Abstract Painting for Beginners Short Course

The Abstraction Painting for Beginners Short Course explores some of the fundamental approaches to making abstract art.

This inspiring 5-week evening course is taught through a combination of slide talks on abstract painters and their work and a series of fun practical exercises. The focus is on developing understanding of colour, gesture, scale, form, shape and line.

During the course, students learn how to use the language of abstraction to get closer to their own personal sources and subject matter.

Each session focuses on a new aspect of abstraction and culminates in a final work abstract painting which will bring together the experimentations and learning from the course.

It is hoped that students can continue the practical exercises outside of the classroom and aim to make one new work experimenting with what they have learnt that week.

Course outcomes

By the end of the course students should have:

• Developed their own visual language

• Improved their understanding of the principles of painting through experimentation

• Explored contemporary and historical examples of abstract art and abstract artists

Topics covered

• Contextual analysis (artist references will be shown and discussed)

• Mark-making and gesture

• Composition, tone and paint application

• Paint manipulation, colour and collage

• Texture and layering

• Reworking