Dive into Paint

Dip your toes into the world of art and creativity by learning fundamentals of art. This 8-week beginners’ course will help you explore basic art techniques in a fun and supportive way.

You will develop an understanding of the key elements of art including mark making, colour, shape, values, composition, perspective and more.

You will learn about art materials, brush-handling, and palette-knife techniques. The course will give you plenty of opportunity to practice drawing and painting different things in a collaborative and engaging environment.

A bit about me:

I am Amina Mofassir, a practicing artist, based in Hamilton. My love- affair with visual arts dates to when I was a child. Inspired by my mom, who was an artist, I grew up with a passion for playing with colors.

I studied fine arts as a major for two years in college and then continued my joyful artistic journey onwards through self-learning.

 My favorite mediums are watercolors, acrylics, oil paints and pastels. I enjoy using impasto and textured techniques as well as loose and impressionistic styles.

Paint brushes and painting knives are my key tools. Nature, flowers, and landscapes have always fascinated me and remain my main sources of inspiration as well as key subjects of my artworks.

This class is for you if you are ready to jump in, eager to learn & explore your own creativity

Materials needed for the course: 

• An Hb graphite pencil,eraser, sharpener 

•  A4 pencil sketch pad 

• Palette or a good sized plain white, flat ceramic plate or dish

• Rag for cleaning (can use an old T-shirt)

• Container or jar for water

• Paint Brushes:

  1. 1 Filbert long handled brush (size 12, DAS brand, synthetic), 

  2. 2 FLAT long handled brushes (size 14 and a size 8, DAS brand, synthetic) 

  3. Bring along any other brushes you may already have.

• A palette knife: Pebeo 100/112 (it’s a long tear drop shaped one that bends down from the handle and the knife part is about 6cm long)

Recommended canvases approx sizes( triple gesso primed):

• 4 canvases (10 inches x 12 inches)

• 2 canvases ( 12 inches x 16 inches) 

• List of recommended acrylic paints: (I prefer to use Liquitex Basics, but you can choose a different brand if you like)

• Titanium White 

• Burnt Umber 

• Cadmium Yellow (medium hue)

• Yellow Ochre

• Alizarin Crimson 

• Cadmium Red

• Phythalocyanine Blue

• Violet

• Ivory Black

 Clothes protection: You might want to wear an apron for protecting your clothes.

This course is supported by the TEC (Tertiary Education Commission) to assist with literacy and numeracy needs of students. You must attend 80% of the class. At the same time we hope you will learn other useful and interesting skills and have a lot of fun learning with us.