ARTT 320: Painting

ARTT 320 at the University of Maryland Global Campus provides practice in the basic tools and vocabulary of painting.

UMGC states the goal as applying an understanding of compositional strategies, visual principles and basic materials and techniques to produce paintings using oil, watercolour or acrylic paints. The prerequisite is ARTT 110 Introduction to Drawing.

Painting adds color, surface and the behavior of wet media to the observation skills learned in drawing. Students often find color mixing and managing paint (drying times, transparency, layering) the steepest part of the learning curve.

The written side, explaining compositional and color choices, matters too, because the course is about applying principles deliberately, not just producing attractive pictures.

What ARTT 320 Covers

Key Concepts Explained

Value Comes First

A painting reads well when its lights and darks are organized, whatever the colors. Many painters start with a monochrome underpainting or a value sketch.

Working with Your Medium

Watercolour works light to dark and relies on the white of the paper. Oil and acrylic can work dark to light and allow opaque corrections. Acrylic dries fast; oil stays workable longer.

Color Temperature

Warm colors tend to advance and cool colors recede. Using warm lights with cool shadows, or the reverse, adds depth and atmosphere.

Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them

Writing About Your Paintings

A strong reflection or artist statement covers intention, process and evaluation. State what you set out to do, explain the compositional strategy and palette you chose, describe the techniques you used and assess the result honestly. Use painting vocabulary accurately; it is part of what the course develops.

When you critique other paintings, connect technique to effect, for example how thin glazes create luminous color or how thick impasto catches light and draws attention.

Where Students Get Stuck

• Muddy color. Limit mixes to two or three colors and clean brushes often.
• Detail too early. Block in big shapes before small ones.
• Fighting the medium. Learn its drying and layering behavior.
• Poor photos of work. Shoot in even, indirect light without glare.

Setting up to Paint at Home

Painting in an online course means organizing your own studio space. Choose a spot with consistent light, ideally indirect daylight or a daylight-balanced lamp, so colors look the same each session.

Protect surfaces, keep separate water or solvent containers for cleaning and follow the safety guidance for your medium, especially ventilation and disposal with oil painting solvents.

Plan sessions around your medium's drying time. Acrylic allows several layers in one sitting; oil may need days between layers. Keeping several small studies on the go at once lets you work steadily while earlier layers dry, and gives you more material for your reflections.

Study Tips for ARTT 320

• Start with a limited palette, such as one warm and one cool version of each primary plus white.
• Paint small, quick studies before larger pieces.
• Check values in greyscale regularly.
• Keep notes on mixes that worked for future reference.

How We Help with ARTT 320

Send the project brief, rubric, photos of your paintings and instructor feedback. A tutor with a painting background can give specific feedback, explain techniques and color theory and help you write critiques, reflections or artist statements. Our critical analysis essay guide supports longer critique writing.

GradeEssays is independent of the University of Maryland Global Campus. We never create paintings for you to submit; your artwork must be your own, and written help is a study aid under UMGC's academic integrity policy. Written work includes free revisions within the scope of your original request.