A Psychological Approach to Painting

I have found that our biggest obstacle to producing meaningful art is not related to a perceived lack of innate talent, but rather to how we manage our fear, anxiety, and self-judgements. In this class, I attempt to help students recognize the important role that their lack of self-confidence and willingness to take risks can play in limiting the quality of their art.

We will learn a variety of oil painting techniques and colour theory, but more importantly, we learn how to keep our typically arbitrary, perceived self-limitations in check in order to help us apply paint with confidence and joy. It is my observation that once we begin to see ourselves as artists, regardless of how much experience we have painting, we are able to produce art far beyond our expectations.

Subject matters will include landscapes, still life, portraits, and life painting (people and/or animals). Most work will be done from photographs, though there will also occasionally be live models.