Painting as Process: Alla Prima and Expressive Brushwork

Slow down and discover the power of painting in the moment. Working primarily from observation, learn to paint wet-into-wet (alla prima), developing paintings in a single session and strengthening your ability to see color, value, edges, and form.

Rather than focusing on highly rendered finishes, this course emphasizes confident brushwork, simplification, and the beauty of visible marks. Through demonstrations, guided exercises, and sustained painting studies, participants will explore a variety of brush techniques, learn to mix and apply color efficiently, and gain confidence making bold, intentional choices.

• Week 1: Begin by learning the foundations of alla prima painting. Through quick studies and observational exercises, focus on simplifying subjects into basic shapes and values while exploring how different brushes create distinct marks and textures. Emphasis will be placed on observation over detail.
• Week 2: Explore how brush handling can communicate movement, texture, atmosphere, and form. Experiment with a range of brush techniques, including directional strokes, broken color, loaded brushes, and varied edge treatments. Short painting studies will encourage confident mark-making.
• Week 3: Develop strategies for efficient color mixing and fresh paint application. Through still-life studies, learn to mix cleaner colors, identify temperature relationships, and apply paint with intention while maintaining the vitality of wet-into-wet painting.
• Week 4: Focus on how brushwork and value relationships work together to create the illusion of light and volume. Create observational paintings that emphasize strong value patterns, edge control, and expressive paint handling rather than excessive detail.
• Week 5: Apply accumulated skills in a longer painting session. Develop a complete alla prima painting from start to finish, focusing on composition, color harmony, brush economy, and maintaining freshness throughout the process.
• Week 6: Bring together the concepts explored throughout the course in a final painting project. Make intentional stylistic choices, refine your brushwork vocabulary, and reflect on how process, observation, and mark-making contribute to your unique voice as a painter. Group discussion and feedback will support continued growth beyond the course.

This is an intermediate-level Studio Class. The curriculum and instruction are intended for adults with some prior experience. While all motivated learners are welcome, students with a foundational understanding of painting will be most successful in keeping pace with the class and fully engaging in exercises and activities.

Please note that in the event of a session being canceled, November 19 is reserved as a makeup date.

Expand your art-making skills through guided, step-by-step instruction with expert instructor. Over multiple weeks, you will learn alongside other creative adults and delve deeply into the artistic process, explore new techniques, and build your practice.  

The registration fee includes all materials, weekly access to world-class art in the museum’s galleries, hours of expert instruction, and access to a Friday afternoon Open Studio during the run of the class.