Color Studies (Online Course)

Saturdays, 10 AM – 12 PM ET – please adjust for your timezones
January 25, February 1, 8, 15, 22, March 1, 8, 15, 2024
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– Tuition $495

Take this class:

to learn color and value organizational strategies.
to learn the fundamental skill of utilizing the study to inform a long form painting.
to gain the skills necessary to simplify a complex image.

Is this class for me?

All levels of experience are welcome to take this course.

Online tech needs:

The class will be conducted on the Zoom platform and is a live online experience.
The class is recorded so students can review demos and critiques for two weeks after each live session.
This class also uses Google Classroom to distribute materials. Watch this video for more insight.
This demos will be shared via a private video link on YouTube. YouTube is free but will require an account to view the video.
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.

“Diana is a wonderful and generous teacher with a wealth of knowledge. The course was well structured with lots to work on but not overwhelming. I also love that Diana introduced different categories of studies such as landscape, portrait, interior, etc. giving us a survey and how she as well as the old masters approach each category.” – Jennifer

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Course Description

It is the responsibility of the painter to master color and thoroughly comprehend color relationships (Hue, Value and Chroma). Through color/poster studies of masterworks students will learn to simplify entire paintings to the essence of their color information. The master copies will vary between Figure, Portrait, Landscape and Still-life. There will be an opportunity to talk about flesh tones, atmospheric perspective, light and form.

Once this skill has been refined, students can apply this simplification to poster studies of real life subjects.

The class will be segmented into lecture, demo, and practical application, including in-class critiques. There will also be at-home exercises to help students pursue the skills introduced each week.

Note: Students will be sent a pre-recorded demo and zoom and google classroom links the week before the first class. Students should watch the demo and work on the first assignment and submit it into the google classroom anytime up until an hour before the first live zoom class session.

A breakdown of the class is as follows:

Week 1: The Munsell Color System. What are the properties of color? The first lesson is to demystify the Munsell Color System and to understand the language and the properties of color that we will use in class. Through a series of exercises, students will learn to navigate the color space of hue, value and chroma.

Week 2: Value. The class will make a value scale and the first master copy will be demonstrated in value, or monochrome.

Week 3: Hue. A Limited Palette. A demonstration of the second copy (a portrait or figure) will be executed using only a limited palette, the four color Apelles Palette.

Week 4: Hue. Expanding the palette. Introducing more pigments and higher chromas will depend on what is needed for the next copy. The advantages of working in this progression is to understand why and exactly what is being added to our palettes in terms of Hue, Value and Chroma.

Week 5: Chroma. We will focus on a copy that demands an expanded palette and discuss all three components of color in our exercise.

Week 6-8: Working from Life. Students will execute color studies from life. These studies can be a simple still-life, a landscape from your window or nearby park, a quick portrait of someone, or a self-portrait using a mirror. All these from-life exercises are poster studies that will help you to simplify nature and] will become a useful tool to the painter’s practice.