Creative Oil Painting: Transforming Reality into Personal Expression - Piki Mendizabal

This course explores oil painting as a space for creative interpretation. Rather than focusing on copying reality, students will learn to use observation as a starting point for artistic expression. Still life arrangements, portrait studies, and live models will serve as inspiration for developing personal and imaginative paintings.

Through guided exercises and individual exploration, students will discover how color, composition, and brushwork can transform observed subjects into expressive works of art. The emphasis will be on experimentation, visual awareness, and the development of a personal painterly language.

The course encourages students to approach painting with curiosity and openness, understanding that observation in art is not an end goal but a point of departure for creative discovery.

Key Topics

• Observation as inspiration for painting

• Expressive use of color and brushwork

• Composition and transformation of visual elements

• Developing an individual approach to oil painting

Supplies:  Oil paints, brushes, canvas or painting panels, palette, odorless solvent or medium, paper towels or rags, charcoal or pencil for preliminary sketches.

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