Oils Certificate Course Tutored by Alan Dedman

Artists have been using oil paints since the 14th century, attracted by their subtlety of colour and ways of manipulation. Oil paints are well suited to the artistic temperament as it is possible to manipulate the paint during its extended drying time and because of its plasticity.

The course is suitable for anyone who wishes to learn how to use oil paints, although some drawing experience may be helpful.

The course starts with a detailed look at the materials and equipment used in oil painting and considers the best working environment. It then moves on to help you create a simple painting using a limited palette and simplified shapes. The course discusses techniques for planning your drawing on paper and then transferring it to canvas. There is a look at colour theory and ways of handling colour in your picture.

The course is full of useful advice about how to make the most out of your oil paints and how to get the effects that you want from them.

Course contents -
Materials
using a drying mix to shorten the drying time.
Painting a simple picture
transferring designs from paper to canvas
understanding and handling colour
drawing skills
using glazes
working with an easel.

Critiques
Alan provides either audio critiques via the Artwork Submission Area or in tape form via regular mail.

If you have scanning / photography facilities, students are able to upload their artwork to the Artwork Submission Area on our website. Each student is given a unique username and password on enrolment for their own private section in this area. Students can upload their artwork to this area for the tutor to collect and critique. The tutor will then upload feedback for the student to download or read.

Critiques via Regular Mail.
If you do not have any facilities to upload your artwork, you can send your work in the normal way to the tutors centre and receive your artwork back with your critique.

Support
All our courses are written to be complete in themselves. However we realise that students may appreciate being able to get clarification about various things as they work through their programme as well wanting reassurance that they are putting techniques into practice effectively. The Administration Centre is available seven days a week and the Course Artist provides the technical support to deal with relevant queries.

Most courses have their own dedicated Tutor. The Tutor keeps the course up to date and relevant to today's students. They are available to the individual student for advice and encouragement. Each course has regular exercises and assignments that are constructed in such a way as to give the student the opportunity to practice the techniques learnt on the course and to test themselves as they go along. The student is encouraged to submit the assignment work to the college for the tutor to critique. The student's work will be returned together with the tutorss personal critique. On many courses the assignment work may be suitable for inclusion in a student's Portfolio of Work that could be very useful later. The college will use the assignments submitted as the basis for any award of a Diploma or Certificate.