Color

with Mario Romano & William Sieruta
PAINTING 658 001 | 3 credits | $50 Lab Fee
July 15 - 27, 2024

This course investigates a series of color problems to sensitize students to the interaction of color and color phenomena. Considering the puzzles of color use and color composition, this course emphasizes hue, value, and chroma and the application of such knowledge to the visual arts. Students are encouraged to work in the 2-d media of their choosing (acrylic, oil, pastels, etc) and will be provided with a list of colors to construct their palate prior to the beginning of class. Students will practice looking at color, and in the first week of class will take inspiration from a presentation of one hundred paintings, including work made by David Hockney, Joan Mitchell, Milton Avery, Jacob Lawrence, Stuart Davis, Josef Albers, Karl Wirsum, and Georgia O’Keefe. We will consider how they have all playfully explored the power of color. Assignments will invite students to complete both simple and complex color wheels, with the goal of discerning the sometimes unintuitive interaction of pigments. Students will work in the studio and in the landscape, observing, utilizing, and manipulating color in nature. This is a basic course about seeing and using color that can be applied to all disciplines.

Mario Romano is an artist and educator who currently resides in Upstate New York. He graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago with his Master of Fine Arts in 2012. Mario has shown at galleries both Nationally and Internationally including Chicago, New York, Austin and Germany. In addition to his dedicated teaching practice, Mario has continued his investigation into drawing and painting and often looks at his surroundings for inspiration. In addition to both his teaching and art career, Mario is also part of the College Art Association as well as the Scholastic Arts Association in Upstate New York.

Mario Romano, Pond Painting Series, 2017, watercolor, 9 x 12 in.

William Sieruta (he/him) can’t decide if he’s a painter, a sculptor, a writer, or a designer, so instead of committing to one discipline, his time is haphazardly dividede between all of these pursuits. He studied Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he earned an MFA in 2012. He was also awarded a fellowship to Oxbow School of Art, an experience he draws inspiration from to this day. After several stints as an artist assistant and studio manager in New York, William returned to his native Massachusetts where currently he teaches painting classes and workshops. He was awarded a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for his “Thinking in Color” studio workshop in 2018. These days WIlliam lives and makes art on January Mountain with his wife Jennifer and his son Ziggy.

William Sieruta, Severed Snake, oil on board, 60 x 72 in.