The expressiveness of colour
Practical evening course
26 April 2017 6.15 - 9.15pm3 May 2017 6.15 - 9.15pm10 May 2017 6.15 - 9.15pm17 May 2017 6.15 - 9.15pm
The Life Room, Royal Academy Schools
£420. Includes all materials and a drinks reception at the end of the final session.
Terms and conditions
Explore the relationship between theory and practice in colour painting in this practical course. Participants will be able to use a range of materials, with a specific focus on acrylic paint, to discover new strategies for reworking paintings in colour.
Colour is a highly emotive issue in painting and how we perceive it is essentially dependent upon its surface. Subtle shifts of transparency, lustre or viscosity can provide through their tactility significantly different visual experiences. Interestingly, modern acrylic paints afford contemporary artists an unprecedented array of colours and consistencies to work with. Painting is unique as an art form; what we apprehend at light speed has often been hard wrought and carefully crafted over a considerable time. An artist has to learn how to handle their materials before they can make anything expressive. Extending and improving this handling of materials will ensure that the emotional resonance of colour can be magnified and given greater significance and meaning in one’s practice.
Through a direct and forthright use of paint we can gain an insight into the role and nature of colour in art and the value and affect of the surface in a painting. The surface is the reality of the painting. Working spontaneously often comes at a price of clarity and ultimately force, yet with strategies and a greater understanding of what colour can do through paint handling can produce thought provoking results that will not just look exciting as works of art in their own right but can inform future decision-making in colour painting. Time will be factored into each practical session to reflect and respond in more personal ways to the use of colour. We will also investigate the debate on whether seeing and using colour is purely a subjective experience or not.
As well as making art, we will look at some historical developments in the use of colour from around the world, plus discover further insights into the use of colour and paint through the historic collection at the RA.
Wednesday 26 April
Session one will explore:
- Mixing colour and preparing coloured surfaces
- Colour theory: primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary colour; earths; tints and tones
- An historical look at colour from different times and cultures
Wednesday 3 May
Session two will explore:
- The layering of colour and the implementation of complements and harmonies
- Edges, instances, direction and pace
- An historical look at colour from different times and cultures
Wednesday 10 May
Session three will explore:
- Looking at mediums and how they affect surface
- Creating different factures through experimental techniques
- An historical look at colour from different times and cultures
Wednesday 17 May
Session four will explore:
- Making abstract paintings
- The importance of modification, being ambitious and taking risks. Looking at scale and contrast
- A look at key works of art with fresh eyes
About the course
Through mixing and preparing coloured surfaces, participants will explore systematic and expressive approaches to the use of colour, the importance of surface, colour theory and the potential of colour layering, complemented by an informative look at how colours have been developed and employed within wider historical and cultural contexts.
This course is suitable for all levels, preferably with some prior experience of drawing, painting or creative practice in general.
This course is for you if:
• You have some prior knowledge of drawing and/or painting and would like to extend your skills in the practice of working with colour and colour theory.
• You would like a new perspective in your approach to painting.
• You would like the opportunity to develop your skills and ideas in a small group setting in the historical setting of the RA’s Life Room.
• You have no prior experience of colour theory but an interest in the history, theory and practice of painting more widely.
Minimum age 18
The number of participants is strictly limited to enable detailed feedback from the course tutor.
Price: £420
6:15pm - 9:15pm for each session (four sessions in total)
Includes:
• An introduction to the Academy with particular reference to relevant works in the Collection
• All practical materials
• A drinks reception at the end of the final session
• A certificate of participation upon course completion
About the tutor
Emyr Williams
Emyr Williams is an abstract painter who has exhibited in the UK, Europe and North America. His work has won awards and his is held in many public, corporate and private collections worldwide. He has taught and lectured in schools, colleges and universities in the UK, France and the USA, including several courses and classes at The Royal Academy. Emyr also writes about art through reviews and essays and was a regular contributor of essays and reviews online for Abstract Critical and is currently for Abcrit. For more information about Emyr and his work, visit his website here.
Look out for Emyr’s response to the Debate topic in the forthcoming Spring RA Magazine.
About the space
The Life Room
The course is taught in the Academy’s historic Life Room, nestled in the heart of the RA Schools and not often open to the public. This unique and important space was designed in the 1860s when the galleries and art school moved to Burlington Gardens. The semi-circular seating arrangement is based on an ancient design and can trace its British history back to the 1730s and Hogarth’s Academy in St Martin’s Lane. The directional light is used, then as now, to help to delineate the human figure enabling life drawing, which has been practised in this room by generations of Royal Academy artists and students.
Our courses and classes programme
Our programme of short courses and classes offers the opportunity to explore a range of subjects, led by expert tutors and practising artists.