Modern Color

Schedule

September 9, 2025 – June 13, 2026

Fall Term: September 9 – November 25 (12 weeks)
Winter Break: November 26 – January 5
Winter Term: January 6 – March 19 (11 weeks)
Spring Break: March 20 – April 6
Spring Term: April 7 – June 11 (10 weeks)

MCA Student Exhibition: Saturday, June 13, 2026

Students will receive weekly exercises that include pre-recorded video demonstrations and accompanying PDF documents. Instructors offer live, open studio Zoom sessions twice a week: Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings; during these sessions students can receive live feedback, ask questions, and trouble-shoot ideas while continuing to work on their projects. Additionally, “open studio” Zoom sessions will be available to students to work in community on Tuesday afternoons, and Thursday mornings.

Students who are unable to attend the live Zoom sessions will receive written feedback on Padlet, and can schedule alternate meeting times for check-ins.

While our programming is very flexible and we can accommodate your working and traveling lifestyles, we do expect a commitment to your studio practice and to working thoroughly through each of the assignments, which build cumulatively upon each other. Roughly speaking, around 18 hours a week should be expected (for example: 6hrs on Tuesday; 6hrs on Thursday, an additional 6hrs of independent studio time; this includes the time to watch the demo videos)

Curriculum

Week-by-Week

Tuesdays:

• 9:30pm-12:30pm PST: Live Zoom Session with Instructor.
• 1:30-3:30pm PST: Open Studio Zoom Session for students.

Thursdays:

• 9:30am-12:30pm PST: Open Studio Zoom Session for students.
• 5:30pm-8:30pm PST: Live Zoom Session with Instructor. 

Independent Studio Day: This program is for self-motivated learners who can dedicate themselves to creating a sustainable art practice. A regular, committed practice is best for integrating the lessons. 

Term-by-Term

Each term will follow a similar pattern of concepts, while focusing on a different compliment set. This pattern includes the following:

• Value: Compositional design and the illusion of form through an understanding of value shapes and planes.
• Color Charts and Box Templates: creating a lexicon of colored mixtures to explore tertiary colors and applying those colors to invented and observed scenarios.
• Temperature: understanding and implementing the quality of light and shadow to invented and observed scenes.
• Full Chromatic Palette: learning to create a full and harmonic palette using satellite hues.
• Independent Project: integrating the lessons into a personal project including mixed-media research and a final painting.

Terms

• Fall Term: Orange & Blue
• Winter Term: Red & Green
• Spring Term: Yellow & Violet

Year-by-Year

Each year will have a different topic/ motif, including: The Still Life Theater, The Figure in Context, The Master Study

1ST YEAR: Introduction to the formal language of color. This is a color boot-camp for all levels. Students will complete a series of guided exercises that focus on a clear understanding of color as Value, Temperature, and Intensity. Students will create a lexicon of color charts alongside their coursework. Students will receive weekly feedback from Instructors.

2ND YEAR: Returning to the fundamentals of color with confidence and clarity, these students will continue to follow in-class exercises through the lens of a new motif. This second year is where true clarity and personal integration of the concepts occurs.

3RD YEAR: Optional: Advanced Project Mentoring to build a body of personal work.