Upcoming Workshops

This is a great painting course for beginners or intermediate levels, if you are looking to try a portrait for the first time or improve your portrait painting skills. Mark will demonstrate and guide you through his well structured approach to painting a portrait. Breaking it down into easy to follow steps that will cover everything from the colour palette and mixing flesh tones to working tonally, initially blocking in shape and form to construct the head through to the finer details to create a good likeness. Over the two days you will have the chance to work from a life model as well as working from good quality reference photographs. You can bring your own references to paint from but they will need to be very good quality A4 images.

This workshop with talented visiting artist Yana Trevail will cover A Tonal Approach to Painting, a method that uses simple still life and self-portrait exercises to develop a clear understanding of tone, by deconstructing what you see into a basic visual grammar of form and colour, dark and light. Using acrylic, students engage with the technique through monochrome exercises painted from direct observation.

Paint bold, loose watercolours using fabulous colour and expressive brush strokes. Jake will use his expertise to guide you through painting two pictures. You will learn mark making techniques such as wet in wet, dry brush. A large screen will show a close-up view of Jake's workspace during demonstrations, so you can really understand the detail and technique used in his expressive work. When Jake is not demonstrating he will move around the room offering 1 to 1 guidance, so you will have a constant guide throughout the workshop.

Learn how to paint incredible skies 'en plein air with guidance from Diana Brooks Award winner, Georgina Potter. This workshop is best suited for those who have previously used oil paints and both amateur and professional painters are very welcome. Georgie will start the day with a demonstration, during which she will outline her methods.

Look carefully at the structure and reflective nature of waves, still water and foam, and how to achieve the illusion of moving water and light through paint. This workshop with popular tutor Jenny Aitken will cover composition, colour, brushwork and depth, with special emphasis on movement and atmosphere. Learn how to construct a painting in order to best tell the visual story, how to begin it and methodically work through to a successful conclusion. 

This workshop with the ever-popular Judi Trevorrow will look a different ways of using pen in combination with watercolour. Lear to work quickly, loosely and then in more detail. You will use pen first to create a drawing which will then be developed with the addition of watercolour paint. Students will aim to produce 4 studies over the course of the day, developing a deeper understanding of the medium.

Learn how to paint bold expressive portraits from photographic reference with painting knives. Explore knife painting techniques, laying the paint on thick to create a rich painting full of texture and energy. The workshop will kick off with a short demonstration followed by lots of one to one tuition to help you paint a powerful and convincing portrait with painting knives.

Mark will demonstrate and guide you through his simple structured approach to painting outdoors in oils, how to capture the fleeting light, etc. learn how to work quickly and loosely. Learn all the basics, the equipment you need to set up quickly outdoors, keeping it light so you can set up quickly and capture the light/the moment wherever you are.

This is a one day workshop that will show you how to paint big sky paintings using watercolour and white paint wet in wet. During the day you will be shown how to paint on to wet paper, lift off with tissue, mix strong dark colours, how to use white paint such as Chinese White, Gouache or white ink and how to produce paintings where the sky dominates the picture. By the end of the day you will have produced at least 2 paintings. Ideal for beginners and students with some knowledge of the medium.

This is a one day workshop that will show you how to draw a portrait of an Owl with Graphite (Lead) Pencil. Using photographs supplied by your tutor you will be shown how to draw feathers, eyes, beak and other techniques such as layering, blending, texturing and lifting highlights with an eraser. This is an ideal introduction for students who would like to explore the varied skills and techniques associated with graphite pencils. By the end of the day you will have completed a number of exercises and one drawing. Ideal for beginners and students with some knowledge of the medium.

Gouache is the most versatile of all paint media yet relatively unknown and consequently under-used. Gouache is water-based, being like thick opaque watercolour enabling artists to paint in any style. No previous experience is needed for this workshop which will include using gouache as watercolour initially, then thicker applications for over-painting. Any mistakes can easily be rectified due to the high covering strength of gouache.

This workshop covers many well-known watercolour techniques and some unusual ones which help to create an appealing atmosphere within a painting. Using a limited palette of colours Jeremy will guide you in easy stages step-by-step, demonstrating each process of painting before you do it yourself.

This two-day workshop is lead by  award-winning artist Jenny Aitken, who is know for her sparkling seas and coastal light. It is suitable for beginners and regular painters who would learn how to construct a painting in order to best tell the visual story – how to begin and methodically work through to a successful conclusion. Look at the reflective nature of waves, still water and foam, and how to achieve the illusion of moving water and light through paint. 

Learn how to create an atmospheric townscape at dusk using expressive watercolours and lots of water. Mix colours on the page (rather than in the palette) to depict soft skies and mellow stone. You friendly tutor will explain the benefits of painting wet-in-wet in this way, introducing you to “lifting-off” techniques, the joy of using rigid watercolour board, as well as choosing pigments that react beautifully together.

Create an atmospheric cityscape in the blue hues of dusk using expressive watercolours and lots of water. Mix colours on the page (rather than in the palette) to depict the silhouettes of buildings and trees. You friendly tutor will explain the benefits of painting wet-in-wet in this way, introducing you to “lifting-off” techniques, the joy of using rigid watercolour board, as well as choosing pigments that react beautifully together.

Andrew will begin with a brief introduction to his outdoor painting equipment, setup and materials. He will then introduce the oil colours used during the day and explain how and why it’s important to lay them out on the mixing palette for easy and quick access during outdoor work.

You will then go into the landscape near the studio with a sketchbook to get some ideas and look at possible locations for paintings. Andrew will demonstrate and show examples of how to record the landscape quickly and how to ‘see’ a view that has good composition, and may make a good subject for painting.

Andrew will begin with a brief introduction to his outdoor painting equipment, setup and materials. He will then introduce the oil colours used during the day and explain how and why it’s important to lay them out on the mixing palette for easy and quick access during outdoor work. You will then go into the landscape near the studio with a sketchbook to get some ideas and look at possible locations for paintings. Andrew will demonstrate and show examples of how to record the landscape quickly and how to ‘see’ a view that has good composition, and may make a good subject for painting.