A trip to the museum can be inspiring, bewildering or sometimes discouraging. We’ve all felt the sense of awe when we encounter the works of master painters. However, confusion can set in when confronting the diversity of genre, paint application and general aesthetics. I call this the soup dilemma. You might love Rembrandt and Picasso, but how to bring two distinct flavors together is the challenge. This class is devised to methodically analyze the art that you like. With a flavor profile in hand you can now appreciate, recognize and implement trends in your taste that will keep your aesthetics on track through the creation process.   Six weeks of task specific exercises and art historical lectures will level up your paintings by way of a deeper personal insight into your aesthetic. These exercises will serve as an analysis of painting modalities like color, design, content and skill and thus pinpoint your aesthetic goals. This class is engineered by a painter to help artists of all skill levels consider the fundamental aspects of paintings. The assignments will be quick color studies and thumbnail sketches and therefore all skill levels are welcome. Oil paint will be the recommended media and what the instructor will use but all exercises could conceivably be done digitally if you have the technical ability in that arena. Again, note, there will be no lessons on working using a digital medium. Live class sessions last two hours with one hour lecture & demo and one hour critiques.  On average, the curious student can expect to spend 2-4 hours outside of class on assignments each week. The invested or dedicated students can push the exercises further and thereby spend more time weekly on each assignment.