Upcoming Workshops

Join Lisa from Down by the River Florals to create a fresh foliage wreath! Enjoy a festive welcome drink and then begin the process of building your wreath using traditional methods - starting with a moss & wire base and plenty of fresh greenery before adding decorations as the perfect finishing touch! The wreaths will look lovely adorning your front door this Christmas or used as a table centre-piece; they also make wonderful gifts!

This is a workshop for all level of illustrators or budding storytellers. It will predominantly be using the professional sketching process called thumbnails, to sketch out a storyline of choice, or one provided. There will be a brief introduction, explaining the format of the day, followed by some pointers and technical insights into book publishing and self-initiated work. You will explore how to initiate a story idea, then deal with character development and thumbnailing narrative.

This practical painting workshop will enable you to develop an understanding of colour contrast. It is based on the visual experience of seeing and making colour and will provide a complete introduction to the use of the colour wheel followed by a practical painting workshop. Your work will be done at a small scale using gouache paint on paper, before being developed into final collages. Mary will share her wealth of experience and knowledge to ensure you go away with a deeper understanding of colour that allows you to paint with confidence.

This is an opportunity to be taught is a one day workshop that will show you how to draw wildlife portraits with coloured pencils. Using photographs supplied by your tutor you will be shown how to draw fur, eyes, noses, ears, other techniques such as layering, blending, texturing and colour mixing and how to work on a coloured background. This is an ideal introduction for students who would like to explore the varied skills and techniques associated with coloured pencils. By the end of the day you will have completed a number of exercises and at least one drawing. Ideal for beginners and students with some knowledge of the medium.

This is a one day workshop that will show you how to produce quick, lively sketches of buildings and landscapes using ink pen and watercolour wash. Using photographs supplied by your tutor, you will be shown how to sketch trees, skies, buildings in the landscape and architectural features and details. Techniques shown will include how to use the pen both before and after the wash, colour mixing, texture, shadows, painting with a limited palette and how to sketch quick and loosely with the pen. By the end of the day you will have produced a few pieces. Ideal for beginners and students with some knowledge of the medium.

Use small natural objects to focus in on detail and learn the steps to create a small but perfectly formed piece of botanical art. Laura will explain just how and why botanical illustration has been so important historically in documenting plants, and why it remains such a vibrant art form today. This workshop aims to introduce you to techniques you can use or adapt in your own work and is suitable for beginners, improvers looking to ‘tighten up’ or those wishing to try a new technique.

The workshop will introduce you to Cold Wax Medium and how it can be combined with oil paint to create wonderfully rich paintings full of texture, colour and depth. You will explore methods of building up imagery in multiple layers, before using a variety of tools and techniques to scrape back into the painting to create a fascinating history of surface. Leave this day-long workshop with an understanding of a new medium that offers a range of progression routes.

This workshop 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. The day begins with an initial half hour colour demo, using Daler Rowney acrylics. Students will then paint a small tonal study in black and white. It’s a great warm-up to the day! This will focus on brushwork and the variation of tone to achieve a credible sense of water and atmosphere in a painting. The rest of the time will be spent on larger colour painting(s). You will look 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.

Extend the expressive power of your watercolours by adding ink line to your composition to create an attractively illustrative painting. Your personable tutor Catherine will explain the benefits of this technique, looking closely at shape and considering boundaries within compositions. You will drip loose wet-in-wet colour over an under-drawing and bring it all together with strategies of reviewing your work. *Some experience of watercolour painting Is required for this workshop.

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 or oil, students engage with the technique through monochrome exercises painted from direct observation. It’s a process that accommodates the needs and interests of the individual and can be applied to landscape, still life or portraits, and abstract work, according to the preference of the student. The method is really all about how to see without preconceptions and how to efficiently translate the 3D world onto a 2D surface.

John will demonstrate, in watercolour, how to create realistic paintings of animals and birds. Working from photographs he will describe the techniques required to depict both fur and feather, and to produce a successful animal portrait. Students will produce a head study in pencil, then aim to complete two paintings including a head study of a dog and a bird study. John will provide one-to-one instruction on ho to achieve a realistic result.

In this workshop John will show how to depict a street scene and a harbour scene, using a quick and loose watercolour technique. He will talk a little about linear and aerial perspective and how to create a good composition. Each student will receive some one-to-one tuition during the day and those who paint at a faster speed can practice new brush techniques and exercises. By the end of the workshop you will have created both a street and harbour painting.

Back again due to popular demand, Stephie will show you in this workshop how to paint wildlife in watercolour full of colour with an impressionistic feel, making your works unique. The workshop will focus on the face of the animal and how to portray feelings and emotions in your subject. There will be a mixture of ongoing demonstrating and one-to-one attention that will focus on the face and how to portray feelings and emotion in a subject. You will be encouraged to develop your own style, to learn how to paint with instinct alongside technique, to simplify drawings prior to painting to enable a looser style, to paint with colour that deviates away from the norm. Most of all, you’ll have fun and come away inspired to paint more!

Back again due to popular demand, and this time for a 2 day workshop! Stephie will show you in this workshop how to paint portraits in watercolour that are full of colour with an impressionistic feel, making your works unique. There will be a mixture of ongoing demonstrating and one-to-one attention that will focus on the face and how to portray feelings and emotion in a subject. You will be encouraged to develop your own style, to learn how to paint with instinct alongside technique, to simplify drawings prior to painting to enable a looser style, to paint with colour that deviates away from the norm. Most of all, you’ll have fun and come away inspired to paint more!

We are very pleased to announce our first two day workshop at Truro Arts, giving students the time and opportunity to really develop their ideas and skills. This studio-based workshop will be an introduction to painting with watercolour in a loose, impressionistic and bold style. Subjects covered will include coastal scenery, skies, trees, foliage, and more. You will look at how light, composition and simplification are key in achieving atmosphere and a sense of place. Core techniques of watercolour will be covered, including the use of hard & soft edges, tonal control and variation in brushwork, to create paintings that have energy and impact.

Joe uses a palette knife and incorporates loose flowing strokes of vibrant colour to create his distinctive impasto paintings on canvas. He will commence the workshop with a demonstration where you will get a feel for his technique; you will then be led through the various stages of creating a painting in his style. Joe will encourage you to open up and become comfortable creating your piece using a palette knife and a range of striking, vibrant colours.

Learn how to paint incredible skies with guidance from new tutor and 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 and discuss the following;
- How the sky affects the landscape below and how to achieve the right tonal values- Comparing warm and cold colours in a landscape
- How to work out a composition
- Choosing a colour scheme/palette
- Working in a loose manner from thin to thick paint with big brushes
- Assessing your work
- Final touches

Students will then be required to produce one small fast painting within an hour using the methods described. After lunch you will have the opportunity to work on several small boards, while Georgie provides one-to-one support to help you develop an individual style.

This workshop is a fun, right-brain stimulating exploration of the style and techniques of Vincent van Gogh and is open to all levels of artist from professional to complete beginner. You will look at some reproductions of van Gogh’s works and Sarah will demonstrate some of his techniques before you either create your own version of his painting or use his style to paint an image of your own. You may like to bring a reference photo to work from if you would prefer to create an original painting.