Oil Painting Course
The Program Focus
Oil painting is the most prestigious and flexible technique in art history, from translucent watercolor-like washes to thick, massive impasto. This program is designed to simplify its complex variables, providing artists with a powerful foundation that even experienced painters often struggle to master.
Questions You Will Answer
The Fundamentals
Which components serve as the essential base for oil painting? Why does one painting glow with deep, vibrant colors while another appears dull and dry? How do you create light, shadow, and perfect color transitions?
Anatomy and Portraiture
How to paint the human body and create a portrait? What is the secret to rendering skin texture and lifelike tones? How do you create halftones and seamless transitions?
Tools and Materials
What is the purpose of coarse vs. soft brushes, and why are specific varnishes and thinners essential? Which pigments and oils are best for large-scale works, and which are required for small, detailed miniatures? Why choose between canvas, wood, or paper?
Program content and technical mastery
Foundational Drawing and Composition
Traditional drawing is the heart of oil painting. Sometimes the drawing is created during the oil painting process. This requires a high level of mastery which we will cover during the course. You will learn to command form and proportion using various sources: photographs, old masters, or live studio setups. We may work on still life, live models, or 'en plein air' sessions to capture landscapes and figures under the open sky.
The Art of the Underpainting
You will master the technique of the initial sketch using charcoal, pastel, graphite, egg tempera, acrylic, or oil. This stage simplifies the entire painting process and can often stand alone as a finished work or serve as the vital structural map for your layers.
Canvas and Surface Preparation
You will learn the professional art of surface preparation: stretching canvases (linen, cotton, or synthetic) and understanding thread weight. We study the critical link between glues and gesso—including gypsum, acrylic, and oil-based primers—and how they directly influence the vibrancy, gloss, and archival quality of your work.
Advanced Application and Multi-Layering
We explore the spectrum from 'Alla Prima' to complex glazing (layering). You will learn to use specialized soft brushes for airy tones and fine details in portraits and drapery. We study the chemistry of oils—such as linseed and walnut—and which varieties are suited for hyper-realism versus large-scale works. You will also master the use of the maulstick and final varnishing to protect and highlight specific details.
Artistic and Philosophical Heritage
Mastering oil painting is an immersion into the primary language of fine art that has dominated the global market for centuries. In contemporary art, deep command of oils sets an artist apart, offering a level of material depth and prestige valued by galleries and collectors. This course provides the technical mastery to move between hyper-realism and expressive abstraction. By controlling every variable—from the hand-primed canvas to the final varnish—you ensure your work possesses the archival integrity and visual power required for museum-level exhibitions and elite private commissions.
Course Duration and Individual Pace
The full curriculum is structured as a comprehensive path of 40 double sessions or 80 academic hours, which includes the student's essential self-work. However, as these are private individual sessions, the total time required to master the material is flexible; it adapts entirely to your personal progress, artistic background, and the time you dedicate to practice. There are no rigid deadlines and no grades; the focus is exclusively on your individual mastery of the craft and the quality of your artistic development.
Format and Logistics
The training is conducted as private individual sessions with the teacher traveling to the student's studio or home, for maximum comfort and efficiency. You choose your package of 1, 5, or 10 lessons. Note that all necessary materials and equipment are not included in the session cost. Lessons are conducted in Basel, Basel-Landschaft, and bordering suburbs of Germany and France.
Program content and technical mastery
Foundational Drawing and Composition
Traditional drawing is the heart of oil painting. Sometimes the drawing is created during the oil painting process. This requires a high level of mastery which we will cover during the course. You will learn to command form and proportion using various sources: photographs, old masters, or live studio setups. We may work on still life, live models, or 'en plein air' sessions to capture landscapes and figures under the open sky.
The Art of the Underpainting
You will master the technique of the initial sketch using charcoal, pastel, graphite, egg tempera, acrylic, or oil. This stage simplifies the entire painting process and can often stand alone as a finished work or serve as the vital structural map for your layers.
Canvas and Surface Preparation
You will learn the professional art of surface preparation: stretching canvases (linen, cotton, or synthetic) and understanding thread weight. We study the critical link between glues and gesso—including gypsum, acrylic, and oil-based primers—and how they directly influence the vibrancy, gloss, and archival quality of your work.
Advanced Application and Multi-Layering
We explore the spectrum from 'Alla Prima' to complex glazing (layering). You will learn to use specialized soft brushes for airy tones and fine details in portraits and drapery. We study the chemistry of oils—such as linseed and walnut—and which varieties are suited for hyper-realism versus large-scale works. You will also master the use of the maulstick and final varnishing to protect and highlight specific details.
Artistic and Philosophical Heritage
Mastering oil painting is an immersion into the primary language of fine art that has dominated the global market for centuries. In contemporary art, deep command of oils sets an artist apart, offering a level of material depth and prestige valued by galleries and collectors. This course provides the technical mastery to move between hyper-realism and expressive abstraction. By controlling every variable—from the hand-primed canvas to the final varnish—you ensure your work possesses the archival integrity and visual power required for museum-level exhibitions and elite private commissions.
Course Duration and Individual Pace
The full curriculum is structured as a comprehensive path of 40 double sessions or 80 academic hours, which includes the student's essential self-work. However, as these are private individual sessions, the total time required to master the material is flexible; it adapts entirely to your personal progress, artistic background, and the time you dedicate to practice. There are no rigid deadlines and no grades; the focus is exclusively on your individual mastery of the craft and the quality of your artistic development.
Format and Logistics
The training is conducted as private individual sessions with the teacher traveling to the student's studio or home, for maximum comfort and efficiency. You choose your package of 1, 5, or 10 lessons. Note that all necessary materials and equipment are not included in the session cost. Lessons are conducted in Basel, Basel-Landschaft, and bordering suburbs of Germany and France.
Skulls, Fruits and Flowers. Oil on canvas. Artist: Ilya Medvedev
