Saturday, September 5, 2009

Painting Lessons Reviews

I just was reading about something I love - painting! I am going to look at painting courses that people can buy and I'll rate them or review them - at least I will try to.

The first one is a brand new course called Learn and Master Painting. It seems to be a very well-produced video (on DVD) series. This is not just one DVD - there are 20 of them! I like the promo videos and all the information it says you will learn with their program, such as:


  • Foundational skills you missed in art school or in art lessons.

  • The teacher, Gayle LevĂ©e explains daily concepts in detail, and then allows for practice time.

  • An assignment follows each of the day's concepts in which you create a work of art using them.

  • By the end of the course you will have a portfolio of works!
So, if you are looking ahead to the holidays (like I am) and looking for some great gift ideas, this would be the best gift ever for a friend, relative, husband, or wife, or even a teenager who wants to learn oil painting.


Here is a picture of the package:



Notice there are brushes and paint and some other painting supplies shown... This is because there is an optional kit of painting supplies you can buy when you buy the lessons. It's a good idea for newbies to have all the supplies ready to go - and the price is also reasonalble. But you don't have to buy the paints and supplies.
This course is very in-depth and the price is very reasonable. There are many art styles you will learn about in the Learn and Master Painting DVDs, here is a list:
Alla Prima - Means "on the first" in Italian and this is a method of painting right onto the primed canvas with out drawing or sketching (or even underpainting) first.
Impressionism - Just as those famous 20th century painters focussed on light and color to create a painting - the course will show you how to paint with an impressionist style.
Chiaroscuro - Blending different shades or tones to show a form's 3D or roundness.
Realism - Painting things as they really look, without idealizing them or adding embellishments.
Impasto Painting - With this technique, paint is applied thickly with a pallette knife or a brush which adds an interesting texture to the painting's surface.
Scumbling - The process of painting semi-transparent layers of color on top of each other
Wet into Wet - Painting into wet areas on the canvas. This creates some very interesting, flowing textures and designs.
That is really quite a lot to learn - I have never seen a painting course that covers so much!

One more thing - for the DVDs, if you don't like them - there is a no questions asked money back guarantee - you can't get that if you sign up for local art classes!