Transitioning to Acrylic

DESCRIPTION
There’s a trend of artists from other mediums like watercolor, oil, and gouache who are making the transition to acrylic for its more forgiving nature in correction, better lightfastness, possibilities in layering, and its diverse techniques and styles. If you like the versatility of acrylic but are frustrated with not getting the results you want, then this online course is for you.

This three-week online course is designed to help you make a smooth transition to acrylic no matter how much experience you have with the medium. Through painting demos, guided exercises, presentations, group discussions, and critiques, you will learn:

• Specific acrylic techniques for blending and mixing colors.
• Different transparent and opaque layering techniques.
• How to correctly adapt your techniques from other mediums to acrylic.
• The appropriate materials that are best for you based on your artistic background.

In this online course, we will be painting landscapes and still life using photo references for all paintings. Wayne will email photo references to you prior to each class. You may use your own similar photo reference for your painting.

We’ll use the Zoom video conferencing system for this online painting class. The online class will have slideshow presentations, painting demos, paint along with Wayne, and critiques. Students will have access to download a video file of the painting demo to refer to so they can paint along at home at their own pace.

Students are responsible for knowing how to log into Zoom. Be sure to test this before the first class session. Students also need to know how to email photos of their painting to Wayne for feedback.

SUPPLY INFORMATION
Students will provide their own supplies and materials:

• Assortment of brushes:
  • Filbert: #12, #8. 
    
  • Small: Round #2, #1. 
    
• Three to five stretched canvases or gesso panels, your choice of width and height between 8” and 18” (most painting demos will be done on 10” x 8” panels). If your watercolor has been your main medium, gessoed watercolor paper or Canson Oil and Acrylic Paper might be a good surface for you to transition to  acrylic. 
• Acrylic colors in a tube or jar: 
  • Regular, heavy body or soft body acrylic only. No acrylic fluid, ink acrylic or open acrylic please.  
    o Golden, Liquitex, Nova Colors are the preferred brands (if you are new or transitioning to acrylic Liquitex heavy body is preferred, for more experienced artists Golden or Nova Color are the preferred brands).
  •  Essential Colors: 
    
    • Titanium White  
      
    • Yellow Ochre  
      
    • Burnt Sienna  
      
    • Raw Umber Dark 
      
    • Ultramarine Blue  
      
    • Cadmium Yellow Medium  
      
    • Cadmium Red Medium  
      
    • Gloss Medium and varnish  
      
  • Optional colors in smaller tubes or amount:  
    
    • Permanent Light Green  
      
    • Phthalocyanine Blue (green shade)  
      
    • Dioxazine Purple  
      
    • Alizarin Crimson 
      
    • Matte Medium  
      
• Color palette or tray (do not use watercolor palette, cafeteria food tray is preferred).
• A roll of a parchment paper (for lining the palette).
• One piece of 220 grit wet/dry sandpaper (can be purchased at any hardware store).
• Small bottle of Gesso (Titanium White paint can be a gesso substitute for small paintings).
• Hair dryer. 
  
• #2 pencils and rubber erasers.
• Optional items:
  • Black carbon paper for tracing (can be purchased at office supply store). 
    
  • A roll of masking tape (if you like to work on paper).

Recommended Websites for Purchasing Supplies:

• Nova Color: for buying paint. 
• Dick Blick : for buying gesso, brushes, canvas, and other art supplies.
  
• Jerry’s Artarama: for buying paint, panels, brushes online.
   
  

COURSE DETAILS
After registration, course details are available via the Northwind Art School learning portal. Learn more

ABOUT WAYNE
Wayne Jiang is a Portland-based realist painter and teacher. Combining the aesthetic of 17th century Baroque paintings and the composition of modern documentary photography, his works have been described as the contemporary interpretations of Vermeer and Hopper. Wayne's work has been widely exhibited in museums and galleries.

Artist website: Wayne Jiang, @waynewjiang 

—

DISCOUNTS
This course is eligible for a 10% member discount at the Supporter level and beyond. Get a membership today!

Don's Pharmacy offers Northwind Art School students a 10% discount on art supplies.

—

CANCELLATION POLICY
If Northwind Art has to cancel a course for any reason, all enrolled students will receive a 100% refund (including any materials fee).

Students who withdraw from a course at least seven days prior to its first meeting will receive a 90% refund (less any materials fee). 

Students withdrawing fewer than seven days from the first day of class are not eligible for a refund except in the case of illness or injury, in which case they are eligible to receive a 40% refund (less any materials fee).

Please note that 10% of every course’s registration fee is considered to be a non-refundable deposit in cases of withdrawal to cover administrative overhead. All refunds will be applied to the same credit card that was used for enrollment. No credits or transfers will be granted. 

Please email admin@northwindart.org if you wish to withdraw or for more information.