METAL AND GLASS
$149.00
- Instructor – Sarah Sedwick
- 12 Lessons/6+ Hours of Instruction
- Lifetime Access/Downloadable Content
- Private Group
- Course Price – $149
Description
Would you like to take the intimidation factor out of shiny metal and clear glass? Ready to create illusions in paint that take your work to the next level?
Join Sarah Sedwick in METAL AND GLASS! Conveying the illusion of texture is one of the most satisfying aspects of still life painting, and these two textures - metal and glass - are the most asked-about of them all! This fun and focused class will demystify metal and simplify glass, exploring the ways that we “speak” surface texture to the viewer. We’ll cover still life setup and lighting, color mixing, and loose brushwork, all the while squinting, simplifying, and exaggerating the qualities that create convincing textures. Combining both metal and glass - and adding some fun colors and props - our final painting introduces Sarah’s three steps for alla prima (“wet on wet”). These concepts and techniques can be applied to oil, acrylic, or any type of painting you like. As a bonus, this class includes a varnish lesson! Find out why you should be varnishing your work, and exactly how to do it.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course students will have an understanding of the following concepts:
- Develop a deeper understanding of painting with oils - for beginners to experienced artists!
- Learn to simplify and “speak” metal and glass texture to the viewer - in any medium!
- Understand how to arrange and light a still life
- Build a split-primary palette that can be used to paint any subject
- Mix colors specifically for metal and glass
- Recognize what makes a composition "good" with some simple "do's" and "dont's"
- Loosen up your brushwork and stop sooner to keep that freshness on your canvas
- Create an underpainting or imprimatura
- Apply the 3-step all prima painting method
CLASS IS OPEN - SELF-STUDY
Lifetime Access - Download All Content
Cost - $149
DESCRIPTION OF LESSONS
This class begins with an introduction to supplies and a review of important terminology on light, shadow and edge via video and printed PDF.
After you gather your supplies, we will jump into exploring our first texture: shiny metal! There are so many possibilities. We’ll break down my main considerations for choosing and arranging still life objects, with an emphasis on the unique opportunities we encounter with metal.
Next, we’ll lay out our split-primary palette, exploring color mixing strategies for depicting metal. This palette is still “limited” by many artists’ standards, and is a great way to simplify color mixing, and keep your mixtures fresh and harmonious. Once the palette is mixed up, we are ready to begin painting. We will begin with an underpainting, then move on to exploring shiny metallic highlights and reflections, focusing on squinting, simplifying, and staying loose with our brushwork.
In this lesson, we’ll repeat the process, switching textures from metal to glass! We’ll review still life setup considerations, emphasizing the importance of what we see through glass, as opposed to what we see reflected in metal. I’m working with only one glass object, but feel free to make your still life as complex as you like. Next, we’ll move on to color mixing, and our underpainting, using the same “tone color” that we used for our metal study.
After, we will add color to our underpainting of glass! Just like painting anything else, glass is just “values shapes and colors.” Thinking about it in this abstract way can take the intimidation out of starting. We’ll focus on capturing what we see through the glass, plus any distortions, highlights, and dark accents to create the illusion of clarity.
I’m excited to put it all together, combining metal and glass - and adding colored glass and other fun elements - to create a still life that “clicks,” and a dynamic composition. We’ll arrange our still life at a lower height for a different vantage point, lighting it to create dramatic shadows. Next, a quick sketch in pencil and Sharpie will help with decisions about design!
Let’s “plan the party!” Premixing colors on our palette allows us to let go, loosen up, and enjoy the fun of painting once the brush hits the canvas. Next we move on to the underpainting, or imprimatura. Working from the general to the specific, we’ll begin by blocking in loosely, arriving at an underpainting that is detailed enough to show us where we’re headed, but not so detailed that we are reluctant to cover it up with thick, juicy paint. Finally, we’ll apply color to our underpainting. I’m so excited to see what you will create!
CLASS IS OPEN - SELF-STUDY
Lifetime Access - Download All Content
Cost - $149
MEET KARA BULLOCK - ARTIST/INSTRUCTOR
A prolific painter of still life and portraits, Sarah has been teaching workshops on alla prima painting around the country since 2013, and also offers an online art mentorship program. She is the author of the book Dynamic Still Life for Artists, published in 2022.
Based in Eugene, Oregon since 2007, Sarah was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2001, she earned a BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art. Her oil paintings explore the simple beauty of everyday objects, often inspired by luscious color and texture combinations. All are painted from life.
Sarah’s teaching philosophy is simple: the more you paint, the more you improve - so find ways to make painting as accessible and enjoyable as possible! Let go of perfectionism, and watch the results unfold.
PRIVATE GROUP JUST FOR YOU!
This course will have a private Facebook group just for you! The artist will be actively involved with the class via Facebook the first four weeks the course is open! After that the course will be a self-study. The artist may or may not be involved after the four weeks. We are looking forward to seeing your artwork!
COURSE SUPPLIES
Canvases or other painting surfaces:
- A pad of canvas paper, or Arches oil paper
- Two canvases, any size you’d like to create a finished painting on. One square, one rectangle (8x10 or 9x12 or larger). I will be working on a Raymar SC23 smooth cotton canvas panel. Use the code SEDWICK15 at raymarart.com for 15% off your entire first order, if you’d like to try this great surface too!
- Sketchbook, paper, or drawing pad.
Paint
- I recommend M. Graham brand. These are the colors I’ll be using in the workshop.
- Titanium white
- Alizarin Crimson
- Ultramarine Blue
- Cadmium Red Light
- Viridian
- Cadmium Yellow (Medium)
- Hansa Yellow
- Yellow Ochre
- Ivory Black
Brushes
- I use Princeton Aspen synthetics, but I encourage you to use what you’re comfortable with. A good starter kit is a #2 round and a #4 flat and a #4 or #6 filbert.
Solvent
Medium
- Gamblin’s Solvent-Free Gel (or substitute with linseed oil, walnut oil, Galkyd, Liquin, or similar)
Palette
- a 12x16 (or larger) disposable paper palette pad. Or any palette of your choice - I like New Wave.
Palette knife
Other Supplies:
- Brush Holder - use code SARAH for discount
- Pencil and black Sharpie marker
- A container for Gamsol - I’m using a metal brush washer, and a glass or plastic jar works just fine. Have one for clean Gamsol to use while painting and one to pour your dirty Gamsol into at the end of each painting day. It will settle, and clean Gamsol can be poured off the top and reused.
- Rags or paper towels (I like disposable blue shop towels, available at hardware stores)
- Viewfinder: The Viewcatcher by The Color Wheel *optional*
- Easel and side table
- Clip light or desk lamp
- Lightbulbs: I’ll be using 75 watt LED’s 3000K.
- A few simple still life objects. I also have a picture pack to help you with ideas
- A few sheets of colored paper for backgrounds
A standing easel, or tabletop easel if you like to sit down to paint. I recommend the Leder Easel for lightweight portability. (See my demo video in the supplies video in class)
GOOD TO HAVE: Plastic clamps 3-5” in size. Masking tape.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON ACCESSING CLASSES AND SELLING WORK CREATED IN THIS COURSE:
**Upon purchasing your course, you will be asked to create an account and go through the purchase process (even if the cost is $0 for a free course). If you have already created an account, after purchase your course will IMMEDIATELY be available under “LOGIN” at the top right-hand of karabullockart.com.
**If your course does not show up, please email us at karabullockart@gmail.com
**Due to the nature of the immediate availability of the course, all purchases are nonrefundable.
**Please talk to the artist of the course about his/her policy on selling artwork created in this course prior to selling any works created during course. Some artists will allow it, while others do not. Thank you for your support.
Paula McDowell (verified owner) –
I absolutely loved this course! I have taken Sarah’s courses before, and she is a fabulous teacher; this course reinforced a lot of concepts with particular tips for metal and glass subjects. I especially loved all of the extra references provided, and the bonus varnish lesson! Highly recommend this course. Thank you Sarah and Kara!
Roberta Pledge (verified owner) –
Love painting metal and glass and this course helped immensely. Sarah’s extra encouragement she gives as she teaches plays on replay in my head as I attempt to paint, especially the concept of stopping before you finish and not over painting! Thanks for an excellent workshop, Sarah and Kara!
Nancy McEvoy (verified owner) –
This course was so helpful! I’ve taken one of Sarah’s workshops and wondered how an online experience would compare. It was worth it! Sarah teaches throughout her entire painting process so the learning experience was rich. She takes us with her as she develops her work from start to finish, voicing her steps in problem solving aloud throughout and shares her philosophies with catchy comments that resonate long after the lesson is over. I really appreciated learning how to “check in with my palette” and set it up for next stages. And she successfully demystifies tricky subjects such as metal and glass by breaking it down to the fundamentals. I look forward to taking another course of Sarah’s again!
Amy Dibner (verified owner) –
This was an amazing class. Sarah Sedwick is such a good teacher, approaching complex subjects like painting metal and glass to simple step-by-step guidance. So much of this is learning to SEE metal, glass, and the composition of other objects with these materials. Thank you, Sarah. Your work is an inspiration and your lessons (and I’ve taken several of your classes through Kara Bullock Art School!) have helped me to grow as a painter.
carolinthesky (verified owner) –
Sarah is a great teacher. Breaks her process down in a thorough, yet entertaining way. Supportive, generous, and VERY informative!
Katherine Moe (verified owner) –
I would recommend Sarah’s classes. I learned a lot about paint mixing, the use of neutrals and how to use a split primary palette to create a lot of colours. Her teaching style is interesting as she simplifies the process of painting metal and glass through the steps of 1. set up your models, 2. draw your composition and 3. paint.
Katherine Moe (verified owner) –
I would recommend Sarah’s classes. I learned a lot about paint mixing, the use of neutrals and how Her teaching style is interesting as she simplifies the process of painting metal and glass through the steps of 1. set up your models, 2. draw your composition and 3. paint.
Charlotte Watson (verified owner) –
What I love about Sarah is nothing is held back. If she knows something that will help you she shares it. As a beginner in Ala Prima painting I knew very little about value, temperature, saturation, composition, etc. She has covered it all. What I found most beneficial is the ability to pause and rewind so I don’t miss any of her pearls that fly out of her mouth. She is warm and fun to watch. I am so glad I purchased this course.