Painting With Light and Color (Online Course) Spring 2026 w/ Samir Rakhmanov

April 3 to April 24 (Fridays), 11:00 AM to 22:30 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. Our business hours are 10:00 AM through 5:00 PM. All course information and email correspondence will be sent during business hours. If students purchase a course, workshop, demo or recording outside business hours or during the weekend the course information or recording will be sent the following business day.

DEMO: https://youtu.be/d2Yj9HR_las

Course Description

This four-class course focuses on exploring color and light as the foundation of expressive oil painting. Through still life and portrait work, students will learn to build compositions using complex color relationships, temperature shifts, and the interaction between light and form.

The course includes a series of demonstrations—ranging from still life studies with vibrating and flat color to portrait sessions exploring color temperature and impasto techniques. Alongside lectures and feedback, these exercises help students understand how to organize color, control light, and create atmosphere in their paintings.

By the end of the course, participants will have completed several oil paintings that reflect a more confident and refined approach to painting with light and color.

Course Outline

Week 1 (Intro + Still Life)

Introduction.

Presentation on the use of light and color in still life.

Pre-recorded demonstration of still life setup and painting. Using vibrating color.

Week 2 (Still Life)

Homework reviews.

Pre-recorded demonstration of a still life painting. Using flat color and light.

Week 3 (Portrait)

Homework reviews.

Presentation on the use of light and color in portrait.

Pre-recorded demonstration of portrait painting. Building form with color temperature shifts.

Week 4 (Conclusion)

Homework reviews.

Pre-recorded demonstration of portrait painting. Impasto color.

Course Materials List

Oil paints

My palette consists of:

Titanium white

Cadmium Lemon Yellow

Cadmium Medium Yellow

Cadmium Orange

Yellow Ochre

Venetian Red

Vermillion Red

Cadmium Light Red

Mars Orange Transparent

Mars Brown Transparent

Veridian Green

Ultramarine Blue

Ivory Black

Possible surfaces to work on:

Canvas, primed cardboard, primed wooden board, primed cardboard MDF board, primed paper

Palette knife

Other:

Tissues, Paper Towels to clean your hands

Thinners (linseed oil, dammar varnish, turpentine, white spirit, gamsol and etc)

Objects and draperies for still life