This introductory course teaches the basic tools of drawing and painting with acrylics, along with an introduction to a range of artists for inspiration. From the beginning, we take advantage of Stanford’s beautiful campus, drawing and painting outside, along with studio work and slide lectures. We begin with our unique gestures and mark-making, moving through linear perspective, light logic, photo-realism, and the figure, using a range of media from graphite and charcoal to bamboo brush and ink. The introduction to acrylic painting explores the many ways we may use acrylic paint, looking at different art historical approaches along the way. A flexible medium, acrylic can be used to mimic watercolor, oil paint, or even cement, and works on a variety of surfaces. We begin by learning color theory and different paint applications through abstract painting, taking as our inspiration Piet Mondrian, Hans Hofmann, and J.W. Turner. Using thick, impasto paint, we move outdoors for plein air painting, stealing strategies from the Impressionists, and adapting them in our personal projects with todays technologies. Moving back indoors, we switch it up again, exploring the expressive gesture, and figurative distortion, using acrylic now more thinly, a la watercolor or gouache, along with charcoal, creating dramatic effects, and working on different surfaces. Each student will finish the quarter with a wide range of techniques and materials at the ready. No previous painting or drawing experience is necessary.