Mastering Oil Painting Mediums
Underpainting, Overpainting & Glazing
David Heskin
Overview
Oil painting mediums can be intimidating, as they offer a sophisticated approach to painting with unparalleled brilliance and depth, especially when paintings are produced in a calculated, layered approach. In this course, we will utilize simple, elegant solutions that can be easily modified to suit the needs of the artist throughout their painting process. Our mediums are formulated for their superior technical attributes, as well as their support of a nontoxic studio practice. Students will empower their painting practice by developing a thorough and practical comprehension of these essential aspects of the craft.
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Learning Objectives
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- Traditional painting materials & philosophy
- Technical principles of layered painting processes
- A working understanding of oils, resins & solvents
- ‘Fat over Lean’ in theory & practice
- Toxicity & safe handling of oil paint & mediums
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Practical Outcomes
Students will create numerous painting sketches each day, as we work with a small number of essential ingredients to produce our own painting mediums. These mediums can be adjusted throughout the course of an ‘indirect’, or layered, painting process, to achieve luminosity on the surface while utilizing a logical progression and technically sound practices. Adjusting proportions in our mediums throughout the layers of a painting ensures cohesion and structural stability for the life of the painting.
This course is open to all skill levels, age 18 and up. Those with prior oil painting experience may benefit from familiarity with the processes, although those new to oil painting will benefit from learning logical steps from the ground up, demystifying oil painting mediums and empowering a solid practice rooted in sound technique. As we deeply explore oil painting mediums and processes, other topics inevitably arise. We’ll also take time to consider these adjacent topics which include: painting supports, traditional surfaces & grounds, putty mediums, transparency and opacity, impasto, “oiling out”, reliable drying times, varnish, materials compatibility, brush care and more.
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Materials
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Students should bring their own brushes suitable for oil painting, including a range of sizes with soft synthetic or natural bristles. Small round brushes, a selection of filberts, and large flat brushes are all very useful. Students may also wish to bring their own oil paint to class, although a limited palette of colors will also be available. A variety of surfaces
will be available and others may be available for purchase. These include primed watercolor paper, traditional gesso panels, and primed linen panels.
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This course is open to all skill levels, age 18 and up. Those with prior oil painting experience may benefit from familiarity with the processes, although those new to oil painting will benefit from learning logical steps from the ground up, demystifying oil painting mediums and empowering a solid practice rooted in sound technique.
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As we deeply explore oil painting mediums and processes, other topics inevitably arise. We’ll also take time to consider these adjacent topics which include: painting supports, traditional surfaces & grounds, putty mediums, transparency and opacity, impasto, “oiling out”, reliable drying times, varnish, materials compatibility, brush care and more.
Dec 9 - Dec 11, 2026
(Wed - Fri)
9:30am -4:30pm
(lunch provided)
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Tuition $525
David Heskin is a mid-career polymath artist working in a variety of fine art mediums across 30 years. A largely self-taught early career was later influenced through studies with recognized masters and traditional lineage holders in traditional and classical drawing and painting techniques. This culminated in an MA from the prestigious King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts in London in 2020, where David received an Albukhary Scholarship and graduated with distinction. David had the opportunity to study in numerous legacy traditions both within and outside the MA program, to pivot into the architectural crafts during 2 years living in the UK. David has continued to pursue letter carving in stone, among other traditional heritage craft mediums, as a result of this educational experience.
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David is an internationally exhibiting artist and instructor who combines his strong work ethic with an insatiable thirst for the practical applications of historic research in his field. Since 2011, David has developed and taught in-depth art courses to hundreds of adult students across a broad range of subjects, spanning advanced oil and egg tempera painting to the harmonic geometry of sacred architecture. These intensives have been hosted independently, under the umbrella of other art schools and organizations, and in university settings. Through extensive research into historical manuals, David co-founded and produces traditional handmade painting mediums for artists, the likes of which have never been commercially available in our lifetimes. David is currently building a house and establishing a land-based education center for the preservation of traditional arts and craft techniques in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
"Mastery belongs to a realm beyond us, and we can never judge ourselves impartially or accurately when it comes to this ideal." - David Heskin
“After all, the object is not to make art, but to be in the wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” - ​Robert Henri, The Art Spirit
"Mastery is a humbling concept toward which we continue to strive; toward ever greater quality in our relationships with art, with craft, with self." - David Heskin
SOMA organic painting mediums are produced by lifelong artists who exclusively utilize these mediums. Inspired by old painting manuals and a decade of research and experimentation, a series of ideal painting mediums became quite clear. Our traditional painting mediums provide top-quality, environmentally sound alternatives to the status quo of conventional store-bought mediums.
