The Complete Study: Texture & Form
Tori Cole
WINTER 2027 Dates and Times TBD
Plus over 12 hours of recorded demos. Each week’s corresponding demo is provided a week before each live class session.
There is a homework assignment due the first class.
8 weeks
Limit: 10 students per section
Take this class:
- to immerse yourself in the phenomenon of form and light as it pertains to the study of fabrics.
- to practice the method of painting any object or collection of objects form by form using the methods of painting at GCA.
- to learn helpful painting techniques like palette organization and color decision making.
Is this class for me?
- Some oil painting experience is recommended.
- Taking GCA’s Painting Orientation Seminar is helpful if you are new to GCA.
- Some drawing experience, especially in the Academic method, is always useful for painting classes at the GCA.
How often is this class offered?
- This class is offered once or twice a year.
Class Format Notes:
- 2 hours of pre-recorded demos distributed weekly. The first demo is distributed the week before the first live class. Homework is due on the first class.
- 2 hour live critiques class.
- Students work on their weekly assignment outside of class time.
- The class will be conducted on the Zoom platform and is a live online experience.
- The pre-recorded demos will be shared via a private video link on YouTube. YouTube is free but will require an account to view the video.
- This class also uses Google Classroom to distribute materials. Watch this video for more insight. All 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.
- Every online class is recorded.
- Critiques are only given during the live class time.
- Attendance at every live class isn’t mandatory.
- Absentee students can still submit their work at least 15 minutes before the live class starts and the instructor will critique the work during the class. The critique will then be viewable in the recording.
- Students receive access to the class recording within 24 hours of the class finishing. The recording gets posted into the google classroom.
- Access to the recordings is available for the duration of the class plus an additional 30 days. There are no extensions.
Course Description
The Complete Study: Texture & Form will refine artists’ technical oil painting skills with a focus on painting a complete study of a textured object(s) in an environment. This class will cover the basics of painting different types of common, yet complex, still life objects such as fur, feathers, rope, etc… Tori will help artists train their eyes to their unique textural qualities and the paint application that helps illustrate them. Employing the traditional GCA method of working from a block-in, through a color study and onto a form by form rendering, this class will thoroughly explain a step-by-step process that can be employed towards this tactile subject matter. While we will be studying still life, the concepts behind painting form and texture can be applied to anything from portraiture to landscape.
Throughout the class, Tori will share masterwork examples inviting questions and casual conversation with participants. Students turn in their assignments for weekly individual in-class critiques, which include detailed feedback and digital paint-overs in Procreate to show ways to improve in real time.
Week 1
- Set up
- Thumbnail drawings
Week 2
- Color study
Week 3
- Block in
- Form Discussion
Week 4
- Transfer
- Ebauche underpainting
Week 5
- Painting the background
- Painting animal fur
Week 6
- Painting the second textured object
- How to utilize paint application to further our effects
Week 7
- Painting the third textured object
- Looking at master works for guidance
Week 8
- How to enhance certain textural effects with a layered painting approach
- Correction pass/touch up pass