Ref: S5D42439
During the course, you will aim to develop practical techniques in representing the landscape using oil paint, develop confidence in objectively processing what you see and gain more insight into where you might situate yourself in the framework of landscape painters, past and contemporary. You will work from a mixture of photographs and direct observation of the landscape, weather permitting.
You will be encouraged to look rigorously at the use of tone, using charcoal and oil paint to explore tonal relationships. You will look in detail at colour mixing, with the goal of closely recreating with oils the colours you perceive in the landscape. This veracity to light and colour will enable you to free yourself with mark-making, exploring the ways in which the physical application of paint can enhance your work, lending expression and the suggestion of non-visual elements to an oil painting. You will look at the work of other painters for inspiration, to gain insight into different techniques and to understand the breadth of approach to landscape painting.
You will be supported to develop your own way of working, with your own goals and questions. The tutor will work with your unique needs and help you to develop your practice.
On the first evening, the focus will be on how artists collect source material, sketching and exploring the landscape through direct observation.
By the end of the course, you will be able to make decisions on how to compress the natural spectrum into one which can be described by paint, to convincingly recreate a tonal piece. You will be able to use these decisions to aid you in your observation and processing of colour, mixing colours which more closely resemble those of the natural world. You will be able to call upon a range of marks to lend expression and movement to your subsequent paintings, adding more dimension, feeling and artistic licence to a work, elevating it from a snapshot view to a representation of an experience of a landscape.
On this course, the college will supply some of the materials, including studio safe solvent, linseed oil, poppy seed oil, A1 cartridge paper 220gsm, charcoal and a rubber.
Please prepare at least six canvases/boards/pieces of oil paper, primed and then prepared with a ground. This ground should be applied at least a couple of days before the course so that it is dry. It consists of a thin coat of brown paint (your tutor suggests a mixture of Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine, or aim for a warm soily/sandy colour), thinned with low odour solvent or turpentine. It doesnt need to be neat, just to cover the naked white of the primer. Boards/canvases/primed paper should be a size you are comfortable working on - your tutor suggests six (roughly) 18 x 24 inches or eight to ten 9 x 12 inches, but this depends on how fast you work. You could also bring a pad of oil paper, so you have extra.
A good variety of art and craft materials are available to buy in the Gardens Gatehouse Shop.
Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear i.e. no open-toe shoes or sandals.
Arrival day - first date of course
Residential students can arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm for registration
Student welcome, followed by dinner: 6.45pm (dinner included)
Teaching session: 8pm-9pm (attendance is essential)
Daily timetable
Course teaching: 9.15am-5pm
Morning session: 9.15am-12.45pm including coffee/tea break
Lunch break: 12.45pm-2pm (lunch included)
Afternoon session: 2pm-5pm including coffee/tea break
Teaching finishes: 5pm
Evening working: students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with permission from the tutor and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed.
Departure day - last date of course
Course teaching: 9.15am-3pm (lunch included)
Teaching finishes: 3pm
Residential students will need to check out of rooms by 10am.
Please note, the tutor may make slight variations to the daily timetable as required.
Hester Berry has made a living as a painter since leaving school, exhibiting throughout the UK and occasionally internationally. She gained a degree in Fine Art from University of Wales Aberystwyth and an MA in painting from UAL Wimbledon. She has taught painting and drawing for various societies and institutions including for Draw Brighton and Camden Arts Centre. In 2018 Tate published her book on Life Drawing.
Residential option available. Find out accommodation costs and how to book here.
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