Art Courses
The courses are suitable for all abilities including beginners.
Our courses are limited to 6 participants.
Art in Aldeburgh courses are held at Church Farm Studio, Victoria Road, Aldeburgh, IP15 5EA
Pen and wash
Date: Saturday 21st March and Sunday 22nd March 2020
Tutor: Andrew Pitt Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
This two-day course is suitable for both beginners and those more experienced artists who would like to work with watercolour and ink. You will be taught by practical demonstrations, both in the studio and outside, if the weather is suitable. The main aim of the course is to introduce participants to a simple pen and wash technique which has potential to produce a lively, fresh and satisfying picture. Andrew believes it is important for participants to discover a style and method of painting which they find enjoyable and can adapt to produce satisfying works in the time they have available for painting.
Portraiture Course – Adults, Children and Animals
Working in a medium of your choice: Watercolours, Pastels and Acrylics
Date: Saturday 9th May and Sunday 10th May 2020
Tutor: Carole Massey Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
Although portraiture is often perceived as challenging it can be great fun and is not as difficult as you may think! On this two-day course, aimed at all abilities, Carole will demystify the process, enabling you to portray loved ones, a celebrity or a favourite pet or other animal in a lifelike and convincing manner. Through a series of exercises aimed at improving both your drawing and observation skills, Carole will demonstrate how you can achieve greater accuracy and capture a likeness. Bring your own good quality references or work from Carole’s own library. There will be a model on Saturday for those who wish to work from life.
A Fresh Approach to Watercolour
Date: Friday 19th, Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st June 2020
Tutor: Andrew Pitt Cost: £295 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
This three day course is for anyone who has tried watercolour but has been disappointed with their results. It is suitable for beginners and more experienced painters who have got bogged down in ‘rules’. By demonstration and individual tuition Andrew will show how to achieve transparency and freshness, the elusive properties of watercolour. The course will include plenty of practical work, including how to analyse and simplify a subject in a visual way. The aim of the course is to stimulate, encourage and show that painting attractive, lively watercolours is achievable by all, using a straightforward no-nonsense approach. Hopefully the weather will be fine and you will be able to work outside.
An Aldeburgh Sketch Book
Date: Saturday 4th July and Sunday 5th July 2020
Tutor: Carole Massey Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
Aldeburgh is full of inspiring subjects to sketch – beautiful buildings, breathtaking views, the beach, boats and the sea, as well as lots of interesting people! Carole will show you how to translate these delightful surroundings into sketches and pen and wash studies. The course will cover buildings and perspective, boats and beach scenes as well as quick people studies – all the skills needed to fill your sketchbook, and an ideal way to improve your drawing technique. We shall mostly be working outdoors using pencil, waterproof and water-soluble pens with watercolours and/or water soluble pencils. Suitable for all abilities.
Collage and Mixed Media
Date: Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July 2020
Tutor: Ake Arnerdal Cost: £195 ((includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
Åke will examine historical and contemporary collage and mixed media. In this fun and supportive class, a series of themes and subjects will be explored while giving you the opportunity to investigate your personal interests. Ake will show you how to incorporate shape, colour and texture using a wide range of materials including ready-made and painted elements, photos and fabric combined with traditional painting and drawing to create the artwork. This two-day course is suitable for all levels of experience including beginners.
Bring the picture alive with people
Date: Saturday 1st August and Sunday 2nd August 2020
Tutor: Paul Vousden Cost: £195 ((includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
This course is suitable for all levels of experience including beginners and will help you to develop and refine your approach to figure painting. We shall look at simple techniques for sketching and observing figures in Aldeburgh and then take our work back to the studio to paint up. As well as discovering tools and techniques for rapid figure drawing you will also be able to study and apply shorthand to the principles of body language and human interaction that will bring figures to life in your work, whether they are part of a landscape or cityscape or a feature figure study. This course is not intended to be a rigorous activity, but a flexible and enjoyable use of your observational and interpretive abilities to create a picture working in a medium of your choice – acrylics, watercolours, water soluble pens and pencils or pen and ink. At the end of the weekend all participants will be able to take away a completed picture.
Wire Figure Sculpture
Date: Saturday 8th August and Sunday 9th August 2020
Tutor: Caro Burberry Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
A two-day introductory course for all levels of ability where you will have fun, learn new skills and play with creative possibilities. This is an ideal introduction to 3-D work using easily accessible tools and materials. You will learn how to construct a simple wire ‘armature’, achieve a realistic pose and build your figure using a variety of wires. The emphasis will be on posture, proportions and using body language to convey meaning. At the end of the two days all participants will have achieved a completed sculpture.
Photographic Course
How to extend your knowledge about photography
Date: Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th August 2020
Tutor: Stan Hill Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
This is a two-day photography course, ideal for beginners, for those who have had more experience but want to improve their photography and for painters who use photography to aid their work. The course will be tailored around the needs of the people attending the course. Stan will help those who want to discover and improve their digital skills. He will show how different cameras and lenses work, and how to download and use the computer programs Photoshop and Lightroom. The Aldeburgh landscape has many opportunities for taking photos and Stan will help you to capture the best composition. Back in the studio, he will show you how they can be edited in Photoshop. Finally the images will be discussed and critiqued with a view to helping improve them with further editing.
Oil Painting a Direct Method
Date: Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th October 2020
Tutor: Andrew Pitt Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
This course is suitable for three types of participants: complete beginners, students who have used other mediums and would like to move on to oils but are confused about the technical aspects, and more experienced painters looking for a fresh, direct approach to this versatile medium. Teaching will be by demonstration. All aspects of oil painting will be covered, from priming a suitable board to the final varnishing of the finished painting. Direct oil painting means completing a painting in one sitting, sometimes called the alla prima method. The main purpose of the course is to take the mystery out of oil painting and demonstrate how a straightforward method can produce a lively, fresh painting in a single session.
An Invitation to Abstract Art
Date: Saturday 31st October and Sunday 1st November 2020
Tutor: Ake Arnerdal Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
Are you curious about abstract art and how to create and develop it? This class will provide you with an in- sight into this world. A wide range of different approaches to working in an abstract way will be explored. Åke will begin by looking at the works of some artists who have chosen this way of expressing themselves and will show how this language has developed in the art world of today. In a relaxed and supportive atmosphere, you will gain an understanding of the history and ideas which laid the groundwork for this form of art. Starting from a representational approach, you will gradually work towards abstraction, exploring styles such as abstract expressionism, geometric abstraction, colour field painting and minimalism. Apart from the exercises you have explored, you should have completed a piece of work of your choice to take with you at the end of the weekend.
EXTRA DATE
Oil Painting a Direct Method
Date: Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th November 2020
Tutor: Andrew Pitt Cost: £195 (includes refreshments and a light lunch with wine)
Pay: £50 deposit to reserve your place
This course is suitable for three types of participants: complete beginners, students who have used other mediums and would like to move on to oils but are confused about the technical aspects, and more experienced painters looking for a fresh, direct approach to this versatile medium. Teaching will be by demonstration. All aspects of oil painting will be covered, from priming a suitable board to the final varnishing of the finished painting. Direct oil painting means completing a painting in one sitting, sometimes called the alla prima method. The main purpose of the course is to take the mystery out of oil painting and demonstrate how a straightforward method can produce a lively, fresh painting in a single session.