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Visual Arts Classes

Outdoor Oil Painting Methods: An Historical Approach
Landscape Painting at Various Locations on Shelburne Farms

Instructed by Tad Spurgeon
Saturdays 10:00am–1:00pm
Four weeks, Oct. 4, 11, 18 & 25 (Note: Postponed one week due to weather)

Members $260, Non-members $280
Materials list

Students will learn about the history and development of outdoor painting methods and then apply these in the context of the varied landscape at Shelburne Farms. Each class will begin with a brief discussion on a style of outdoor painting: Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Contemporary, and finally Tad’s variation on the Corot method. Students will need a portable easel and a suggested list of materials will be supplied.

Week 1 Camille Corot: The first session begins with the outdoor method practiced by 19th-Century French painter Camille Corot in Italy before the invention of photography. Students will be given the history of this method and an overview of the working method before setting out to make a painting of their own.

Week 2 Claude Monet: The second session covers the very different palette and technique of Claude Monet. While the Corot technique emphasized a lower key palette and the essentialization of form, the Monet technique emphasizes the use of vivid pigments and the way color relationships create light.

Week 3 Contemporary: The third session covers a more modern vivid palette variations and the bold, quick working technique exemplified by the contemporary outdoor painters on the West Coast.

Week 4 Tad's Variations on Corot Method:The fourth session covers extensions and variations of the Corot method which Tad has applied in the last 10 years of painting outdoors in Vermont. The palette and techniques here are very specific to Vermont. This class will include an introduction to the putty medium used historically by such painters as Rembrandt and Velasquez.