Painting & Drawing Courses
Abstract Painting
The purpose of this workshop is to encourage and enable people to take a free and instinctive approach to abstract painting.
Day one.
Introductions and a word or two of what abstraction is in painting
A quick look at materials, tools, surfaces.
A run through of styles of abstraction with illustrations
An hour spent mark making and experimenting with the materials at hand.
Discussion of finding starting points with suggestions of various methods.
Several very quick exercises on large formats or outside the student’s normal boundaries. Trying monochrome, minatures, and repeats.
Starting on a first attempt at a complete composition working with as much freedom as possible without the restrictions of a rigid plan. This may mean making several paintings.
Day Two
Now we put into practice all we learned the previous day concentrating on expression and spontaneity. This is the day to consider and talk about the palette, structure and composition of the work. Each student will be encouraged to have their own individual way forward, exploring the combined aspects of composition, colour and mood to create a harmonious whole.
Dates: 28 - 29 July 2018
Course Tutor: Patricia Lomax
Level: Beginners to Advanced
Cost: £150
Motivational Sketchbooking
This course will explore the use of a wide range of drawing and painting techniques, using a variety of media, as you explore different ideas and subjects. Also a wide range of formatting and layout methods will be introduced to help you enhance the impact of your sketchbook. Examples and demonstrations will enhance your understanding of methods and help you develop observational and design skills. Each week new tasks will lead the session and build your skills in mark-making and composition, while also allowing personal choice. There will also be open tasks designed to help you investigate and develop the subjects, media and methods of your own interest. Whether you use a sketchbook for recording observations, as a journal or as a creative thinking tool for making future artworks, this course will introduce lots of ideas for presentation and idea development, as well as art making skills.
Dates: 19 Sept - 28 Nov 2018 (10 weeks, Wednesdays exc. 24 Oct)
Course Tutor: Steve Joyce
Level: Beginners to Advanced
Cost: £250
Experimental Mixed Media
These workshops will introduce a wide range of media in different combinations and working on diverse surfaces to create a range of different images. Learn how to refine and enhance your skills, and how to exploit the properties of all kinds of materials as they interact and react with each other. Your understanding of materials will expand as you are asked to modify, combine and refine methods. Demonstrations and open tasks will help you explore picture making using conventional wet and dry media, as well as unexpected materials, and using a wide variety of techniques for drawing and painting.
Day one.
We will explore the potential and limitations of media, and how to exploit them. We will be investigating the behaviour of different surfaces with different media, and how the application and sequencing of different media will create different effects. Set tasks will help you understand the properties in terms of consistency, texture, opacity, transparency and how to exploit various effect as you apply the experiments to specific images.
Day Two
During the second day we will continue to investigate how to apply the mixed-media techniques, as we consider composition. There will still be time to continue experimenting with modified techniques, but we will put an emphasis on development and refinement. This will allow you to develop either introduced themes or follow your own ideas, interests and media preferences.
Dates: 17 - 18 November 2018
Course Tutor: Steve Joyce
Level: Beginners to Advanced
Cost: £150
