• Try “portfolio”, “ink”, “branding” or a code like “PRS 101”.

IFA 104Illustration and Fine Arts

Painting with Acrylic and Mixed Media

Paint with acrylics and combine them with collage, drawing and texture: materials, colour mixing, layering, edges, mixed-media grounds and finishing a series.

Planned

About this course

Acrylic is affordable, fast-drying and versatile, which makes it ideal for learning to paint and for mixed media. This course covers paints, mediums and surfaces, a safe and tidy studio set-up, and mixing a wide range of colour from a limited palette. You will learn to block in, layer, glaze and build texture, control edges and brushwork, and then combine paint with collage, drawing and textured grounds. The course ends with varnishing and a small, coherent series.

Who it’s for: Beginners and artists new to acrylics or mixed media. Seeing and Drawing and Colour Theory are useful companions but not required. A student-grade starter kit is enough.

You will be able to

  • Choose paints, mediums and surfaces suited to a planned painting and budget.
  • Mix accurate colours from a limited palette of primaries plus white.
  • Build a painting through blocking in, layering, glazing and impasto.
  • Combine acrylic with collage, drawing media and textured grounds in a single work.
  • Finish, varnish and present a series of three related paintings.

Studio project

A coherent series of three acrylic or mixed-media works, with process documentation and a short statement.

To complete this course

  • Complete every required lesson.
  • Have the assignment “A series of three paintings” accepted by an instructor.
  • Records of completion are issued only for courses whose content has passed instructor review.

Part of

Syllabus

Working titles: they may change as the course is written.

  1. Module 1: Materials and studio

    Starting with the right materials and habits.

    1. 1.1Paints, mediums and surfacesReading · 35 min
    2. 1.2Studio set-up, safety and clean-upReading · 25 min
    3. 1.3Mixing from a limited paletteExercise · 50 min

  2. Module 2: Painting techniques

    Core acrylic techniques from first marks to finish.

    1. 2.1Underpainting and blocking inStudio · 60 min
    2. 2.2Layering, glazing and impastoExercise · 50 min
    3. 2.3Edges and brushworkReading · 30 min

  3. Module 3: Mixed media

    Combining paint with other materials.

    1. 3.1Collage and layeringExercise · 45 min
    2. 3.2Texture and groundsExercise · 40 min
    3. 3.3Combining drawing and paintStudio · 50 min

  4. Module 4: Finishing and series

    Completing, protecting and presenting work.

    1. 4.1Varnishing and protecting workReading · 25 min
    2. 4.2Studio: developing a seriesStudio · 90 min

Author: Ricketts University curriculum team (draft for founder review) · Not yet reviewed

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