The Oil Painting Foundation 2024
TERM DATES
Winter courses 2025
Thursday evenings 6- 9 pm 23rd January - 27th February 2025 ( 6 x 3 hour classes ) € 590
Saturday afternoon class 2 - 5 pm - 25th January - 29th February 2025 ( 6 x 3 hour classes) €590
Spring oil painting foundation course
Spring oil painting foundation course - Thursday evenings 6 - 9 pm 6th March - 24th April 6 - 9pm 8 x 3 hour classes ) € 590
Spring oil painting foundation course - Saturday afternoon 2 - 5 pm - 8th March - 26th April 8 x 3 hour classes ) € 590
KEY INFORMATION
- Neukölln studio based course
- 6 weeks of 3 hour classes
- All materials included - a rich and broad variety of oil paints, mediums, canvases, oil papers and unique technical studio equipment
- 6 students per class
- Certificate on course completion
- Tutors trained and qualified in London art schools
- everything you need to start independently in oils and establish a oil painting practice
- Homework exercises and printed instructional worksheets
course fee € 590 A deposit of 150 EUR is payable in your first studio meeting to secure your place
Overview of the oil foundation course
“The aim of the course is to set the individual in good stead to paint confidently with oils in the studio and to undertake exercises and studies in oil independently.” - Louise Lenz school founder
The Burnt Sienna oil painting course is a traditional and practical foundation in oil painting developed by Louise Lenz and Hannah Turner- Duffin over the last 10 years. The course consists of six three hour classes in our beautiful historic studio in Neukölln. The course offers an academic beginner's active introduction to oil painting; covering contemporary studio practice right through to building a canvas stretcher from scratch. The course is designed to empower the individual to continue painting after the course ends and establish their own independent studio practice.
The course will break down many of the myths surrounding oil painting and enable students to become familiar with oil paint and painting techniques. You will finish the course with a rich array of paintings and studies ranging from a painting on canvas where you have constructed the canvas yourself and some oil studies on oil paper.
Working alongside a practicing artist with one on one tutorials, group critiques and painting demonstrations with five other students, you will develop and hone your artistic skills and individual practice. The course is complimented and fortified with group critiques and dialogues to build your confidence and ability to speak about your art work and printed exercise and information sheets.
The course will provide you with an introduction to but not limited to:
paint handling palette preparation how to build a tonal scale
under painting with thinners how to make up the palette and start painting on a white canvas
composition construction with a scanner , transfer techniques etc.
mediums and glazes what solvent vehicle use for your oil paint
colour theory
glazing and mark making
surface preparation in gesso or rabbit skin glue
stretcher building how to construct your own canvas from scratch
contemporary art theory vs traditional theory
‘I’m so glad to have found this beauty of an art school. So far I’ve attended the winter oil course and the portrait in oil workshop and I can’t wait to do more. Louise (and Jesse) have been excellent teachers, enabling and inspiring me to explore painting- something I’ve had on my list for a very long time. Thank you Burnt Sienna!” Testimonial from Rachel Foreman 2021
Materials that are included on the oil painting foundation course
Validity autumn winter 2024
Full materials and a studio equipment list
Oil painting paper various sizes
Cotton canvas various sizes
Pine Stretcher bars various sizes
Hog hair synthetic and Wolf hair brushes various sizes
Linseed oil
Dammar varnish
Dammar varnish crystals
Pipettes
Colour wheels
Solvents thinners and other mediums
Oil paints ready-made Lucas studio or daler rowney or the student equivalent
Oil paints include a full range that all students have access to on the course.
Glass palletes
Pallete knives rags easels drawing boards
Dry materials for drawing include but are not limited to pencils charcoal felt pens colored pencils oil pastels dry pastels.
Turpentine or An alternative (Let us know if you have any allergies or if you are pregnant When applying for the course We will endeavour to place you on a course in oil painting that is turpentine free)
Rabbit skin glue
Gesso for priming canvases
Studio resources and library
There is a rich broad art library with many hundreds of thousands of references to historic and contemporary painting that students are free to use on the course. We have a full colour printer and scanner available for use for students to utilize the library and copy any images that are important to them for their work.
Individual student setup
Every class has a maximum of six students each student is assigned a workstation. Each workstation consists of the following materials and studio equipment. The workstation provides everything our students need to work in oil painting. The setup is Holy unique to burn Sienna and the teaching of Louise lenz Hannah Turner Duffin and Emma Seach. You will not find this particular setup with its traditional values and core resources anywhere else in Berlin. What we provide for our students aims for them to continue working in a professional manner as an artist for the future.
Chair, easel, Drawing board, table ,glass palette bucket for solvents paint brushes colour wheel scissors staple gun palette knives Pipettes glass jars for mediums
Course Content (subject to change with developments and improvements - all content here included plus more)
Week one: We will begin with an introduction and orientation of the studio, then move on to transcribing an image from a master work or image: focus will be upon paint handling, mixing black, building a palette and application of a tonal scale in order to produce a study on paper in the time given. Grisaille painting technique: monochromatic painting.
Week two: Discussion and introduction to surfaces. Stretching the canvas on the bars. Adding glue to size the canvas. Preparing sources and thumbnails, we will begin to think about constructing a composition. Students are asked to bring resources, photographs, source material postcards and objects etc. We start constructing a composition and building a ground.
Week three : Extension of introduction to surfaces and application to stretched canvas. Introduction to colour theory and colour mixing and applying this to a still life painting on paper under guidance. Hannah will demonstrate how to make up a colour palette and you will work throughout the session from a still life. There will be a focus on colour values, composition, form, colour identification and mixing and mark making.
Week four: Introduction to underpainting and starting a canvas painting using your own resources, going back over composition and colour theory as we move forwards throughout the sessions.
Week five: Introduction to glazing techniques and more on colour theory. Start to build glazes on individual canvases, working with contrast and tone, building depth and creating highlights.
Week 6: Finishing highlights lowlights, varnishing and depth. Continuing on to the final layers of your paintings and completing your canvas paintings. Depending on each student's development there is the possibility to complete several studies on paper and one canvas painting.
Materials and Equipment
Course fees include the teaching fee, oil painting materials and all studio equipment. Students are encouraged to bring their own brushes if they have them. During the course we ask students to buy two small tubes of oil colour of their choice and student quality. The rough cost of this would be max. 30 euros. However if you are on a budget it is not essential and you can complete the course without extra purchases. We do use expensive products and oil painting is not a poor mans business. You will find although we use academy quality paints we will use quality oil papers and canvases with a broad range to give you the experience to go out and get your own products after the course. There are refreshments in the studio including tea, coffee, biscuits and snacks.
What do I need to bring with me ?
Please bring clothes that can get dirty, any snacks you might need, positive energy and ideas for creativity! Any art materials you would like to discuss with the tutor, any paints you have collected, sketchbooks with notes or drawings to inspire you. House slippers are provided we do not permit outdoor shoes in the space, some people like to bring their own slippers this is welcome.
Where does the course take place ?
The oil painting course is taught in our beautiful Neukölln attic studio in the heart of the art district and far from the bustle of the street. It is in the attic on the top floor so take your time on the stairs, especially if you have any health problems. The studio is well ventilated with Dyson air purifier, roof access and fans. There are plenty of local shops and bakeries to find lunch. We are about a 4 minute walk from Rathaus Neukölln on the U7 and 10 minutes from Hermannplatz U8.
Refund policy
A deposit is payable to secure a place on our courses of 150 euros. A refund of the deposit is possible up until 2 weeks before the first class, no refund is possible after that point. A return of the full fee is possible at 50% two weeks before the course start date after 14 days before the course starts the fee is non refundable. The fee is payable on the date of your first class, if you need to spread the payments out over the course length we can set up a payment plan. If the course is unable to run due to sickness of tutors or for other reasons owing to Burnt Sienna then students will be refunded their course fees.
Lateness, missed classes and sickness
If you will be more than 10 minutes late without letting the tutor know, please expect to miss the class. Of course life happens but let us know as soon as you know what's going on, places on our courses are precious and with only limited spaces in an intimate setting we look for discipline in our students, this in turn is great for artistic output!
If you are ill for a class or unable to attend please let us know as far in advance as possible via email or WhatsApp. We can offer a refund of the deposit up to 2 weeks before the start of the course and not afterwards. If you are ill please wait until you are fully recovered to attend your class. We do as far as possible offer students alternative classes and catchup classes whereever it is feasible to do so.
Burnt Sienna Philosophy
Burnt Sienna art school Berlin offers two core courses in drawing and painting, these courses take seasonally. The programme has been developed by artist Louise Lenz over the last 10 years and she is an associate tutor at the Newlyn School of Art. The traditional teaching techniques and methods Louise brings from this highly respected art school in Cornwall are brought to Berlin and work alongside contemporary methods. Louise is the mentee of artist Jesse Leroy Smith who comes from the ROyal Academy schools. Unlike other independent art schools in Berlin, Burnt Sienna Art School Berlin limits class sizes in order to ensure the highest level of artistic development and flexibility towards methods of teaching. After every course students are awarded with a certificate on completion.
Entry requirements
Basic English language although German is understood and spoken too. This course is suitable for both beginners and those looking to set up a studio independently. We ask that you have lived in Berlin for at least 3 months and you have good boundaries with your employer in order to attend the course as fully as possible. The studio is in the Attic on the 6th floor so some mobility is required.