This day workshop is open to anyone with any amount of experience, who wants to widen their drawing and painting skills.
This session explores how to make pictures by building up the marks. Demonstrations, prepared examples and discussions will introduce and guide you. The session will teach you how to use shading and layering with a variety of media across the surface, identifying their properties to help you combine the media successfully.
Tutor: Stephen Joyce
Steve has been practicing his art and teaching art in a variety of further education colleges and other contexts for over 25 years. He studied Fine Art at Norwich School of Art and attained a BA (Hons), then later MA in Contemporary Art & Professional Practice at Colchester Institute. He has a wealth of experience from his diverse practice and teaching and great enthusiasm to share his fascination for how pictures can be made differently
"I am a multi-media artist, currently focusing on drawing, painting and mixed media, after some exploration of other methods including collage with printmaking. I use different media from time to time, out of curiosity and depending on the subject matter and the theme I am working on. I combine techniques and media partly to experiment, but also to create specific effects or dynamics within the picture.
Mixed media for me is about investigating the properties of the media. When different media are combined, the potential and limitations are revealed. From this experimental approach, it is then possible to direct the interchange of the different properties and effects to create images with intrigue or distinctive character.
In my teaching, I seek to inform and guide, but also to 'open doors' for the student's imagination, and help them build and develop their own creativity. I use a progression of tasks moving from tutor Directed, to Selected options, then Elected direction by the student. As they respond to the initial tasks with each different media, their understanding of the properties increases. So they move on to different options and combinations, leading them to follow their own creative interests."
What's Included
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Expert Tuition -
Free Wi-Fi -
Hot and Cold Drinks
Before You Attend
What to Bring
Please bring along some of your own preferred equipment, media and paper (or pad), following along the lists below,as this will help you connect new methods and media to those you know. You may wish to bring your own resource images or/and objectsto work from, or just use those provided.A limited supply of some of these Provided items will be available to extend the variety of media and is included in the price.
Essentials: to select to bring:
- Paper - Any kind including Cartridge, Pastel, or Watercolour papers*
- Watercolours - tubes or pans as preferred
- Gouache paint or Acrylic paint
- Pastels (any type)
- Pencils - graphite HB, 2B, 6B (or similar at least)
- Eraser
- Sharpener
- Craft Knife
- Mixing Palette
- Brushes - sizes 6, or 8. It is recommended that you have soft brushes made of sable, synthetic, or a sable/synthetic mix for watercolour size 6, 8 or 10 as preferred, and smaller if you like fine details
- Bristle brush (hog hair or similar) sizes 2 or 4 or 6
Optional: or useful additions:
- Gouache paint or Acrylic paint
- Pastels any type
- Inks
- Charcoal
- Pens: biro, gel, posca pens, fine liner felt pen (permanent or/& water-soluble)
- Wax crayons
- Palette knife
- Paper blending stump or Tortillion
- Fixative
Provided: and included in the price for exploratory tests:
- Resource images or/and objects to work from
- Sundries - Masking tape, PVA medium, chalk, pastels, colouring crayons, felt pens, wax crayons, some gouache, oil and soft pastels
- *Notes for Paper - Standard cartridge paper will be a good basic paper and watercolour papers can be used; You can use separate paper sheets or pads as you prefer. The thickness or weight should be at least 140 gsm or about 65lb, brands vary greatly, so aim for that or even a thicker. The type and thickness can be to your preference, not rough or hot pressed, but a variety is good.
Purchase on the day:
Permanent black fine liner pens, water-soluble fine liner pens, Conté pencils (black,sepia, sanguine as available)