# Will Kemp Art School: painting tutorials, courses, tips \& techniques

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## Pages
- [test](https://willkempartschool.com/test/)
- [Student Success Stories – Floral Still Life](https://willkempartschool.com/student-success-stories-floral-still-life/)
- [Student Success \- Pink Peony](https://willkempartschool.com/student-success-pink-peony/)
- [Terms and Conditions](https://willkempartschool.com/terms-of-service/)
- [Oil Painting for Beginners](https://willkempartschool.com/oil-painting/)

## Posts
- [​How to Begin Painting \(Without Wasting Your Time or Money\)](https://willkempartschool.com/beginning-painting-how-to/)
- [The Simple Secret to Rapid Progress in Your Paintings](https://willkempartschool.com/the-surprisingly-simple-secret-to-rapid-progress-in-your-paintings/)
- [How To Paint Silver Reflections in Acrylics \(Step\-By\-Step\)](https://willkempartschool.com/how-to-paint-silver-reflections-in-acrylics-step-by-step/)
- [A Painter’s Afternoon: William Nicholson at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester](https://willkempartschool.com/a-painters-afternoon-william-nicholson-at-pallant-house-gallery-chichester/)
- [Why Copying Other Artists Leads to Your Own Unique Style](https://willkempartschool.com/why-copying-other-artists-leads-to-your-own-unique-style/)

## Products
- [Floral Still Life Acrylic Painting for Beginners](https://willkempartschool.com/product/floral-still-life-acrylic-painting-for-beginners/): \<div style="padding: 55\.83% 0 0 0; position: relative;"\>\<iframe style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" title="Floral Still Life Acrylic Painting for Beginners \- Will Kemp Art School" src="https://player\.vimeo\.com/video/356048819?h=b31b70da4d\&title=0\&byline=0\&portrait=0\&badge=0\&autopause=0\&player\_id=0\&app\_id=58479" frameborder="0"\>\</iframe\>\</div\>
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\<h4 style="text\-align: center;"\>\(Scroll down \<b\>↓\</b\> to Add to Cart\)\</h4\>
Inspiration for a painting often strikes when walking around your garden\.

Inspiration often ends when the mass of leaves and flowers you've picked are now strewn across your kitchen table, trying to pass themselves off as a still\-life\!

When you put paint to canvas, the whole thing looks unrealistic and a little dated\. Is it the leaves? Is it the vase? Is the composition wrong? Why don’t the petals appear translucent?

Trying to transfer that feeling of simplicity and light into a studio still life can become very frustrating\.

Greens that appeared bright outside suddenly become more muted inside, and if you try to paint them as brightly as you observed in the garden, they can appear fake\.

Flower heads that appeared really white and flat outside now need added contrast to make them seem three\-dimensional on the canvas\.

This course will guide you through the process of creating an Impressionistic floral still\-life painting in acrylics, recreating nature's colour palettes from start to finish\.

Over 3 hours of tuition, you’ll learn how to simplify and separate tonal values into areas of light and shadow, how to use warm and cool colours effectively and how to mix and balance naturalistic greens, creating a subtle acrylic palette and a realistic sense of sunlight hitting the leaves \& petals\.

 
- [How to Paint a Peony \- Still Life Painting Course](https://willkempartschool.com/product/how-to-paint-a-peony-still-life-painting-course/): \<div style="padding: 56\.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;"\>\<iframe style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" title="How to Paint a Peony" src="https://player\.vimeo\.com/video/958934961?badge=0\&autopause=0\&player\_id=0\&app\_id=58479" frameborder="0"\>\</iframe\>\</div\>
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\<h4 style="text\-align: center;"\>\(Scroll down \<b\>↓\</b\> to Add to Cart\)\</h4\>
Welcome to 'How to Paint a Peony'\.

In this course, I’m excited to guide you through creating the delicate details of a peony in an impressionist style\.

You might feel intimidated by the complexity of painting peonies, struggle with basic drawing techniques, lack confidence in your colour\-mixing skills, or are unsure of how to start\.

Don't worry; I've got you covered\!
\<h3\>Course Outline\</h3\>
\<strong\>Introduction to Tools \& Materials\</strong\>

Gathering Materials: Understanding what supplies are needed \(brushes, paints, canvases, etc\.\) What are the best colours to use? And which brushes? I go through all the tools and materials I use for the painting\.

\<strong\>Prep Studies\</strong\>
Sketching Basics: How to draw a basic peony outline\. Getting to know our subject by creating small thumbnail sketches and a 'notan' study\.

\<strong\>Poster Study
\</strong\>Do you feel like you're always overworking your painting or fiddling with the details? With the poster study, you can get expressive and try to create the concept of the painting in a few brushstrokes\!

\<strong\>Lesson 1: Drawing\</strong\>
Discover how to prepare our surface, measure proportions and capture the shapes within the flowerhead\.

\<strong\>Lesson 2: Pen \& Wash\</strong\>
Focus on the contrast in the subject and create a still life that 'reads across the room' before we begin\.

\<strong\>Lesson 3: Background
\</strong\>Balancing our background to add variety with brushstrokes, colour changes and values to draw our focus\.

\<strong\>Lesson 4: Water \& Reflections\</strong\>
How do you create realistic reflections in water? We'll break down the vase into simple shapes and look for a warm, cool pattern with a simple block\-in\.

\<strong\>Lesson 5: Flowerhead\</strong\>
Colour Mixing: The basics of colour theory and mixing a compressed colour string for realistic peony colours\.

To successfully paint the flowerhead, we'll pre\-mix some colours\. Spending 80% of the time on the palette and 20% on the canvas will help create freshness in your brushmarks\.

\<strong\>Lesson 6: Finishing Touches\</strong\>
Petal Shapes and Textures, Add blushes of colour with glazes, glimmering reflections in the water, and delicate petals to bring the painting together\.
\<h3\>Course Overview\</h3\>
Throughout this acrylic still\-life course, you'll develop essential skills and techniques to create stunning, realistic peony paintings\. We will cover everything from basic brush strokes to advanced layering techniques, ensuring you can capture the depth, richness, and texture of peonies while still adhering to classical painting techniques\.

After taking your course, you'll feel confident in your ability to paint peonies, understand fundamental drawing methods to establish proportion, scale and form and paint beautiful peony paintings that you can set up at home\.
\<h3\>What’s in the Course?\</h3\>
\<ul\>
 	\<li\>1 x Single\-Stem Peony Painting from start to finish, based in the studio, working from a reference image\.\</li\>
 	\<li\>1 x Impressionistic 'poster study' to develop loose brushstrokes\</li\>
 	\<li\>1 x sketches and Notan study \- to understand our subject\</li\>
 	\<li\>9\-lesson curriculum: study at your own pace \(with lifetime access to these recordings\)\</li\>
 	\<li\>Step\-by\-step instructional videos so that you can follow along at your own pace\.\</li\>
 	\<li\>Each stage is a detailed yet easy\-to\-follow process\.\</li\>
 	\<li\>DRAWING TEMPLATE \- line drawing to follow to help you overcome the blank page\</li\>
 	\<li\>LIFETIME ACCESS to video lessons, download on separate devices, keep forever\.\</li\>
 	\<li\>Downloadable Tools \& Materials List\</li\>
 	\<li\>Downloadable JPEG reference images and reference line drawings\.\</li\>
 	\<li\>Printable Class materials list, over 2\.5\+ hrs of detailed video instruction\.\</li\>
\</ul\>
\<h4 style="text\-align: center;"\>\</h4\>
- [Absolute Beginners Oil Painting Course](https://willkempartschool.com/product/absolute-beginners-oil-painting-course/): \<div style="padding: 56\.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;"\>\<iframe style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" title="oilsaleslighter" src="https://player\.vimeo\.com/video/1145232064?badge=0\&autopause=0\&player\_id=0\&app\_id=58479" frameborder="0"\>\</iframe\>\</div\>
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\<p style="text\-align: center;"\>\(Scroll down ↓ to Add to Cart\)\</p\>
Have you ever wanted to start oil painting but don't know where to begin?

What materials do you need? How do you clean your brushes? How long do oils take to dry? How do you avoid muddy colours?

You are not alone\. Oils can feel confusing at first\.

I help complete beginners learn to paint using classical techniques, and I want to give you a clear plan so you can start oil painting with confidence\.

Oil paints are a fantastic medium\. They dry slowly, giving you more time to refine shapes, create smooth transitions, and build subtle shifts in light\. With the right foundation, you can avoid the usual frustrations and enjoy the process\.

As a beginner, it’s important to understand traditional oil painting principles, from choosing the right approach to using mediums and materials effectively, so you can give yourself the best chance of creating great works\.

On this Beginner's Oil Course, we’re keeping it simple and practical, designed to work at home\.

You only need a small brush kit, a limited palette of pigments, minimal tools, and a safe home setup\. The short video lessons show each stage step\-by\-step so you can follow along without feeling overwhelmed\.

You will learn how to prepare a canvas, see values, avoid muddy colours, control edges, and create the right consistency for your paint\.

We cover the essentials of traditional oil painting: Underpainting, fat over lean, glazing, simple colour mixing, and when it comes to materials, I want you to understand the options available, from quick\-drying oil paint to creating your own medium recipes\.

You will complete five guided studies using downloadable reference images\.
\<ul\>
 	\<li\>\<span style="font\-weight: 400;"\>We begin with a wipe\-out study that lets you carve out the form like a sculptor\.\</span\>\</li\>
 	\<li\>\<span style="font\-weight: 400;"\>Then we move onto a limited palette jug study, a thin couche layer that allows the paint to blend and flow across the surface\. \</span\>\</li\>
 	\<li\>In the monochrome cup study, you learn the importance of value and brush choice using an alla prima approach\.\</li\>
 	\<li\>The lemon study introduces a four\-stage, layered, indirect approach using the fat\-over\-lean method and teaches you to think ahead to make the most of your glazing\.\</li\>
 	\<li\>Our final study is a classical still life of figs on a plate\. This tutorial enables us to build layers and expand our colour mixing, working with a split primary palette and balancing realism with impressionism through painterly brush strokes\.\</li\>
\</ul\>
Each study builds on the last and teaches a different approach, from direct painting to an indirect classical method\.
\<h2\>\<b\>What makes this course different?\</b\>\</h2\>
\<ul\>
 	\<li\>\<span style="font\-weight: 400;"\>A calm, methodical approach that builds skill in the right order\.\</span\>\</li\>
 	\<li\>\<span style="font\-weight: 400;"\>Real\-time decision making explained clearly as you paint with me\</span\>\</li\>
 	\<li\>\<span style="font\-weight: 400;"\>Simple printables and references, so practice is easy to repeat\.\</span\>\</li\>
 	\<li\>Both alla prima and indirect methods are taught\.\</li\>
\</ul\>
So grab a brew, maybe a couple of biscuits, and join me on this Absolute Beginner’s Traditional Oil Painting Course to explore the magic of oils and surprise yourself with what you can create\.
- [Gift Card](https://willkempartschool.com/product/gift-card/)
- [Oil Portrait Colour Glazing Course](https://willkempartschool.com/product/oil-portrait-colour-glazing-course/): \<div style="padding: 56\.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;"\>\<iframe style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" title="How to Glaze an Oil Portrait for Beginners Course \- Will Kemp Art School" src="https://player\.vimeo\.com/video/356049029?h=6cd5c73cfa\&title=0\&byline=0\&portrait=0\&badge=0\&autopause=0\&player\_id=0\&app\_id=58479" frameborder="0"\>\</iframe\>\</div\>
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\<h4 style="text\-align: center;"\>\(Scroll down ↓ to Add to Cart\)\<span style="color: \#ff0000;"\> \</span\>\</h4\>
Do you know your Couche from your Scumble?

If you’re new to oil painting, you might have heard about the magical effects of ‘glazing’ and how using secret Old Master recipes could take your paintings to new heights\. You find yourself nodding along but inside thinking, ‘What is everyone talking about? What even is a ‘glaze recipe’?

Maybe you’ve overheard someone mention a ‘Scumble’ or read about a ‘Velatura’\. What difference do they make?

Glazing can seem like the missing link to your portrait paintings\.

And sometimes, it is\.

This oil portrait course looks specifically at colour glazing techniques\. You’ll study two portraits using two different colour palettes based in the studio, working from reference images\.

Over 6 hours of tuition, you’ll learn how to simplify the structure of the face in Grisaille, mix natural subtle skin tones with a limited palette and softly model the form\.
You’ll gradually build up the colours to increase the intensity, learning to think in layers of translucent veils of colour and multiple layers of transparent glazes over a tonal underpainting\.

Working through these simple step\-by\-step tutorials, you’ll build progressively, so by the end of this course, you’ll be creating complex, realistic, luminous portraits and have a really great understanding of how to utilize glazing in your own portrait practice\.

## Product categories
- [Beginners Art Courses](https://willkempartschool.com/product-category/beginners-courses/)
- [Still Life Acrylic Painting Courses](https://willkempartschool.com/product-category/still-life-courses/)
- [Portrait Painting Courses](https://willkempartschool.com/product-category/portrait-courses/)
- [Sketching Courses for Beginners](https://willkempartschool.com/product-category/sketching-courses/)

## Optional
- [Sitemap index](https://willkempartschool.com/sitemap_index.xml)