolour, acrylic, oil, gloss, spray paint, etc. Group discussion and tutor led talks contextualising painting within contemporary practice. Looking at how and why other artists use paint within their practice. Developing a subtle appreciation of the properties and meaning of paint as a medium. Thinking experimentally and being open and playful. Students will experiment with a series of less traditional paints such as enamel, spray and gloss. Students will also be introduced to techniques and processes such as layering, collage, washes, masking, making painting devices, and painting on various surfaces such as metal, cardboard, plastic etc. Materials and equipment students need to provide An A4 sketchbook.

2 Any paints/paint products that the students have and may wish to experiment with; household paints, watercolour, thickening mediums etc. Please also check additional costs below. Oil and acrylic paints (as per the academy painting packs listed below). Please either purchase an academy painting pack following the link below or source your the individual items from elsewhere; Oil Painting Pack 50 contains: A set of bristle brushes, both flat and round, suitable for either oils or acrylics. One tear off palette (9 x12 ). One palette knife. Two 8 x10 canvas boards Three 10 x14 canvas boards. 6 Daler Rowney oil tubes: Titanium white, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, cobalt blue, French ultramarine and raw umber. An Acrylic Painting Pack 50 contains: A set of bristle brushes, both flat and round, suitable for either oils or acrylics One tear off palette (9 x12 ). One palette knife. Two 8 x10 canvas boards Three 10 x14 canvas boards. Eight Daler Rowney acrylic tubes of black, white, cadmium red, ultramarine, sap green, yellow ochre, burnt umber, cadmium yellow. Initial introduction materials and tools will be provided by the academy, subsequent materials will be sourced and paid for by students. What topics do we cover? Transparency and painting as collage Painting as process Exploring acrylics - layers and subtlety Exploring acrylics - flatness and plasticity Surface Finding the image in the accident By the end of this course: Weekly breakdown Courses at the Art Academy offer a structured approach to ensure specific subjects, skills and methods are covered. Below is a weekly breakdown of what will be covered. Bear in mind that these classes will move with the pace of the class so a degree of flexibility of what will be covered on which day will be employed. Week Date Topic/skills covered Location What to bring Model 1 11 Jan Transparency and painting as collage This first two weeks we will be using acetate as a painting surface, exploring the transparency and plastic sheen. Starting with a discussion and There will be a cost of 6 per student to cover acetates, spray paints, and some

3 examples, we will then use collage as a compositional tool to disestablish habitual ways of constructing paintings, to create source material for our paintings. We will then work on sheets of clear acetate, utilising the transparency to create layered, double sided works, which employ the quick drying nature and stretch of acrylic paint; the 'utopian' colours and soft edges of spray paint; and the glossiness and dense coverage of household paints. Brushwork and flatness is very apparent on clear plastic surfaces, and these gestural and non-gestural techniques can be considered and applied. household paints. Also please bring your acrylic set with you Jan Transparency and painting as collage Continuing paintings from last week. As above 3 25 Jan Painting as process Gallery visit / studio discussion (tbc) morning only, returning to the studio in the afternoon. The day will begin with a gallery or studio-based discussion of painters who use their process as the primary element in their work. We will consider how they utilise the material language of paint, as affected by time, movement, repetition, and chance, to create paintings. We will then make our own paintings which explore the idea of process as form, investigating the properties of traditional oil paint and 'household' paints - pouring, dripping, scraping, erasing, and the potential temporal qualities of paint and the idea of creating something which is unfixed and changes over time. We will make our own painting devices to extend our range outside the paintbrush. Surfaces to paint on, ie MDF boards, canvas boards (can be bought from the shop) Acrylic and oil sets. 4 1 Feb Painting as process continued We will assess what has happened to our paintings over the week, and see how to continue working with them or where they might suggest we go next... As above 5 8 Feb Exploring acrylics - layers and Acrylic set.

4 subtlety Acrylic paints have wonderful properties and we will explore these by working in two different ways with them. This first week we will build up a series of very thin layers of acrylic washes to create density, subtlety, colour, and depth, with painting 'incidents' (images or abstract forms) located on different layers, thereby creating a sense of space, ambiguity, and intrigue within a very flat surface. Painting surface ie canvas or board Feb Exploring acrylics - flatness and plasticity This week we continue with our exploration of acrylic paint, this time employing its flat plasticity and the disappearance of brushwork and gesture, using tape to mask edges and areas. We will layer flat areas of forms and colour to discover how to create a sense of space and vibrancy in an abstract context. As above 7 29 Feb Surface This week we are really exploring and playing with the actual surface, so our painting surface / support becomes as much part of the artwork as the paint. In using surface as medium, we need to consider the material properties, language, and associations of the surfaces we use. In preparation, students will find suitable and exciting surfaces to use, which may be irregular, found objects, or fragments - and will work with them to draw out their material qualities, adding to or subverting them via their painted interventions. A range of surfaces as described left. We will discuss this the preceding week. Acrylic and oil set. 8 7 Mar Finding the image in the accident This week, we will create a series of 'accidental' surfaces, using either or all of - oil paint with turpentine wash; acrylic with water wash; or watercolour. After looking at the delicate paintings of Barbara Howey, we will create our own 'accidental' paintings from these poured washes, blotches, stains and traces, and we will then assess what we have made, in order to pull or place an image or Acrylic, oil, or watercolour sets

5 incident out of this accidental surface Mar Personal project - mixed media painting In these last two weeks, we will make a truly mixed media painting of each student's choice, with the aim of developing a rich painting vocabulary expressed through the specific combination of differing languages of paint. All media Mar Personal project - mixed media painting In these last two weeks, we will make a truly mixed media painting of each student's choice, with the aim of developing a rich painting vocabulary expressed through the specific combination of differing languages of paint. All media Additional Costs There will be a cost of 6 per student to cover acetates, spray paints, and some household paints. About your tutor Alison Hand holds an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art and is a published writer on art and architecture. She has exhibited in Germany, Hong Kong, London and across the UK, and has also curated a number of shows. Her paintings and drawings have won many awards including the Basil H Alkazzi Scholarship; the Gordon Luton Award for Fine Art; and the Stephenson Harwood Award. In her painting practice she has variously used oil / acrylic on canvas or board, plastics, glass and found surfaces, household paints and spray paints, and employed painting as a site-specific intervention. Assessment On attendance only, 80% of the course must be covered to pass. Feedback will be given throughout and verbal assessment will be given on the last week of the course.