Landscape Oil Painting

Learn the critical foundations of painting a landscape so you can interpret your favorite panoramas onto canvas.

The course begins with the basics of landscape composition, including using the double primary palette, creating a strong underpainting from earth tones, and how to effectively layer paint onto the canvas. You'll strengthen your ability to see and mix the predominant colors of your landscape with blues and greens and practice skies, clouds, and foliage to build your painting week by week.

You’ll also dive into painting water, mastering how to add color, create movement, and mix shadows in complementary colors and shades of gray (without using black).

The goal of the course is to inspire you to explore the exterior spaces around you—including landscapes, seascapes, and even cityscapes—and understand how to translate them on canvas through a strong understanding of composition, color theory, and color mixing.

What you will learn:

✔ Create the underpainting of a landscape composition
✔ Paint variations of skies, clouds, trees, and other foliage
✔ Observe the color of water and how to create movement with it on canvas
✔ Add shadows to your painting by using the complementary color palette
✔ Complete your landscape painting, with the foreground, shadows, and finishing touches

Join us for oil painting online!

What you need to participate:

Computer or mobile device with Internet. Internet speed must be at least 1.5Mbps download and 800Kbps upload. For students using a mobile device, download the Canvas mobile app and select “Interlochen Online” as your school.
Oil Paint, 37 ml tubes:
- Titanium White
- Cadmium Yellow Hue
- Lemon Yellow
- Cadmium Red Hue
- Alizarin Crimson
- Ultramarine Blue
- Cerulean Blue Hue
- Raw Umber
- Burnt Umber
- Yellow Ochre
- Burnt Sienna
- Dioxazine Purple
- Magenta
Other supplies:
- Burnt Sienna acrylic paint, 4 oz tube
- Palette knife
- Palette paper
- Linseed oil
- 6 brushes: a selection of flat, round, and filbert in small and medium sizes
- 4 canvases, 9”x 12”
- Paper towels
- Dawn dish soap
- Black extra fine Sharpie marker

How the course works:

Interlochen Online courses are designed to be inspiring and flexible with weekly learning units that combine video segments and guided instruction that you can complete on your own schedule during the week. You will interact regularly with your teacher and peers inside the learning environment.

You can also participate in an optional weekly hour-long video class meeting, where you can learn from the teacher and interact with your classmates in real-time. At the beginning of the course, you will complete a survey indicating your preferred times for the class meeting. The teacher will make every best effort to identify a meeting time that works for everyone. The teacher will also post recordings of the meetings and you can view them when it is convenient.

The goal is that you walk away not only with practical skills and friendships but that you are inspired and motivated to pursue your art and realize your potential.