6 weeks

Saturdays, 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM | June 6, 13, 20, 27, July 11 and 18

Location: Washington Art Association General Studio

Explore the foundations of expressive abstract painting in this six-week course designed to help you build your understanding of core principles, and develop confidence in acrylics and painting non-representationally. You’ll be guided through structured exercises that explore value, color, shape, and composition, while also encouraging intuitive decision-making, mark making, and layering. This course blends instruction with personal exploration. You’ll be invited to slow down, tune in, and respond to what’s happening in the moment, cultivating a mindful and authentic art practice.

Week 1 – Value & Mark Making
Begin with the essential building block of value—light, dark and mid-tone. Explore tonal contrast through limited palettes and experiment with mark making techniques as a starting point.

Week 2 – Color Relationships
Dive into color with an exploration of color mixing, transparency vs. opacity. Work with analogous and complementary palettes to better understand harmony and contrast.

Week 3 – Shape & Line
Play with organic and geometric shapes, positive and negative space, and how they contribute to visual interest. Explore ways to create shape with brushes and other tools.

Week 4 – Composition
Bring together elements of value, color, and shape to explore composition. Work through compositional studies and expand your visual vocabulary.

Week 5 – Guided Independent Work
Apply what you’ve learned to new work with a focus on using the principles and your intuition to guide your decisions.

Week 6 – Editing and Refinement
Wrap up with a session that focuses on editing and pushing your work further.

Please note: This is a cumulative and instructional course with no make-up sessions. If you expect to miss more than one class and are new to the course, consider enrolling at a time when you can attend the majority of sessions.

Expressive Abstract Painting Class Supply List

Abstract Painting All Levels Supply List

• Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media Pad, 18″x24″, Acceptable alternatives are Acrylic paper, canvas paper or watercolor paper that is at least 140 lb.  
• Every other class, starting with the first class, we will work on the paper above. On alternating weeks, you can choose to work on any substrate you wish such as the same paper as above, canvas, wood  or anything else suitable for acrylic paint. However, you might find  that you love to work on the mixed media paper and no additional  substrates are necessary.  
• Acrylic paints –

Recommend GOLDEN Fluids. However, you can work with any brand  and type of acrylic paints.  

Colors should include:

(If using recommended GOLDEN Fluids, 1 ounce size should suffice
for all colors except 4 ounces for Titanium white):

• Titanium White
• Carbon Black
• 2-5 variations of cool colors (Blues, Greens, Violets)
• 2-5 variations of warm colors (Yellows, Reds, Oranges)

Here are some of Heather’s favorite colors and links (note: these are  just ideas):  

Warms:  

Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Azo Gold, Quinacridone Magenta,  Alazarin Crimson, Napthol Red Medium, Titan Buff, Van Dyke Brown,  Burnt Umber 

Cools: 

Paynes Gray, Cerulean Blue Deep, Ultramarine Blue, Teal, Green Gold, Prussian Blue, Sap Green, Titan Green Pale, Permanent Violet Dark

• An assortment of brushes. I recommend having a few sizes with one that is at least 1 inch width or wider. You can use any brand of brushes but I recommend using soft synthetic bristles if you are using fluid acrylic paints. Silverbrush makes high quality brushes. I use the following two quite often. You can purchase directly from Silverbrush site. Use Discount Code HeatherNeilson10 at checkout for 10% off any of their products.

SilverSilk 88 1 1/2″
Silverwhite Edgewater wash 1″

• Fluid Matte Medium – GOLDEN brand recommended, 8 ounces or next smallest bottle. OR regular Matte Medium. Any brand is fine.
• White Gesso GOLDEN recommended but any brand is fine.
• Yellow frog tape – 1” (.94”) Alternatively, Artist Tape in 1” (or close) width.
• Something flat and sturdy to tape your paper to that is larger than 18×24 such as a 20×30 piece of foam core or drawing board. You can purchase a piece of foam core from me in the first class for $5.

Please also bring: 

• A roll of paper towels for clean up (recommend Blue shop papers towels from hardware store).
• Flat Palette for paint. Options include palette paper, freezer paper, large metal or plastic tray.
• Palette knife (preferably metal).
• Plastic container for water. A large yogurt container works well.
• A ruler
• A pencil and/or pen

I will be assigning optional homework and will give you other ideas for working in a journal. I highly recommend using a mixed media journal. Any size or type is fine just look for one suitable for mixed media or wet media. Here are a few options:

• Canson XL Mixed media
• Strathmore visual mixed media
• Strathmore mixed media (this is a high quality, but more
expensive, option)

Optional:  

• Latex Gloves
• Apron
• Mark making tools such as a brayer, old card for scraping, silicone bowl scraper, color shapers. Or any other mark making tool you like to use.  
• If you have experience and want to use your favorite mark making tools such as graphite, charcoal, oil pastels, feel free to bring them.

https://heatherneilsonart.com

Cancellation Policy