Painting | Transform the way you paint with Mathew Lynn

Let award winning portraitist and contemporary artist Mathew Lynn be your guide in the process of critically assessing and transforming your painting and art making! Whether you’d like to go through a process of radical experimentation, or you’d like to fine tune aspects of your practice, Mathew can help you to better understand what you’re trying to achieve, and to help you look with a fresh perspective, and to explore new strategies in your work. 
Mathew likes to work one-on-one fairly quickly within the session, setting specific individual exercises and goals where necessary, but each session will start with a general discussion by him, and a chance for all students share their approaches, and what they’re trying to achieve.

This is a session for exploration, and you can use any medium or approach, and this can change from week to week. Mathew will recommend supplementary studies and processes which you can then incorporate into your main work/works.
Bring in your preferred reference materials, which could be photographs, other paintings you’ve been working on, drawings etc. 
This course has no limitations on subject matter.  

What to expect

Expected course outcomes

• Learning how to look and ‘see’ your subject.
• Learning how to discuss this (and your work), and to know what suggestions are valuable.
• Learning about composition: how to evaluate, how to develop, how to use reference materials such as photos, other sketches etc.
• Learning about paint: dynamics, colour, tone, energy, mark making, the respective qualities of each colour.
• Exploring the tension between representation and non-representation
• Having an understanding of what has come before in the works of great artists, in any genre, and how to use these lessons in your own work.

What you will achieve

Students will:

• Work towards completing several paintings on canvas or board
• Learn how to use their own preparatory drawings, paintings, photographs or other source material to develop ideas
• Learn about composition
• Discuss formats for laying out a painting/drawing
• Learn about colour selection, colour mixing and transparency and opacity
• Refine their style and improve foundation skills.

Is this course right for me?

This course is suitable for beginners through to more experienced artists wanting to expand their skills.

Material List

This course is open to all painting media, and I would recommend that all students not only bring their main materials setup, but also a supplementary setup for making studies and process works.

For quick studies:

• Sketchbook or paper, drawing board if necessary, bulldog clips
• Pencils, charcoal, any drawing materials you like, gouache, acrylic, ink etc.

For painting:

• Palette, disposable palette, acrylic or gouache palettes
• Rags, for wiping and clean up 
• Spare containers, water containers
• Anything you like using, like palette knives
• Canvases and boards, a range of sizes. For Gouache bring heavy water media paper, and if you’re using watercolour.

Brushes a guide:
Oil basic - rounds in cheap Hog Bristle #12x2, #10x2, #8x2, #6x4, #4x4, #2x2, #1x2. 
Acrylic - your acrylic brush set up may be different, I would use the above, but you may prefer synthetic options 
You can also bring anything that will make experimental marks including any other type of brush, or brushes you normally use like flats, also sponges, rags etc.
Gouache (and watercolour) - standard synthetic sable in a range of sizes, for large areas and fine work, rounds and flat

Colours:
Basic - Titanium White, Ivory Black, Yellow Ochre, Indian Red (red ochre), Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Cad Yellow Light (or equiv), Cad Red (or equiv), Alizarin Crimson (or equiv). You can also add – Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Magenta, Cad Orange etc. for some strong and punchy colours, and please bring any other colours that you like to use. 
You will notice a big difference between Student and Professional quality paint, so get what you can afford!
The colours are fairly universal, Gouache may have some different names but refer to the oil colour for reference.

Mediums and Solvents:
Oils - we will be strictly using an odourless system, my personal favourite is Galkyd Medium and Gamsol Solvent. I would recommend a quick drying medium (odourless), but you can also use linseed oil with the awareness that your painting might not be properly dry for the next week. I recommend taking your brushes home wrapped in glad wrap to clean and wash. Clean brushes with solvent and then wash with soap AFTER EVERY SESSION. Try not to come to class with hard brushes! Quick drying mediums are very hard on brushes.
Acrylics – can be a basic Acrylic Painting Medium, Gel Medium, Impasto Medium etc. I personally like to use just water, like gouache.
Oil painters should wear disposable gloves, Nitrile are better, and stronger over longer periods.

About studio classes

Our class sizes are small, ensuring you receive the individual tuition you need. We have a maximum of 12 students per class.

Unless otherwise noted, prices *exclude* art materials. Click here to see a list of local art supply retailers.

To learn about our studios, amenites and how to get there, click here.

More Information

FAQs Terms & ConditionsSpecial Offers