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Home  Programs / Majors Painting |
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THE EXPERIENCE:
Surface. Primer. Brushes. Paint.
The smell of turpentine, and the shine of a wet, glazed oil painting surround you. Delicate watercolor paintings of your grandmother's best china, with its ornate victorian pattern, line the wall of your studio. In the corner, a roll of canvas and mitered stretcher bars stand at attention. A palette of oil paint sits, never drying, always waiting, always ready for the next creative moment.
The study of the human figure at MIAD furthers one of the greatest traditions in painting. In Figure Painting, the only sound you hear is the repetitive whisper of paint loaded brushes on clean, white canvases. Focus so intense you can see it on the face of every artist in the room. You paint. Map out proportions, describe the twist of the spine, craft an environment, paint the expression that demands attention.
In ten minutes, you've got a critique of your latest series of paintings. They're comical, witty renditions of scenes from 'Alice In Wonderland.' A rich palette of bright red and pinks and muted, olive greens. They're whimsical, narrative, funny. It's exactly what you proposed to do, and you're dying for feedback on the finished pieces.
And in those moments in the classroom, the studio, the critique room at MIAD, you realize that you paint because you have to. Because you can't imagine your life without it.
 In the sophomore year of the Painting Major at MIAD, students are intensely engaged with the technical skills of painting. From learning to stretch a canvas so tight you could bounce a quarter on it to making a double-boiler to heat rabbit-skin glue for primer, students gain an in-depth understanding of the skill set critical to the foundation of painting. You'll experiment with water- and oil-based media, a myriad of surfaces from canvas to board to watercolor paper, all the while working from observation. During your junior year, you'll undertake Figure Painting, painting directly from a model, and furthering your study of proportions, perspectives, temperature shifts, and media application that you began in the sophomore year. In addition to Figure Painting, an extraordinary amount of time will be spent in your studio space in the junior and senior year, which have large blocks of time devoted to studio practice. Students see their aesthetic and philosophical ideas come to fruition in creative works. Students pose questions for themselves, and seek out answers through paint and brushes. As a senior Painting Major at MIAD, you'll craft a dynamic and solid body of work in preparation for the Senior Thesis Exhibition, the culminating point of your artistic endeavors at MIAD.
At MIAD, this is the all-my-clothes-have-paint-on-them, brushstroke obsessive, history-laden major. Work realistically, abstractly, conceptually. It's your choice. Study the history of painting. Learn from the old masters, or seek out new ones. Become the painter you've always wanted to be, and leave MIAD with a strong set of technical abilities and an intense, ingrained work ethic that you'll continue as a studio artist, a teacher, a museum curator. In the Painting Major at MIAD, we'll give you the skills you need to pursue life as a painter. You provide the dedication.
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