Pathway to the Beach 

Oil Pastels 

Select (or take) a photo of a pathway to a beach - plenty to choose from around here! - Or you can use one of mine. We will be using Oil Pastels and an impressionistic style to interpret your own version of the photo. We will be looking at composition and using various techniques with oil pastels, blending tools and palette knives, applying, layering and scraping away. You will need a heavy cartridge paper, oil pastels, cotton buds, any silicone blending tools you have, metal palette knives, scrap paper with straight edges, masking tape may be useful too as well as a scrap of cloth and baby wipes for hands.  I want to show you a technique I have been experimenting with for blending using cotton buds and low odour white spirit / oil paint thinners. Something I haven’t shown before.

Development of a Theme - Fish, Birds, Insects, Plants or Trees

Week 3 - See below for full description 

Development of a Theme - Fish, Birds, Insects, Plants or Trees

3 week Project 

You will select an image or subject from one of the above, and will, over the course of 3 weeks, represent this image in three completely different ways, starting with a figurative drawing in Week 1. With guidance, over the next two weeks, you will develop your work anywhere along the sliding scale towards abstract, or you may decide to represent your image subject figuratively but using three different mediums.The idea is to get you thinking more and expanding your artistic outlook.Your three pieces will be the same size, so you will end up with a beautiful triptych which could be mounted or framed together. We will look at different styles and examples from various art movements and artists. I will put forward many suggestions and ideas for you to consider, for example, figurative drawing, Pointillism (coloured dots) in paint, abstract collage. The possibilities are endless and you can be as bold as you like! Here are some examples from students who have done ‘Development of a Theme’ with me previously, when we did Wolf, Fox, Dog, last year. Wonderful results and it really got everyone thinking and pushing their creativity…

Interpretation of a Wave, Painted on a Map

Acrylics, matt medium, paper maps

Using Acrylic Paint and Matt Medium, we will paint a section of a wave onto a section of a map. We will also use some Matt Medium to encapsulate sand onto our work. Your interpretation of a wave could be quite literal and figurative, or you could be more expressive and create a piece which is looser and more abstracted. You will need acrylic paints (or acrylic inks perhaps if you have them?), in suitable colours, and a pencil plus eraser for drawing out. Either bring your own section of map, approx A3 in size, or use one from a selection I will provide during the session. I will bring sand, Matt Medium and some PVA glue, as well as some extra paints for anyone who may need them. You will also need a sheet of Acrylic paper, or a heavyweight cartridge paper.