Intermediate Oil Painting

By Faith England, Junior BA Student

As a third-year student at Marist Italy, I have had the opportunity to partake in many amazing courses. I am a studio art and art history double major therefore the majority of my classes are art-based. There are many classes that I would recommend taking that have greatly influenced my work as an artist as well as aided in fueling my passion: Color Theory, Introduction to Film Photography, Avant-Garde and Modernist Art, etc… although, my favorite course that I have taken so far is Intermediate Oil Painting.

I have always loved painting but I am more accustomed to acrylic paint. This course taught me many techniques on how to use oil paint. I was able to explore Baroque painting techniques as well as experiment with my own style of painting. All of the assignments were based on a live model which I appreciate since the majority of my works are figurative. My professor, Martin Figura, gave me the freedom to explore my creativity in the way I painted each project yet, he still offered helpful advice when I needed it.

It had been a few years since I had seriously created a painting so this course allowed me to dive back into the art form. I discovered that I was quickly able to grasp the technicalities of painting; therefore, my art will be moving towards conceptually inspired works. Overall, the painting classes are wonderful classes to take advantage of when looking to learn more about painting.