Color for Painters (Online Course) Fall 2025 w/ Al Gury

October 1 to October 29 (Wednesdays), 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM, Eastern Time

**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.

Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.

DEMO: https://youtu.be/6WHQjgnHXjE

Course Description

Visually rich and useful, this course is comprehensive examination of the history, theories and practices of color in painting. The course presents an overview of color history in painting and how it has evolved to the present, a survey of the major theories and their practical applications in art making, a hands-on study of the most useful color charts, gradations and mixing, studio exercises implementing the use of color aesthetics and practices in art making and visual study and analyze color in masterworks.

Weekly video demos by the instructor and weekly painting projects are designed to help the student have more knowledge about color in art making as well as having more confidence in their work.

 This course is open to all levels of student experience and all media.

Course Outline

Week 1 -

Introduction, materials, Q&A, color history, palettes, materials, grounds, examples, first videos and project: Translating color into value and value into color, using gray scale, and the Earth Palette.

Project: A still life in gray scale and another using the Earth Palette

Week 2 -

The full palette, color chroma and using the full palette of both earth and prismatic colors. Color in Landscape painting, Q&A, examples, visual history, second video demos.

Project: Landscape painting using the full palette.

Week 3 -

Color in the figure and portraits, Q&A, visual history, examples, video demos.

Project: a portrait or self-portrait done from life, photos or a master copy.

Week 4 -

The color of light and Impressionism and Post Impressionism, Q&A, examples, visual history, video demos, and project using the full palette.

Project: a painting done in cool, natural light; landscape, still life or portrait, master copy or photos

Week 5 -

Fauvism and Modernist color, Q&A, Expression and Color, visual history, video demos, and examples.

Project: A painting using the full palette in a Fauvist and abstract style.

Course Materials List

We will discuss all materials in the first class meeting.

Basic classic palette for oil, acrylic or watercolor and pastel.

Yellow Ochre

Raw Umber

Burnt Sienna

Ivory Black

Cadmium Yellow Light

Cadmium Red Medium

Permanent Rose

Ultramarine Blue

Chromium Oxide Green

Dioxazine Purple

Titanium White

Additional optional colors:

Burnt Umber

Mars Violet

Green Earth

Cadmium Orange

Phthalo Blue

Cadmium Green

Cerulean Blue

Zinc white

Lead white

Surfaces:

Gessoed painting surfaces, 8X10-20X16, watercolor and pastel pads of choice.

Basic color surfaces are white, gray, tan. These can be opaque or transparent imprimaturas.

Containers for oil and thinners or water (Preferably metal or heavy plastic. Not glass because they break)

Palette for mixing colors (Disposable, wood, metal, etc.)

Linseed oil for oil paints

Brushes for oil, watercolor or acrylic. (3-4 well shaped and flexible bristle brushes)

Paper towels

View finder for compositional choices

Sketchbook for thumbnail sketches.

Pastel or watercolor paper if needed