Colour, Light and Vision

for NAS students

Five-day workshop: Monday - Friday, 10.00 am – 4.15 pm
various dates in December 2016 to February 2017
Student price: $450 Limit: 5 students each week

A privately-run, intensive five-day course in modern colour theory and its practical
application, tailored specifically to the meet the needs of NAS students, by Dr David
Briggs, author of The Dimensions of Colour (http://www.huevaluechroma.com), a 40-
page website on colour theory for both digital and traditional media

Theory:
- Learn to formulate and solve colour problems in
terms of the dimensions of hue, value, chroma,
saturation and brilliance.
- Understand colour mixing in paints in terms of
paint-mixing paths through colour space.
- Examine in detail how modern artistic colour theory
differs from “traditional” colour theory based on the
three historical primaries (red, yellow and blue).
- Understand the image colour relationships that
evoke effects of light and atmosphere.
- Learn aspects of colour appearance science that
help artists with their difficulties in seeing colour.
Practical:
- Learn to observe and paint colour relationships using
the framework of hue, value and chroma.
- Practice fast, exact colour mixing in oil paints
(please enquire about using other media).
- Understand and apply paint-mixing gamuts.
- Mix and paint shading series, the key to representing
effects of light using colour.
- Use of the preparatory colour “thumbnail” to test
out colour relationships.
The workshop
Colour, Light and Vision is a five-day workshop that Dr David Briggs has conducted at the Julian
Ashton Art School and other venues in Sydney and interstate since late last century. Since late 2012
it has also been run privately as in a form specifically adapted to meet the needs of NAS students,
and intended primarily for current NAS students and graduates. This allows us to assume some
prior knowledge, including exposure to the tenets of “traditional” colour theory, and allows us to
go a little more deeply into some aspects of modern colour theory relevant to future professionals.
The workshops are held at the studio of Dr David Briggs, located at Clovelly, NSW, on the 338/339
bus routes, 20 minutes from Central Station (street parking available nearby). Regular buses also
come from Bondi Junction (route 353 and 360). Hours will normally be 10.00 am to 12.45 pm and
1.30 to 4.15 pm Monday to Friday, but can be varied to suit the group. Cost will be $430 for the
week or part week for all.
Student numbers are strictly limited to five per week. Initially the workshop is being offered in the
following weeks, but other weeks may be offered if there is sufficient demand. Please check the link
on page four for current information on the sessions offered and the availability of places.
Monday December 12th to Friday December 16th, 2016
Monday January 2nd to Friday January 6th, 2017
Monday January 16th to Friday January 20th, 2017
Monday January 23rd to Friday January 27th, 2017
From theory to finished painting
The Colour, Light and Vision workshop consists of
alternating lectures and practical painting exercises
leading up to the preparatory “colour thumbnail”
stage of painting. The focus is therefore on relatively
quick studies rather than finished pieces.
Students wishing to focus on the next stage of producing
finished paintings (whether or not they attend Colour,
Light and Vision) should consider David Briggs’ NAS
Public Programs courses Oil Painting with Colour and
Light and Drawing and painting the Life Model See NAS
website “Short Courses”.
Practical workshops in the “old master” technique of
painting in layers (right), including study of materials,
original texts, and modern scientific analyses, are held
privately at intervals. Please inquire if interested.

Dr David Briggs is the author of the website The Dimensions Of Colour

http://www.huevaluechroma.com and is Chairperson (2015- ) of the NSW Division of the
Colour Society of Australia. He has taught at the julian ashton art school
(1996-present), disney’s sydney studio.(2000-2006) and various courses at NAS
including Theories of Colour (AHT elective Lecture course on the history
of colour theory and practice, 2009-2011) and the Public Programs courses
Oil Painting with Colour and Light (2011-present), Anatomy for Life
Drawing (2011-present) and Drawing and Painting the Life Model (2016-).
Colour, Light and Vision for NAS Students however is a privately offered
course and has no affiliation with the National Art School.
Materials
Preferred medium for the practical exercises is oil paint; please inquire if intending to use other
media. You need to bring your own materials, including the following (materials may be left chez
Briggs for the duration of the week):
- Pen and notebook.
- Cardboard, oil-sketch paper or loose canvas scraps for mixing exercises.
- Loose canvas scraps pinned to board or stretched for painting exercises.
- Brushes in good condition and a good range of sizes.
- Glass or wood palette (pref. not white), palette knife and dipper.
- Odourless solvent and linseed oil.
- Old rags (preferably) or paper towels.
- Oil paints: any basic selection of colours, e.g. W&N Permanent Rose, any bright yellow and red,
Phthalo blue GS, Phthalo green, and possibly ultramarine, plus yellow ochre, raw umber, white
and (yes) a black, preferably Winsor & Newton Charcoal Grey or otherwise Ivory Black. Student
grade paints (such as Winton) should be avoided.
- Grey acrylic paint and large brush for toning grounds (Matisse Carbon Grey Acrylic
recommended).

Enrolment information
Student numbers are strictly limited to five per week. Places will be allocated in order of
application, pending confirmed receipt of payment. In general, workshops will be confirmed as
running when a minimum of three paid enrolments are received. When enrolling please:
1. Check the availability of places in the sessions listed on the web page below, and select your
preferred week and all possible alternative weeks in order of preference :
https://sites.google.com/site/djcbriggs/clvfornas
2. Contact David Briggs on 0416 737 559 or djcbriggs@gmail.com.