Color is wonderful—but value is what makes a painting work.

In this longer-format workshop, we’ll focus on painting a classical black and white still life designed to strengthen the most important foundational skills in painting: understanding light, shadow, form, and edges. By removing color from the equation, you’ll train your eye to truly see what’s happening in a scene instead of guessing.

We’ll work through:

How light travels across objects

Where shadows belong—and just as importantly, where they don’t

The difference between form shadows and cast shadows

How edges soften or sharpen depending on light and distance

How simple objects (spheres, cubes, cones) teach you skills that apply to landscapes, portraits, animals, and everything else you paint

If you’ve ever wondered:

Why does my painting feel flat?

Why don’t my objects feel solid?

Why do my shadows look muddy or wrong?

This class is designed to answer those questions.

By working with basic objects and a controlled lighting setup, you’ll gain clarity and confidence that carries directly into color painting later. This is an essential step in a painter’s growth—and one that often gets skipped.

Whether you’re newer to painting or looking to strengthen your fundamentals, this class will give you tools you’ll use for the rest of your painting journey.