print This Page
Art Courses
Beginners Intermediates Masterclasses Pen & Wash Watercolour Wildlife Botanical SBA Landscapes The Painted Horse Far Eastern Brush Mackintosh Days Painting on Vellum
The Charcoal Horse
We are pleased to welcome again a number of acclaimed visiting Artists to Greystoke Cycle Café
Each tutor arrives in the knowledge that some students may be able to attend only one of their days, thus courses will be structured
in such a way to accommodate those attending any combination of days. All courses are suitable for all abilities.
All the tutors are very experienced in mixed classes and even those with little previous relevant skills can be confident of a rewarding and highly enjoyable day.
The above link returns you to the main Quirky Workshops page for
Dates, Prices and Availabilty
EACH TUTOR has a DIFFERENT recommended MATERIALS LIST which may be found within the relevant tutor section -(except specific beginners courses)
Top
Tutors visiting Greystoke
(click on pictures)
Beginners & Intermediates Watercolours /
Pen & Wash
Margaret Jarvis
|
Eastern Brush Painting
Irene Sanderson |
Wildlife Illustration
Simon Williams
|
Botanical Illustration -
Simon WIlliams SBA
|
Botanical Illustration
Kay Rees Davis SBA
|
|
Painting on Vellum
Colin Swinton
|
Painting and Drawing
the Horse
Alex Jakob-Whitworth
4 places on each class for £40
are available to those under 18
|
|
Landscapes on a Textured Surface
Colin Swinton
|
Botanical Illustration
Reinhild Raistrick SBA
|
|
there are many more photos
on the adjacent photo link -
you will then need to search
the photo albums on the main page. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
All Art Days take place in our converted workshop barn
or in the garden if preferred and start at 9.30am
They include home made biscuits, all refreshments, a lovely 2 course lunch and a cream tea
All courses are suitable for Beginners - in particular those with Margaret Jarvis - who is particularly good for those feeling a little rusty or fearful.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
There are some lovely places to stay around Greystoke and its environs –
please see our website links page at the head of this page –or see our village website -
Stafford House (within the Greystoke Castle grounds) offers lovely 4* accommodation to suit all budgets from £24 per night (bunkhouse) to £40
http://www.stafford-house.co.uk/contact-us
|
Top
Introduction to Watercolours and Pen and Wash with Margaret Jarvis
If you are new to watercolours we can highly recommend Margaret Jarvis, an outstanding local tutor for Beginners and Improvers.
Margaret comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience and confirms that you don't need to be able to 'draw' to paint with watercolours.
It's all about technique. Although nearly all of our classes and tutors are suitable for all abilties , for a really good in depth start in
watercolour techniques then Margaret course is ideal. You will then feel infinitely more confident about attending any of the painting classes here ,
which actually attract a wide range of abilities
.
The students who paint like the tutors have probably practised for hundreds of hours, they were beginners once.
|
CLICK on any of the pics ffor more pictures of
one of Margaret's recent art classes
|
Margaret Jarvis is a local artist who has been teaching watercolour classes
since the first Quirky Workshops at
Greystoke in 2006.
Margaret is adept at assessing the abilty of those in the class and adjusting her teaching accordingly. She teaches both watercolours for beginners and improvers and
also Pen and Wash
Pen and Wash is the technique of using watercolours (the 'wash') and then picking up and
creating details using an ink pen.
Several of these photos should
give you an idea-
she teaches using a great variety of
tried and tested methods.
|
|
|
|
Margaret's wonderfully instructive days have been running since our first workshops in 2006 -
and are more popular than ever
see the pics below
|
|
Back to table
|
Top
The Painted Horse ~ The Charcoal Horse with Alex Jakob-Whitworth, a nationally renowned Equine artist
|
Alex has exhibited her work
at the London
Society of Equestrian Artists
&
the Association of Animal Artists and has work in private collections both in the UK
and abroad.
She has taught for and to the
Society of Equine Artists.
|
Painting the Horse
New for 2012
A nationally renowned equine artist Alex has not
only has worked closely with horses throughout
her life, she holds a Masters Degree in Art and
still works daily as an equine therapist.
This physical intimacy and extensive knowledge
of the horse, its physiology and form, gait
and movements is perhaps why her work
is so remarkable.
Painting, owning, training, competing and working
within this closely maintains her daily connection
with the magic of the horse and must be what
equips her to paint so well
as the adaptable artist she is today.
Each study carries movement and fluidilty,
she captures light and mood effortlessly.
It is the freshness of approach, vibrance and energy,
as if the animal is very much alive and about to
step out from the canvas. |
A day for those who love horses , would like to depict them on paper
but feel they need guidance.
Try working in charcoal, pencil or paint,
Alex will help you to discover the medium you prefer.
She brings extensive work sheets to start you off,
so the day begins highly structured for those
who need it.
You’ll learn the way the horse moves, reacts, the muscles at work and where the light falls etc
|
|
|
|
Top
Botanical Illustration with Kay Rees Davis SBA
Back to table
 Kay is also proud to be a Fellow of the
Chelsea Physic Garden
Florilegium Society. |
|
Kay has 5 paintngs in the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society,
and two more in the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation,
Pittsburgh, USA
. The Shirley Sherwood Collection has a picture of Ivy,
and there are several paintings in the archive of the Chelsea Physic
Garden, London
|
We are very much looking forward to Kay joining us again next summer in Greystoke. This is her first visit here and we hope she will come again in future years.
I found her work quite charming when looking through some of the artists featured
in The Highgrove Florilegium .
Kay is a widely acclaimed artist who has been awarded 8 medals by the Royal Horticultural
Society, four of them Gold . Working for these was an
inspiration for her, exploring in character and reproducing details of different plants. She has enjoyed meeingt the people who grew the plants and who were more
than generous in imparting their knowledge to her on those plants habits and nuances.
This popular course ran last year, see link below for pics
|
|
Kay has work in several collections, the most prestigious being
The
Highgrove Florilegium.
the residence of HRH the Prince of Wales
This a collection of plants growing at
Highgrove,
Leading botanical artists were invited to The Prince’s organic
gardens at Highgrove, and captured in watercolours the plants and trees
from the 15 acre estate which have been grown under The Prince’s
stewardship. Click here to view a gallery.
The work was submitted for selection by an expert panel, and the
resulting collection shows a cross section of the Highgrove fauna, from
trees and flowers, to vegetables and herbs.
|
 |
Top
Wildlife and Botanical Illustration Days with Simon Williams SBA
| |
|
|
Using Watercolours and / or Gouache
A highly accomplished artist and teacher in both botanical and wildlife illustration, Simon's courses are extremely popular.
As with most illustrative painting, the days require a little patience but are suitable for all levels.
Gouache - in very simple terms - is watercolour paint with a white base added, thus allowing overpainting of lighter colours. |
|
|
Day One
Botanical Illustration in
Watercolours
( Gouache optional)
Using live plant material you may bring along or choose
from the Cycle Cafe gardens, this Botanical course will ensure you learn the various methods of using Watercolours - at times with gouache- in illustrating a subject successfully.
Gouache can be used to build up a more opaque finish
and does allow you to be able to work light colour or white highlights over the top of darker ones if needs be.
It very much depends on the subject matter as to
which technique is most appropriate, and SImon will explain
all he knows in thi field..
Back to table
There is not a vast difference in the styles of painting between Gouache and Watercolour. Quite often Gouache is best started of fairly light – mid tone as in a watercolour technique but then can be built up thicker and more opaque in the later building up stages.
|
|
You will learn to look and observe details, mix colour and
master application techniques.
Whether Watercolour or Gouache you will learn to use a dry brush technique to render detail and texture to your botanical painting.
Colour swatches are also important and you will make colour notes etc to keep as future reference. Doing a swatch and practising colour mixing is the best way to progress and be able
to look and know instinctively which colours to mix.
|
|
During WIldlife Illustration the group will be working from photographic reference therefore please bring any pictures you might be interested in painting birds or animals. SImon himself brings much materila as well as insects and a variety of other specimens.
A small selection of colour copies of wildlife
subjects will also be on hand.
|
Day Two
Wildlife Illustration in
Watercolour / Gouache
If the actual drawing of a wildlife
subject worries you . . .
you'll be glad to know that most people trace the outlines and
then can concentrate on applying paint -
The course is about learning to paint Not learning to draw.
|
Back to table
Days Three (and Four if necessary) are Continuation Days for Day 1 and 2
and are intended for both Botanical and Wildlife Illustration -
Particularly useful if you have chosen an ambitious subject to paint or would simply prefer to continue under
Simon's watchful eye and learn from ongoing demonstrations. It is always nice to complete a work of art with the period of a course . |
| |
PLEASE CLICK below for
Simon's equipment list
SIMON WILLIAMS MATERIALS LIST
|
Of the different elements of watercolour painting colour mixing seems to produce the greatest anxiety for students.
The mixing of dark colour in particular in order to create convincing shadows often leaves students perplexed.
Through demonstration and individual tuition I will show how an understanding of colour
relationships can provide the key to confident colour mixing and the painting of
convincing three dimensional images.
|
This popular course has been running for several years
past course photos can be seen on
the below link
|
Tutor’s Profile
Simon Williams is a professional Illustrator running SW Illustrations specializing in Natural History and Botanical subjects and
is listed in the 33rd Edition of Who’s Who in Art.
see his website http://www.swillustrations.com
He trained as a Natural History Illustrator at the Arts Institute, Bournemouth.Work has been published in ‘The Art of Botanical Painting’ on Wildlife Explorer Cards, Ocean Life work and a book on Wildflowers.Illustrations have been awarded the Silver – Gilt medal from the Royal Horticultural Society and Certificate’s of Botanical Merit from the Society of Botanical Artist.
Simon is a tutor for the Society of Botanical Artist distance learning diploma course.
IIllustration skills will be covered in the course from applying first colours to working dry brush technique for building up detail.
|
Top
Botanical Illustration 'Autumn Hedgerows' with Reinhild Raistrick SBA
Extensive research has recently shown that fungi no longer relate to the plant kingdom, hence are no longer classed as botanical subjects for botanical painting.
|
Autumn Hedgerows
Fruit and Fungi
Reinhild Raistrick
SBA
10th and/ or 11th
September
2012
These days are
suitable for all ability levels
|
|
'Fungi are fascinating subjects and therefore we cannot allow them to go
unrecorded
The SBA has decided to continue
showing fungi paintings at their exhibitions, but in a separate class. Hooray !
Reinhild’s Materials List HERE.
|
Bright hedgerow fruit and colourful fungi will be the theme for this September .
A range of drawing and painting techniques will be covered to help you capture
the beauty and botanical detail of these late summer subjects.
Guidance will be given in producing a well balanced and interesting composition.
 
|
 |
 |
Reinhild will provide tuition through a combination of group
demonstration and individual tuition, giving each student
encouragement, attention and inspiration
|
Reinhild Raistrick SBA
Reinhild has illustrated wild flowers in various parts of the world from the Mediterranean to Africa including the flowers of the equatorial rain forests in Tanzania. Some of these latter paintings were purchased by Kew for their permanent collection and her work is featured in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. The rainforest series also earned Reinhild her first of four RHS Gold medals. This led her on to producing an illustrated monograph on the genus Saintpaulia entitled African Violets – in search of the wild violet which has been widely acclaimed both in the UK and the USA.
Reinhild has illustrated for Cambridge University Botanic Garden and runs courses there in botanical painting. She also runs courses in other centres in East Anglia. She illustrates for Plant Life.
She is a member of the Society of Botanical Artists and tutors on their diploma course.
At present she is working on a project illustrating the Alpine Campanula from a national collection of the Campanula species.
For this series she is also working ‘in the field’ in the Swiss Alps.
|
Painting in the Style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh . . .with Colin Swinton
|
Plant pattern and design in pencil and watercolour
The way he depicted his floral subjects
was unique and unmistakably Mackintosh .
A bold outline in pencil
followed by a liquid wash of colour
selective painting of the subject
leaving many areas in pencil with traces
and little evidence of shading or depth
giving the distinctive, flattened
appearance of the
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Botanical
|
|
Mackintosh combined his skill as
both watercolourist
and designer to create powerful images.
Using this simple approach,
we shall look at
his use of a number of devices
to flatten
space and recreate
these superb images.
|
|
These days are especially suitable
for beginners as well as the experienced
- tracing is an option,
the process is quite structured
and a small amount of painting creates
a surprisinglly effective result
-a good case of less is more
|
|
|
Pattern and design are an integral part
of plant material,
to reveal this more clearly we shall be looking at the
approach that Charles Rennie Mackintosh used to
create his Flower Drawings.
This course has been running for the past 2 years and photos can be seen on
|
|
About Colin Swinton
In addition to his own work where he concentrates on botanical and landscape painting,he holds workshops and summer schools all over the country
His skills as a teacher are highyl regarded and his students have been awarded gold , silver gilt and silver medals for their paintings by the RHS on many occasions . Colin has over 20 yrs of experience teaching students who have a wide trange of skill levels.
Demonstrations are an integral part of his approach, which combined with group and individual tuition make the majority of his courses ideal for beginners aswell as those with more experience, who wish to improve their observation, techniques and painting skills
|
Top
Painting watercolour Landscapes - Painting on a Textured Surface with Colin Swinton
Back to table
Suitable for beginners and
experienced watercolour painters. |
Watercolour Landscapes
Tuesday 17th July
Painting on a
Textured Surface
An exciting approach to painting in watercolours where areas can be effectively 'lifted out'
giving great flexibility
in creating your painting. |
|
The primer becomes waterproof
as it drys, the layers of paint that are subsequently applied are shed off any raised lines and marks, producing intriguing patterns within the washes. |
|
We shall prepare a textured surface with acrylic gesso primer on Bockingford Not surface paper
or other similar paper
Equipment list to follow
|
|
Colin will show you the various ways to apply
this primer using fingers, palette knives, or brushes etc. , to create different areas of texture upon
which to paint.
This is a new course for 2012
|
|
Top
Painting on Vellum - Studies from Nature - with Colin Swinton
What is Vellum?
Vellum is a translucent material produced
from the skin, often split, of a young animal, that has been soaked, limed, and scudded (a depilatory process), and then dried at normal temperature under tension, usually on a wooden device called a stretching frame.
|
For something quite different . .
Monday 16th July 2012
Painting on Vellum
Vellum is a unique surface to paint on -
not only accepting the finest of brush marks
but also giving real richness of colour and
glow that is unachievable on paper.
It has been used by many artists
past and present :
Rory McEwen, Marie Angel,
Brigid Edwards and Kate Nessler
are a few that have worked on this
beautiful surface.
Students will be guided through preparing the vellum
(nothing gruesome is involved)
and the techniques of painting, by demonstrations
and individual tuition. |
|
Vellum vs. Leather ?
The important distinction between vellum and
leather is that the former is not processed using tanning
The distinction between vellum and parchment has been made in several different ways, and no one definition can be
considered correct, but vellum has always denoted the better quality.
In
Europe, from Roman times, the term vellum
was used for the best quality
of prepared skin,
regardless of the animal from which the hide was
obtained, calf, sheep, and goat all being commonly used
|
|
We shall aim to produce
a small detailed study.
Flowers or seed-heads make
excellent subjects or items s
uch as pebbles, shells, feathers,
butterflies, beetles, lichens, twigs,
leaves or individual fruits.
Although beginners are welcome,
this workshop is more suitable for those with some experience of watercolour painting. |
Back to table |
Thank you to Patricia Mitchell who has kindly provided us with photos of her
vellum paintings on this page
whilst with Colin Swinton.
and finally . .
British Acts of Parliament
are still printed on vellum
for archival purposes
This is a new course for 2012 |
|
Top
Ink, Watercolour and Gouache on Coloured paper with Colin Swinton.
|
Click below for the
Equipment list PDF
|
Ink, Watercolour and Gouache on Coloured paper
This combination creates a simple but exciting approach to watercolour painting, superb for a whole range of subject matter.
The image is first drawn with Indian ink, using either
a brush or a stick, onto coloured paper.
This is usually some form of pastel paper, in a variety
of mid toned colours.
Fairly loose watercolour washes, wet against wet,
are then applied.
Finally white gouache is then used for any lighter elements within the picture, such as the sky, light buildings and highlights.
|
|
|
|
|
The finished paintings , using this technique ,
employ the whole range of tones from black, through
the mid-tones to white, giving them real punch and drama.
The use of different coloured papers is ideal for creating
different moods from the same image.
It is also helpful to those who often end up with
pale watercolour paintings. |
|
|
Course in 2012?
No date is currently set for 2012
due to pressure on timetable ,
however we can organise a course . . .
please contact us and we can add your
name to the list and organise a day for the autumn.
Equally, this appies to many of our courses. |
|
Back to table
Top
Far Eastern Brush Painting with Irene Sanderson Flower Studies
 |
|
|
|
|
Far Eastern Brush Painting is quite unique in the vast range of
'painting experiences' available to try nowadays.
On a general scale I
am told the most forgiving mediums are oils and acrylics- mistakes are
easily corrected by the shameless ‘painting over the top ’ technique
...and conversely watercolours, being translucent are very much less
forgiving, mistakes are harder to rectify.
A great many botanical
illustration classes involve what is termed a ‘tighter’ method of
painting , aka exact, precise and meticulous. There again some
watercolourists do have a ‘looser’ style, where painting is slightly
faster and somewhat more relaxed – such as the very popular Billy
Showell who has produced many books and videos and visited Greystoke several times.
Enter the Far
Eastern Brush, the black ink block and Xuan paper plus skilled tutor
Irene Sanderson. (herself a master of Eastern Brush with an impressive
40 years of professional experience behind her) and you have the
ultimate in minimal stroke painting,
(continued)
click on any of the pictures to see the full resumee of this day
|
|
 |
|
|
Top
Far Eastern Brush Painting with Irene Sanderson - Animal Studies
|
|
A day of learning the techniques
and studying the background
to these favourites of Chinese and Japanese paintings.
Be totally inspired by this wonderful
artist, herself a pupil of a Japanese master & well known for her ink
painting and watercolour,
and try your hand with this lovely and different medium. |
|
|
|
The beginning of your days with Irene will be learning and practising the methods used in Eastern Brush Painting. Irene will do several demonstration that are usually auctioned off at the end of each demo for local charities.
Irene provides all the equipment, special brushes, ins and Xian paper necessary for this day.
Clcik on any of the photos to see further pictures
|
|
| Back to table |
|
Top
 |
Billy teaching at Greystoke July 2010
|
|
A Botanical Master Class with …
Billy Showell BA SBA
‘My work aims to give a modern edge to botanical art. Simplicity, elegance and beauty inspire me together with an occasional touch of humour.
Although botanically illustrative, my work is modern in its approach and is primarily about creating an arrangement that symbolises the simplicity and beauty of the natural world.
Design and composition are therefore as important to me as the true colours and shapes of the subjects.'
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
Please click below for
Billy's materials list
BILLY SHOWELLS
EQUIPMENT LIST |
|
| |
Billy will be travelling from her home in Kent. She has tutored at Greystoke Cycle Café on a number of
occasions and continues to delight all those who attend. More of her work can be seen on her website
|
|
| |
|
|
www.billyshowell.co.uk |
|
|
|
| |
 |
BILLY SHOWELL MASTER CLASS JUNE 09 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D
