Painting II: Following in the Steps of Canada's Group of Seven Workshop

Instructor: Robin Adair
Saturday/Sunday 9am-5pm
2 days: January 10 and January 11
Location: In-person Williams Building room 306
$250 (supplies not included)
Prerequisite: Any 30 hour Painting I course

The Group of Seven is lauded for being Canada’s first major art movement. The members of the group broke from European traditions of painting in significant ways and garnered attention world-wide for their distinctive approaches to painting the Canadian wilderness. In this workshop students will be introduced to specific painting strategies used by leading members of the group. The course will be primarily hands-on with moments of discussion throughout the day. Students will have the option of creating a masters study of one of the member’s paintings or painting from their own reference while emulating a favourite artist’s style. In either case, the primary goal of the course is for students to learn the style of another artist in order to understand better their own strengths and sensibilities as painters.

Syllabus

Saturday:
  • Talk and discussion: Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, and Arthur Lismer.
  • Sketches and thumbnails based on landscape references provided by instructor
  • Talk and Discussion: Tom Thomson
  • Small impasto studies with brushes and palette knives
  • Master study of one Group of Seven painting. Students will have a choice from a selection of painting references

Sunday:
  • Talk and discussion: Frank Johnston, J.E.H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley
  • 2nd Master study
  • Talk and discussion: Emily Carr
  • 3rd Master study

Supplies

  • Graphite pencils: HB and 2B
  • Small sketchbook (9x12 or smaller).
  • Acrylic Heavy body paint. Recommended Brands: Golden; Holbein; Tri-Art
  •  Pigments:
    • Titanium White
    • Bone Black
    • Ultramarine Blue
    • Cobalt Blue
    • Primary Cyan
    • Cadmium Red Light
    • Cadmium Red Medium
    • Alizarin Crimson
    • Quinacridone Magenta
    • Cadmium Yellow Light
    • Cadmium Yellow Medium
    • Yellow Ochre
    • Burnt Sienna
    • Raw Umber
  • Acrylic Brushes: square, round, fan, and flat angle in assorted sizes. Also, one larger square brush (1.5-inch width).
  • Acrylic gel medium: small container of regular or soft gel.
  • 3 palette knives, either plastic or metal, I recommend finding different sizes of the trowel (diamond shaped) blade
  • Wet palette (12” x 16”) You may buy one from a store or I will also teach you how to make your own wet palette. For this you will need a regular tray palette, paper towel, parchment paper, and bulldog clips
  • Cotton rags
  • Masking Tape
  • Supports: Pad of 9x12 or 11x14 Bristol board (vellum). You may use canvas or board if you prefer.

For a brief list of frequently used suppliers, please see Where can I purchase supplies? on our FAQ page.