Trompe L’Oeil Still Life Painting (Online Course)
Dale Zinkowski
WINTER 2027 Dates and Times TBD
8 weeks plus over 8 hours of pre-recorded demos
Limit: 5 students per section. Students receive the critique recordings of the other sections.
Class format notes:
- 1-2 hours of pre-recorded demos distributed weekly. The first demo on studio/still-life set-up is distributed the week before the first live class.
- Students will prepare and submit their still life set-up before the first class.
- 2 hour live critiques class.
- Students work on their weekly assignment outside of class time.
Is this class for me?
- Artists should be familiar with oil paint and how it works. Do not take this class if you’ve never worked with oil paint before.
- Some drawing experience, especially in the Academic method, is always useful for painting classes at the GCA.
Online tech needs:
- The class will be conducted on the Zoom platform and is a live online experience.
- Dale’s classes are recorded and made available so students can review critiques after each live session for the entirety of the class.
- Dale’s demos are pre-recorded and shared via private links on YouTube. You will need a YouTube account to access the videos and share the email address associated with the account with Admin.
- This class also uses Google Classroom to share resources. Watch this video for more insight.
- All of these services/platforms 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 for the live portion of the classes.
“Dale is an excellent instructor and engages with every student in a meaningful way. I learned so much and his positive attitude is contagious.” – John
Course Description
Artists have long been creating work with the idea to “fool the eye.” In this 8-week course we will take a deep dive into the practice of Trompe l’oeil painting. We will survey a few paintings each week that span from historical to today, and provide not only inspiration, but also windows into the technical practices of the artists that created them.
Painting from direct observation, artists will work alongside Dale as he demonstrates the process he uses to create his paintings. The value study, color study, block-in and transfer, wipeout underpainting, first pass, and final pass will all be thoroughly demonstrated and explained.
Artists are encouraged to have their compositions thought out and ready to be discussed on the first day. We will go over each setup individually and talk about some options for the painting.