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Premier Coup Painting

The Essentials Version

Learn Premier Coup Painting from the originator of the "A Painting a Day" Movement, Duane Keiser

Make One-Session Paintings (Without Obsessing About Technique)

Go at your own pace

I started the "A Painting a Day" movement in 2004 (this is the cigar box easel I built for it.) From the thousands of one-session paintings I've made since then, I've learned a great deal about what it is to paint within the confines of a moment. This course lays out what I believe are the fundamentals of premier coup painting (one-session painting) as I've come to understand them through thirty-five years of painting and teaching.

Learn how to get a better start.

I find that many painters start a premier coup painting as though it was a regular, multi-session painting that they merely have to do faster and more efficiently. This doesn't work. In this course I'll give you some different ways of thinking about this problem.

Learn How to Think with Your Brush

Do you approach your painting as though it was a chess game and try to think several moves ahead? In premier coup, you don't have that luxury. You have to think with your brush and improvise like a Jazz musician. But this is uncomfortable because we like to be in control. I'll teach ways of approaching this so it comes to be an aspect of premier coup that you enjoy rather than dread. .

Learn to Find Your Own Way of Painting

Every painter dreams of having their own style but they often think about this in the wrong way. They think about a style as something they choose like a piece of clothing. They try this on or that on, maybe fuse a few pieces together and voila, new style! Borrowing styles can be instructive, of course. This is how painters learn. But eventually you will find that your own way of painting can only come from many attempts at trying to realize your own vision. In my course I give you a path to do this.

This is Not a Weekend Workshop

Weekend workshops can be great experiences (I have taught many of them all across the country over the years) and they have their place. However, they typically only last a few days which means you get a blast of concentrated information in a very short period of time. You come out of it with some helpful ideas and a few actionable techniques, but perhaps no long term path to getting better. My course is designed to be the opposite of that. It doesn't focus on little special effects and tricks (although I certainly discuss technique etc) it focuses on ways to improve over time as a painter.

Here's What's in the Course

The Course Video

This 2-hour video condenses what I've learned about one-session painting from the thousands of paintings I've done during my "A Painting a Day" project. It includes a talk on the history of premier coup painting, what premier coup painting is and what I believe it can be. I'll introduce you to my three tried and true exercises I've refined over the years. These exercises will help free you from overthinking and to enjoy the improvisation that is inherent to premier coup painting.

Exercise #1

This one is about the gesture and is designed to get you thinking with your brush and to paint instinctively and openly.

Exercise #2

The second exercise is slower and more methodical. It focuses on finding the essential notes of color within a scene and how to carefully weigh them in relation to one another.

Exercise #3

This exercise essentially combines the previous two exercises together.

And when you're done with these unique (and fun) exercises, you'll start The "A Painting a Day" Challenge...

How to See Color Better

Here's an excerpt from the video where I show you how to see color better:

The "A Painting a Day" Challenge

Make a Painting Each Day for Thirty Days

After you've gone through the exercises you'll practice what you learned by making a painting each day for 30 days. Each day you'll find a subject to paint and do your best to make a one-session painting of it. This kind of rigorous practice is how you get better at painting-- and I think you'll find this to be a wonderful way to open your eyes and savor the everyday.

Requirements

As long as you have a basic working knowledge of oil painting, you can benefit from this course.

You do NOT need a long list of specific materials, brushes, mediums etc. In most cases, you can use the materials you already have (easel, palette, brushes, paints, solvent, etc) I'll also teach you how to make an inexpensive practice surface that I've used since I first started painting in 1984.

FAQS

can I use acrylic paints? yes

can I use my own materials? yes

can I start anytime? yes

Here's What To Do Next

Enroll in my course using the checkout form below and get instant access to Premier Coup Painting: The Essentials Version

Here's What Happens After That

As soon as you've filled out the form below, you'll get access to the course.

I've put everything on a secure member area for you.

LEARN. PAINT. SEE.

You will come out of this course a better painter-- hundreds of my students can attest to this. It is a no-nonsense approach to premier coup that allows you to develop in your own way. I do not teach cheap special effects or impose on you a specific manner of painting. I show you ways of approaching the challenges of the improvisation inherent to premier coup painting, and in a way that leaves you unshackled by technique and more free to enjoy the process of seeing.

Even if you don't have time to jump in today ...and even if you only want to start implementing this course in a few weeks or months, lock in your discount while it's fresh on your mind.

You can return to the course anytime.

You can start right now - but if that's not possible, you can come back next week, in a month or even in three months to begin.