Canvas, Conversations and Coffee Archives | Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery

Portraits in Acrylic

Canvases, Coffee and Conversations with Christel Langan

Portraits in Acrylic

You will start with a blank canvas and at the end of this 6 week course you will have a MAGnificent portrait painting!

The subject of this acrylic painting course will be a portrait of a person of your choosing. We can view a person from a distance or focus in with a portrait. This course will teach you how to use the Grid Method to proportionately enlarge your image and draw it on your canvas. We will then move into colour mixing, and using multiple layers of paint to give your artwork depth and dimension!

Class Dates (Spring 2024)

9:30 am – 12:30 noon, Wednesdays

April 3, 10, 17 24; May 1, 8

This is a multi-week program. Suitable for beginner and intermediate level. Registration is available until April 3, 2024. For ages 18+.

Register: Portraits in Acrylic

Supplies needed:

Square or rectangular canvas no smaller than 16×20” or 16×16”
Portrait of a person of your choosing printed on computer paper (no original photos unless you are ok to draw on them!)
Acrylic Paint (click to expand colours)

titanium white (larger tube is best), cadmium red light (or naphthol red), quinacridone rose (or quinacridone violet, magenta PV 19), cadmium yellow light (or cadmium medium)*, hansa yellow (or lemon yellow), manganese blue (or cerulean blue), ultramarine blue, burnt umber

optional colours: burnt sienna, phthalocyanine blue or phthalocyanine green, raw sienna, yellow ochre, raw umber

*Student grade is fine when you are starting out. However, if you want to splurge on one colour, we recommend it is on yellow. Golden, M.Graham, Gamblin, Winsor and Newton, have great professional grade paints.
Various synthetic bristled brushes (small, medium, large sizes; filbert, bright, round, flat styles)
Palette paper
Paper towel or rags

Delta Art and/or The Paint Spot in Edmonton will have everything you need. You can order online or pick up in person. Kensington Art in Calgary also carries good art supplies and would have the supplies that you need.

March 13, 2024

Colour Theory, Still Lifes & Oil Paint

Canvas, Conversations and Coffee Beginner friendly $200/MAG members, $220/regular (+ GST)

Canvases, Coffee and Conversations with Christel Langan

Colour Theory, Still Lifes & Oil Paint

During this 6 week course, you will create a different still-life painting every 2 weeks!

You will learn about successful compositions and how to sketch these on the canvas with either paint or pencil. You will also learn how working with a limited palette can help you produce stronger and more interesting art. We will talk about colour theory and colour mixing to help take some of the guess work out of creating colours.

Each painting you create will get you thinking about how colours change with light or shadow, and how you can use colours to show this in your painting!

Class Dates (Winter 2024)

9:30 am – 12:30 noon, Wednesdays

January 24, 31; February 7, 14, 21, 28

This is a multi-week program. Beginner friendly; no painting experience is required. Registration is available until January 24, 2024. For ages 18+.

Register: Colour Theory, Still Lifes & Oil Paint

All materials are included!

Please bring some clean glass jars with lids (pasta or jam jars) and old rags.

January 2, 2024

Daily Painting with Oils

Canvas, Conversations and Coffee $125/MAG members, $140/regular (+GST)

Canvases, Coffee and Conversations with Christel Langan

Daily Painting with Oils

Participants will complete 3 small paintings over the duration of this 4-week course. A different still life image will be supplied every week with the whole class working on the same image.

This class will introduce oil painting to participants. They will work on colour mixing with oils, drawing their image on with paint, how to choose the order of colours to be painted with, how to complete a painting in a morning, paintbrush care, and more.

Class Dates (Spring 2023)

9:30 am – 12:30 noon, Wednesdays

March 29th; April 5th, 12th, 19th

This is a multi-week program. Registration is available until March 29, 2023. For ages 18+.

Register: Daily Painting with Oils

All supplies are included!

We recommend that you bring some clean glass jars with lids (pasta or jam jars) and old rags.

March 4, 2023

Painting Pets with Acrylic Paint & Mixed Media

Canvas, Conversations and Coffee $125/MAG members, $140/regular (+GST)

Canvases, Coffee and Conversations with Christel Langan

Painting Pets with Acrylic Paint & Mixed Media

This 6 week course will show participants how to paint animals using acrylic paint. Using a photo of their choice, attendees will learn about composition and how to proportionality draw their animal on a canvas or wooden support. A class will be spent on colour mixing and group critiques will happen in the last 2 weeks.

During the 6 weeks, you will also learn about building up paint layers and how to use highlights and shadows to make your painting more dynamic. This course will also introduce participants on how to add and use patterned paper to create texture and/or deal with uninteresting areas of the background.

Class Dates (Winter 2023)

9:30 am – 12:30 noon, select Tuesdays

January 17, 24, 31; February 7, 14, 21

This is a multi-week program. Registration is available until January 17, 2023. For ages 18+.

Register: Painting Pets with Acrylic Paint & Mixed Media

Supply List

Supplies are not included.

Canvas or wooden support no smaller than 16×20” or 16×16”
8×11” photocopy of animal you want to paint
Acrylic Paint (click to expand colours)

titanium white (larger tube is best), cadmium red (or naphthol red), quinacridone red (or magenta, or primary red), cadmium yellow medium (or hansa yellow medium, or lemon yellow), raw sienna (or yellow ochre), manganese blue (or phthalo blue), ultramarine blue, mars black
Various stiffer synthetic brushes meant for acrylic or oil (small, medium, large sizes; filbert, bright, round styles)
Palette paper
Ruler & pencil
Rags such as old towels

November 24, 2022

Still Lifes with Acrylic Paint

Canvas, Conversations and Coffee $100/MAG members, $120/regular (+GST)

THIS PROGRAM IS FULL!

Canvases, Coffee and Conversations with Christel Langan

Still Lifes with Acrylic Paint

You will start with a blank canvas, at the end of 6 weeks you will have a MAGnificent Still Life painting!

We will be setting up a still life with different objects including glass. A photo will be taken so that we can grid the image out and proportionately enlarge it and draw it on canvas.

We will then move into colour blocking your image with acrylic paint, colour mixing, and using multiple layers of paint to give your artwork depth and dimension.

Class Dates (Fall 2022)

9:30 am – 12:30 noon, select Tuesdays

September 20, 27
October 4, 11
October 18, 25

This is a multi-week program. Registration is available until September 20, 2022. For ages 18+.

Supply List

Supplies are not included.

Canvas (no smaller than 12″x16″)
Acrylic Paint – white, cadmium red (or naphthol red), quinacridone red (or magenta), cadmium yellow (or hansa yellow), raw sienna (or yellow ochre), manganese blue (or phthalo blue), ultramarine blue, burnt umber
Various synthetic brushes meant for acrylic- (small/medium/large filbert, round, flat)
Palette paper
Ruler & pencil

Register Now: Still Lifes with Acrylic Paint

August 15, 2022

Portraits in Acrylic

Canvases, Coffee and Conversations with Christel Langan