Short Courses

Course dates: February 27th - March 1st

Painting and drawing the head is more than just about getting a likeness. It is about form, and expression, the direction and quality of the mark. It is about the gaze, the character of the pose, the turn of the head, the angle of the neck, the light.

Dates: March 11th - 14th 2019 (Monday - Thursday)

Exploratory drawings have direct energy and freshness. Finding ways of getting that equivalent quality into the paint can seem elusive. This course gives you four, full studio days of painting from drawings that you will bring with you, with Simon showing you, through demonstrations and instruction how to use the drawings that you bring..

Course Dates March 18th - 21st 2019 (Monday - Thursday)

The overall aim of this courses is to help you to be confident, playful and intuitive with colour, using oil paints and mediums. To get to this point we will explore four areas: the primary colours and how to mix them; transparency and opacity in paint; tonal values and their relationship to mood and light; and finally, colours and their connection to our sensory experience of the world.

March 25th - 27th 2019 (Monday - Wednesday)

Exploring the beauty of colour through abstraction and pattern, the course will teach you how to create luminosity, rhythm and balance in painting. Starting with some of the rules of composition, over the three days the work will develop through layering, editing, mark making and expression.

Date - April 8th 2019 (Monday)

Using a variation of scales including very large cartridge and watercolour paper we will be exploring the wonderful qualities of paper with both water based paint and drawing materials. This 1-day course will start with a talk on the importance of processes in modern painting and be designed to quickly explore the act of painting through some of these different techniques.

Course dates: April 23rd - 26th 2019 (Tuesday - Friday)

Suitable for all levels, including beginners. We will be creating simple still life set ups in the studio, bringing a sense of domestic space, though props, objects, fabrics and furniture. The way objects inhabit a space can be so evocative, suggesting something that has, or is about to happen, a half drunk cup, an open book. Still life has also been used by artists as a simple, manageable subject with which to play with much more universal themes, the play of light on forms, the effect of colour and pattern in a composition.

 Course dates: April 30th -   May 3rd 2019 (Tuesday - Friday)

Spring is a magic time of year that moves all too fast as nature wakes up and blooms. Embrace the energy of spring with four days exploring ways of courageously handling luscious paint to create paintings that go beyond safe, traditional flower paintings. The subject is full of colour, texture and sculptural form......a gift for painting. The course will be packed with demonstrations, exercises and finished paintings to take away with you.

 Course dates: May 7th -   May 10th 2019 (Tuesday - Friday)

Spring is a magic time of year that moves all too fast as nature wakes up and blooms. Embrace the energy of spring with four days exploring ways of courageously handling luscious paint to create paintings that go beyond safe, traditional flower paintings. The subject is full of colour, texture and sculptural form......a gift for painting. The course will be packed with demonstrations, exercises and finished paintings to take away with you.

Course Dates: May 28th - 30th 2019 (Tuesday - Thursday)

This course explores how students can use digital photographs and technology to create dynamic and ambitious paintings. There will also be daily slideshows and discussions exploring historical and contemporary approaches to the use of lens-based technology in painting

Course dates: June 3rd - 5th 2019 (Monday - Wednesday)

This is a chance to look deeper at natural forms. The course is about transforming the dramatic natural structures of trees, flowers, pods and seeds into amazing drawings and paintings. Responding to natural forms, you will create using varying scales, materials and approaches. There will be demonstrations and images of artists work for inspiration.