Painting Light and Color 1 (Online Course)
Devin Cecil-Wishing
Tuesdays, 5 PM – 9 PM ET – please adjust for your time zone
January 21, 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 4, 11, 18, 25, April 1, 8, 2025
12 weeks – Live Class Tuition: $695
Audit Tuition: $535
Limit: 12 students for live class & unlimited students to audit
Take this class:
- to begin your understanding of form as utilized at GCA with the Munsell system of color theory.
- to learn how both paint and color mixing can be streamlined to an efficient, logical system.
- if you have never painted or are interested in adapting your pre-existing understanding of painting.
Is this class for me?
- This class is open to all levels of experience. Beginners especially encouraged!
- This class is a prerequisite for Painting Light & Color 2.
Two study tracks:
- Tuition: $655 for students in live class: includes access to live class and ability to ask questions, join in group discussions and to receive weekly critiques of classwork.
- Classes are recorded. Recordings are distributed within 24 hours after the live class finishes. Recording access is for the duration of the course plus an additional thirty days.
- Tuition: $500 for students auditing: Auditors will get access to each of the weekly class recordings for the duration of the class plus thirty days. Auditors do not get access to attend the live class or to receive critiques.
Info on auditing
- This class is also open to students who wish to audit.
- Auditors will get access to each of the weekly class recordings but not access to attend the live class to receive critiques.
- Recordings are distributed within 24 hours after the live class finishes. Recording access is for the duration of the course plus an additional thirty days.
- Auditors may fill out a form to submit questions and if there’s time at the end of a class, Devin will respond to inquiries.
- Auditors start and end the session at the same time as the live class.
- At the end of the session, if any auditors have kept up with the class assignments, they may apply for any open spots in the live class for part two. The Administration will follow-up with details when the registration period opens.
There is no limit to the number of audit spots for Painting 1 but students start and end with each class.
- At the end of the session, if any auditors have kept up with the class assignments, they may apply for any open spots in the live class for Painting 2. Painting 2 can be repeated as many times as the student wishes as they continue to work on still life paintings of increasing complexity. The Administration will follow-up with details when the registration period opens.
Online tech needs:
- The class will be conducted on the Zoom platform and is a live online experience.
- Devin’s classes are recorded and made available so students can review demos and critiques after each live session for the entirety of the class plus thirty days.
- The live class also uses Google Classroom to distribute materials. Watch this video for more insight.
Both of these services are free but require registration. - It will be necessary for students to have access to a computer, tablet or smartphone. The recommended device is a laptop or desktop.
“In Light and Color 1 we were introduced to color and its three properties of hue, value, and chroma. Through a set of color exercises, Devin’s explanations and critiques helped me develop a familiarity with color and an understanding as to how to approach color mixing in the most efficient way. The theory of mixing was then used to paint an object from imagination, which helped me understand how light and color works in the real world. This course is crucial if you want to understand color logically.” – Sam
Course Description
Whenever we are painting, regardless of the subject matter, what we are really painting is light. This course will take a “nuts and bolts” approach to understanding how light and color really work.
The first half of the course will lead students through a series of color mixing exercises, which will be accompanied by lectures and demonstrations by the instructor. Students will learn how to take the mystery out of color mixing by focusing on strategies to accurately mix color, how to avoid “dead”, “muddy”, or “chalky” color, and most importantly, how to begin thinking of color not as a set of isolated pigments but rather as an interconnected series of relationships.
This class will include in depth lectures and demonstrations by the instructor on the properties of color and the physics of light, as well as different ways of navigating through a three-dimensional “color space”.
In this online course, we will be spending a good amount of time talking about the idea of “color space” through lectures, presentations as well as color mixing exercises. We will be discussing different ways of setting up a palette of pigments and different ways to think about mixing color in the interest of building up a fluency in color mixing. We will also be discussing light, optics, and how to set up our home studios so that we don’t have to fight against our surroundings while painting.
Continuing our “nuts and bolts” approach to understanding how light and color really work, the second half of this class will give students plenty of opportunities to put the knowledge they have gained into practice. By beginning to work directly from life, we will explore how to practically apply all the concepts previously introduced in more theoretical terms.
Through a series of simple still life paintings students will learn how to break the painting process down into simple, easy-to-follow steps, which build on the ideas discussed earlier.
This class will include detailed demonstrations and explanations of how to approach each step of the painting process from beginning to end. By keeping our subject matter simple, students will be able to take their paintings to a high level of finish and become comfortable with each step of the process, from the initial drawing all the way to the finishing touches.
This will be a unique opportunity to dive deep into the world of color. Whether you are a beginning student looking for an introduction to color painting or a more advanced painter looking to refine your understanding of light and color, this class will be a great opportunity to take your understanding to the next level.