Specialist art courses for the more confident student
Our specialist courses allow you to pursue a particular artistic interest once you have gained some experience. They do revise the basics, but will assume that you are already comfortable with them.
Botanical Illustration written by Joan Lundie (Course 108)
The art of botanical illustration in which plants and plant products are drawn in pencil and then painted in watercolour is not only a very pleasurable pastime, but a precise discipline which can be mastered by careful observation, the development of technique and constant practice.
The use of watercolours and the effects that can be achieved using them form the basis of this course; some necessary botanical instruction will be given, and it is hoped that these two aspects of the work will ultimately allow all students to achieve a plant profile which not only satisfies the critical eye of the botanist, but also pleases the artist with the quality of its painting and the balance of its composition.
The course will look at:
- brush control,
- colour mixing and matching,
- colours in nature,
- line, shade, and shadow,
- basic botany for identification,
- sketching and recording plants in the field,
- dissecting plants,
- perspective and distance,
- leaves, stems, and roots,
- stages of a study,
- composition,
- sheen, bloom, and less common features of plants,
- problem-solving, and
- developing an individual style.
Sketching Scenes and People written by Geoffrey Fletcher (Course 103)
To sketch is to capture your impressions of the people and places around you with a few strokes of a pen or pencil. It may be a full-scale portrayal of an elaborate subject full of background detail and vivid with light and shade, or a short intimate study of a single subject, but whatever else your sketch is, it is a personal record of your unique view as an artist.
The media you use are yours to choose – pencil, chalks, pen and ink, or watercolour. No other pictorial art allows you so wide a choice. The course covers them all and conveys Geoffrey Fletcher’s infectious enthusiasm for his subject and his desire to encourage and to impart knowledge to you.
The art of outdoor sketching is taught in all the portable graphic media. You will learn whilst creating satisfying pictures. Dry and boring exercises are eliminated and you will be guided in a lively and stimulating way by an artist who wants you to learn. By the end of the course you will have gained skill and technical ease in your chosen subject and confidence in yourself as an artist.
The course comes in six sections and includes:
- learning by doing – preparation, learning from others, starting to see,
- still life exercises,
- shapes,
- structure,
- perspective – planes, levels, vanishing points,
- viewfinders and viewpoints,
- forms – landscape, trees, clouds, water, reflection, buildings,
- composition – building compositions, tonal values, major and minor features, unity,
- media – using watercolours, pastels, crayons, mixed media, pen work, pencil,
- memory,
- choosing subjects – creating life and atmosphere, crowds, using dark and shadow, shading, texture,
- street scenes by day and night, and
- figure drawing.
Companion kits of art materials
All of our art courses have a companion kit of art materials which you may buy so that you can get started on your studies straight away. Please see our art shop page for more details.
