Creating Atmosphere and Drama in Seascapes and Skies (Online Course) Fall 2025 w/ Richard K. Blades

November 4 to December 2 (Tuesdays), 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, Eastern Time

**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.

Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.

Course Description

In this course we will explore how to create light and drama in sea and landscape painting. With a focus on building atmosphere and depth through the use of values, color and mark making. Along with a deep exploration of how Richard works, we will also look at examples from Art history and use both photography and our imagination for source material.

This course aims to help you go beyond mere representation and to use paint in an expressive way, building the painting through both free expression and consideration.

Focuses will be on:

Mark making.

Color Mixing.

Color Relationships.

Atmosphere building.

Spontaneity and being loose.

Course Outline

Week 1 -

Richard will present his own work and ideas and philosophy behind his practice.

A painting demonstration by Richard in which he shows the fundamentals of his approach. + participant painting time. Homework set.

Week 2 -

Feedback on student work.

A demonstration by Richard + Participant painting time.

Homework set.

Week 3 -

Feedback on student work.

A further exploration of mark making and pushing media further.

A demonstration by Richard.

Richard will share techniques for layering and creating textures, through scumbling and mark making.

Painting time.

Homework set.

Week 4 -

Feedback on student work.

Colour mixing and intuition, setting one’s self free from constraints

Painting time.

Homework set.

Week 5 -

Feedback on student work and a discussion around the mediums and techniques explored. Using the techniques learned, we will create a paintings during an extended painting time after a demonstration by Richard.

Course Materials List

Any paint media (apart from watercolor)

Richard will be using Oil paint in the following colours

Ultramarine Blue

Cadmium yellow

Permanent Rose 

Burnt Sienna

Raw Sienna

Titanium White

Surface

Richard will be using Oil painting paper & Maisonite Panel. Richard will also be using a home made gesso made of White Acrylic paint and marble dust (calcium carbonate).

Brushes.

Richard will be using bristle brushes in a variety of sizes

Tools

Palette Knife

Rags

Miscellaneous

Masking tape

Palette

Pencil

Scrap paper