Level: all

November 6 - Dec 18 (no class 11/27), 2025

Thursdays

10:30am-12:30pm

6 weeks

Instructor: Jill Harrington Nichols

Instructor's website

Fee: $220

THIS CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELLED.  LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE INTEREST IN THE CLASS AND WE’LL ADD IT TO THE ROSTER NEXT SESSION.  EMAIL: education@rowaytonarts.org or CALL 203-866-2744 (x-2)

Painting in Oils

Take your painting to the next level in the comfort of your home. We’ll create multiple sketches and finished paintings in this online class. Painting the landscape/seascape from curated photos, Jill will demonstrate various techniques using oil paints and will provide guidance and  critiques.  A recording of the class will be available as a resource to students until the end of the session.  The class is most appropriate for students who have some experience with oil paints.

Note: this class will be taught online using ZOOM.  Please download and become familiar with the app prior to joining class.  A zoom invite and a suggested photo from which to work will be emailed each week.

Suggested Supply List:  

Blick Art Supply Plein Air List 

 Essentials:

  • Sketch Pad: 9” x 12” wet media toned paper sketch pad, Sandpaper Block – 1″ x 4″, Conte set pencils, Black Sharpie, Pencils, Sharpener, Gum kneaded eraser- on Blick Art Supply Plein Air List 
  • Palette:  Masterson disposable pad with palette, or wooden palette.
  • Solvent Container: Stainless Steel Airtight Brush Washer.
  • Rags, Viva, or Blue Shop paper towels
  • Gloves and/or barrier cream to protect hands

Essential Paint Colors

  • Yellows: Cadmium or Hansa Yellow Pale (light or lemon yellow) and Cadmium Yellow Deep
  • Reds: Alizarin Crimson (Magenta), Cadmium Red Light
  • Blues: Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue (Manganese), Cobalt
  • Earth Tones: Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, (or Transparent Red Oxide), Burnt Umber
  • White: Titanium, Opaque, and/or Titanium/Zinc mix (more transparent)
  • Black: Ivory and Paynes Gray

Optional/Alternative Colors: 

  • Secondaries: Green – Sap, Chromium, Earth, or Viridian
  • Orange – Cadmium and Transparent
  • Primaries: vermilion, red lake, red ochre, Prussian, cobalt blue, Phthalo blue, cadmium, gamboge, azo, Indian yellow

Other Essentials: 

  • Quality Brushes: Round – #2 #4, Filbert – #8, #10, #12, Flat or angled– #2, #6, #10, #12, 1” and 2” flat, bright
  • PRIMED Canvas or panels – 8 x 10”, 9 x 12”, 11 x 14” choose your preferred size
  • 2 Palette Knives, Palette Scraper
  • Container for solvent-metal with a closable lid works or cups
  • odorless mineral spirits, or Chelsea Classica

Helpful Materials:

  • Roll of Masking Tape
  • Small scissors
  • Nutcracker- or pliers to open stubborn tubes.
  • Gamblin non-toxic safflower gel medium

About the Instructor:

Jill Harrington Nichols grew up in coastal Connecticut. Her paintings explore both the earthbound and outer expanses of our divine cosmos. Her keen sense of color has developed over her many years as a commercial artist and painter.  She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder, trained in oil painting at the Art Students League in NYC and earned her MFA in painting at Western Connecticut State University.

Her commissioned painting of Washington D.C. appeared as a backdrop for James Comey’s interview on “Face the Nation” while another appeared on Showtime’s “The Comey Rule” mini-series.  Her artworks Phi, and Juno, which embrace the divine feminine are installed in the Vatican Observatory Museum.

Jill has received awards from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and Connecticut Office of the Arts. An active participant in the art communities throughout Connecticut, Jill has served as vice president for the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society and Valley Arts Council and exhibited at the Rowayton Art Center*, Silvermine Gallery, Lyme Art Association, Carriage Barn, Greenwich Art Society, and Lyman Allen Museum.

Accustomed to teaching students at all levels, Jill has a way of instilling confidence and encouraging students to take risks with exceptional outcomes. She teaches painting at the Silvermine Arts Center, the Rowayton Arts Center and leads painting workshops locally, abroad, and online. She also has a few videos on YouTube.