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Drawing into Painting:
Reconfigure the Figure
- Teacher: Fran O’Neill
- Course Length: 8 Week Class Session
- Start Date: Wednesdays, begins October 9
- Time: 6:00 – 9:00 pm PDT
Think about how the setting can completely change the mood and story of a figure. What happens when you take a figure out of its usual context and place it in an entirely different environment—say, a historical scene or an imagined space? This is where the art of storytelling through painting happens, and it’s used by many great painters from Manet to Frida Kahlo. Learning to re-contextualize figures not only enhances your ability to convey narrative and emotion in your work but it also challenges your creativity, pushing you to think beyond the obvious.
In this “Drawing into Painting: Reconfigure” course, you’ll spend 8 weeks exploring how to place life model figures in various spaces—whether real, imagined, or historical—through drawing and painting.
We start with drawing and collage in the first two weeks. You’ll use historical artworks and zoom models to create new poses and compositions, experimenting with shapes, lines, and mark-making to deconstruct and rebuild your images.
In weeks three and four, the focus shifts to painting. You’ll take your drawings further, developing them into more dynamic and unexpected images. The idea is to see how one image can evolve into the next, making the process of creating art an ongoing exploration.
Weeks five and six challenge you to translate your own photos into paintings, addressing the complexities that come with this process. You’ll work on rethinking and recreating your work to discover new ways of expressing your ideas.
The final two weeks are dedicated to personal development. You’ll have the opportunity to explore your own ideas and imagery, using the techniques you’ve learned to create final compositions that reflect your individual style. This course is suitable for anyone interested in art, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced artist looking for new perspectives.
There will be one:one discussion of the work throughout class, as well as group critiques.
Materials and supplies
Don’t sweat it! Whatever you have on hand is great!
- Smart phone or camera
- Brushes: A large selection of rounds from small sable to large house painting rounds
- Drawing paper, pencils and charcoal
- Scissors
Canvases
All sizes are suggestions, not requirements for this class. Whatever you have on hand is great.
- 2-3 small canvases/surfaces – roughly 14” x 18” or 18” x 24”
- 1-2 medium canvas’ – roughly 28”x 34” or 30” x 48”-
Paints
Artist’s Choice: Oil, Acrylic, or Watercolor paints
Suggested Paint Colors
All colors are suggested, but are not requirements for this class. Whatever you have on hand is great. Suggested colors are listed in order of placement around the palette:
- Flake (or zinc) White
Titanium White - Lemon Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Red Light OR Medium
Alizarin Crimson
Quinacridone Magenta
Caput Mortem Violet OR Indian Red
Windsor Violet (W&N) (Dioxazine Violet)
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Cerulean Blue
Viridian
Cadmium Green Deep
Terre Verde
Raw Umber
Ivory Black
Peach Black
Student works shown above
