Held my first Art Workshop; discovered I know some ?

I have been asked several times if I do art workshops. I have always said no, but when approached for a one to one and share some of my techniques, I thought I’d give it a go and record it in my art blog.

If I’m honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it. My lady sounded lovely but I had no firm lesson plan. Was this a good idea?

I have been on several workshops myself in large groups and understand that they need to be structured but a one to one was always going to be a more personal experience.

I decided the most important thing was to listen, be patient (not my strongest point) and for Cath to go away with something at the end of the day; hopefully a near completed painting albeit small.

I knew that she wanted to learn about painting seascapes and loosen up.

I looked at Cath’s work too and hope I provided an encouraging critique. After loosening up with some bamboo and ink sketches outside, we worked on some composition and tonal thumbnails. A brief introduction into colour and techniques using the shapers and palette knife along with other devices, we decided on an image which had some foreground but also the sea.

Working alongside step by step Cath completed a wonderful little masterpiece, full of colour and movement.

At the end of the day, tiring as it was, it was incredibly rewarding. It wasn’t only Cath that had learnt a lot. I had a total realisation of the amount of knowledge I have and the style and technique I have developed over the past years which is totally unique to me. The pressure of the brush, the weight of the paint, the angle of the drag and that spatter is really hard to control unless you have my hands.

There may well be more so if interested please get in touch.