Beginner Oil Painting
taught by Luke Rockwell
Learn the foundational principles of oil painting. In this 6 week course we will cross a divide between drawing and painting. We will start from drawing and move to underpainting and progress to overpainting. Together we will learn opaque and translucent oil painting techniques in exciting, bite-sized steps and demonstrations.
This class is designed for adults who are new to oil painting or looking for a gentle refresher. In a friendly, community-focused setting, participants will learn the basics of oil painting, including color mixing, brush techniques, layering, and simple composition.
All are welcome—whether you’re picking up a brush for the first time or returning to painting after a break. All materials included.
6 Sessions, Wednesdays, March 11, 18, 25, April 1, 15, 22 (No class April 8th) from 6:00 -9:00 PM
$275 member/$320 non-member
$225 member/$270 non-member with $50 materials fee
About the instructor
I am a narrative figure painter and draughtsman living in the North Country of New York State. I received my MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art in 2015 and have exhibited nationally since an early age.
In my paintings and drawings, I create an uncanny world where familiar pastoral and domestic scenes are unsettled by skewed perspectives and off-kilter interactions. Narrative becomes an entry point for the viewer, inviting engagement, empathy, and at times revulsion. By probing wayward possibilities within the structures of domestic and public space, the work plays with and subverts the conventions of traditional figurative painting and cinema.
My influences span moments across art history. I draw from Courbet, the documentary imagery of Dorothea Lange, and the cinematic language of Sergei Eisenstein. Other works take cues from N. C. Wyeth’s Treasure Island illustrations and Goya’s ¡Bárbaros! from the Disasters of War series. Just as theatrical conventions shaped paintings like David’s The Death of Socrates, my approach to mise-en-scène, perspective, and heightened drama is informed by the films of Douglas Sirk and Martin Scorsese, acknowledging cinema’s enduring impact on how we read images today.
Across the body of work, recurring characters and settings suggest a larger, fragmented narrative. The images function like flickering scraps of film, offering glimpses of a story that resists full disclosure.
lukerockwell.com
