Course overview and syllabus
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Course overview and syllabus
A course overview and syllabus for online course creators, written for students who have just enrolled. It explains how the course is organized, gives a suggested week-by-week schedule, lists every module with its lessons and practice task, and tells students where to ask questions and how to share their work. The sample is the syllabus for an eight-module beginner watercolor course. Swap in your own modules and lesson titles, link each one to its lesson page, and set it as the first page students see when they sign in.
Watercolor Foundations: course overview
Welcome to Watercolor Foundations. Over eight modules you will go from your first washes to a small portfolio of finished paintings. This page is your map: come back to it whenever you want to see where you are and what comes next.
How the course works
Lessons
Each lesson is a short video filmed from above, 8 to 20 minutes long, with a written summary and a printable worksheet underneath. Watch once all the way through, then paint along.
Practice tasks
Every module ends with a guided painting and a practice task. Post a photo of your result in the community to get encouragement and tips from Maya and other students.
Check the supplies checklist and gather everything you need. You can start Module 1 with just one brush, three colors and a few sheets of paper.
Suggested schedule
Go faster or slower as you like. Your progress is saved, and you keep access for life.
| Week | Module | You will paint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Supplies and setting up | A sampler of marks and strokes |
| 2 | Water and brush control | Flat and graded wash panels |
| 3 | Color mixing | Your personal mixing chart |
| 4 | Values and shapes | A one-color barn at dusk |
| 5 | Skies and water | A sunset over a still lake |
| 6 | Trees and landscapes | A layered pine forest |
| 7 | Flowers and still life | Lemons in a blue bowl |
| 8 | Finishing and your portfolio | A painting of your choice, start to finish |
Syllabus
Module 1: Supplies and setting up
- Welcome, and how to get the most from this course
- Paper: why it matters more than paint
- Choosing paints and a starter palette
- Three brushes and how to care for them
- Setting up your painting corner
Practice Fill a page with every mark you can make with your round brush.
Module 2: Water and brush control
- The water-to-paint ratio
- Wet-on-dry
- Wet-on-wet
- Flat washes
- Graded and variegated washes
- Six essential brushstrokes
Practice Paint three wash panels and label what you would change.
Module 3: Color mixing
- Warm and cool primaries
- Your six-color palette
- Making a mixing chart
- Natural greens
- Grays and darks without black
- Avoiding mud
Practice Complete and share your mixing chart.
Module 4: Values and shapes
- What value is, and why it matters
- Squinting and simplifying
- Three-value thumbnail sketches
- Painting in a single color
- Guided painting: a barn at dusk
Modules 5 to 8
Skies and water, trees and landscapes, flowers and still life, and finishing your portfolio. Each has six lessons and two guided paintings. The full lesson lists open in each module as you reach it.
Getting help
- Ask questions under any lesson, and Maya or a teaching assistant replies within two working days
- Join the monthly live painting session, with the date posted in the community
- Email hello@example.com for anything about your account or billing
Use this page
Make it yours in a few minutes
- Find it in your Control Panel. Go to Content > Page Library and search for "Course overview and syllabus".
- Add it to your site. Choose a title and a department. The page arrives as a draft, with its pictures copied to your site and your site's name already in place.
- Change the words and pictures. Open it in the Membergate editor, replace the sample text and images with your own, and make it live when you are ready.