This short break art holiday gives artists the ideal opportunity to explore the versatile Derwent's water-soluble Inktense blocks and pencils on watercolour paper (provided) using a bold approach with the media using glazing and layering together with an expressive use of colour. The emphasis of the course is a semi abstract approach to landscape subjects of your own choice (not necessarily The Lake District) to bring with you as photographs, sketches and so on to work from to inspire you.

This exciting 4 day pastel course Higham Hall is ideal for artists who want to take the next step along their creative journey and discover the true versatility of soft pastels and use them in a really expressive way.

For experienced artists wanting to become more expressive and also semi abstract when using soft and hard pastels (with fixative) on different surfaces. The emphasis on this course is studio based experimentation with soft pastel.

It is essential you bring YOUR OWN landscape subjects to create expressive pastel paintings with a semi abstract direction. 

Many of the techniques demonstrated and taught on this workshop are not for complete art beginners but for artists with a good level of previous experience with other media (not necessarily with soft pastel) who draw and paint regularly or who have plenty of experience in art practice who will gain the best from this art course.

This short semi abstract mixed media seascape course at Higham Hall gives you the opportunity to explore lots of creative and expressive art techniques in a really exciting and contemporary way with SEASCAPES!

I will be teaching you how to engage with your subject with greater depth, meaning and feeling with a semi abstract approach in the well equiped studio at Higham Hall.

This art course is for art students who really are willing to let go of their painting inhibitions and are prepared to add more emotional expression in their paintings rather than try and create exactly what's in front of them.

Students who attend this course must be willing to push their own creative boundaries and willing to think differently about how they currently paint.

The emphasis on this course is on deeper understanding of composition values, colour relationships, mood and tone and when creating to balance controled mark making with creative expression pushing more towards abstraction too.

You will also learn how to interchange between acrylic inks, watercolour, gouache, soft pastels and drawing media to develop paintings with real depth and exciting mark making.

Students will work from their own photographic references and sketch books brought with them. I will guide and teach you how to extract the essential visual information within your reference to develop your paintings with greater depth and meaning to them.

This course is not suitable for beginners as the techniques taught will be to advanced.
More than the basic level of drawing, colour understanding is needed to maximise your own personal creative direction out of this course. 
Suitable for students with a good deal of painting practice who really want to loosen up, be more expressive and move on to the next stage in their own painting development. 
Suitable for artists familiar with their materials, have plenty of them, have good colour mixing knowledge and practice and are above the basics in drawing and colour mixing - at the very least.

Are you an adventurous artist with a good level of painting experiences looking to enrichment your practice and move on to the next level? 

Do you want to be immersed in landscape and studio painting and be free from distractions and be really stimulating and inspired?

If this is you, read on!

Following the successful art retreat at Well House Haven last year we are doing it again!

A fabulous 3 night art retreat at Well House Haven in the village of Stean (deep in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire) awaits.

This really is a ‘get away from it all’ art experience for all who come - combining exciting first hand experiences painting in the landscape, being inspired by the unspoilt landcape close to Well House Haven and using these experiences to further development creative ideas in the studio.

Studio based semi abstract /abstract course to landscape using acrylic inks, acrylic paints, acrylic auxiliaries and mediums together with soft oil pastels and different drawing media (coloured pencils and graphite), aimed at artists experienced and intermediate level artists in practice who want much less representational aspects in their painting style and who want to become much more abstract/semi-abstract in their landscape painting approach.

Sorry, the course is NOT suitable for beginners as techniques taught are likely to be too advanced and I dont want you to be out of your depth, despite your keenness to learn.

On the course we will be using different visual reference material from a number of sources (YOUR OWN sketches, photographs, drawings and so on) with a semi abstract approach with a particular leaning towards more abstract and exploritory direction throughout the week. The exciting techniques you will learn and put into practice yourself provide the perfect creative techniques for your own personal creative development after the course as well.