
Creativity through nature – Workshop by Ann Blockley RI SWA
Sun June 6 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
The emphasis will be on enjoying the process and not necessarily to create ‘finished’ paintings but to explore creative options. We will be spending some time outdoors, connecting with nature and sketching with the rest of the time experimenting indoors, building on the information gathered. Some walking may be involved.
The workshop will use water-based materials and is for artists with some experience, not complete beginners.
What to Bring and course notes from Ann:
This workshop is designed to be flexible and encourage you to work in personal ways so I am not giving a prescriptive list of what to bring. The following ideas are only suggestions to help you decide. I will provide any unusual materials if needed.
Outdoor work:
Outdoor clothes and footwear – we will be going outside for short periods whatever the weather.
A painting stool can be useful but we may only be making quick visual notes-depending on the weather. I will not be taking one.
Camera/ipad (optional)
Simple sketching materials of your choice eg. pen, pencil, charcoal. You can bring a few colours if you wish such as small travel watercolour box or a few inktense sticks but keep it minimal and light-weight.
A bag for foraged materials
Sketchbook- I like spiral bound ones that pages can be torn out of or use loose sheets. I suggest about A4 but whatever size works for you. Bulldog clips are useful to clip pages together.
Studio work
Colours
Water-based mediums and colours of your choice.Tubes not pans preferably. I use watercolour, gouache, acrylic ink. Bring acrylic paint if you like but I do not use it myself. However, I do use FW Daler Rowney Acrylic Ink ..all colours especiallysepia.
In my mainstream work, my favourite watercolours are French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Turquoise, any cool yellow, Cobalt Violet(W&N), Quinacrodine Magenta, Quinacrodine Gold (W&N), Brown Madder, Cadmium Red, Winsor Red (W&N), Green Gold(W&N), Indigo, Pthalo blue, Perylene maroonin any brand (unless specified)butwhat we use will depend on the subjects available on the day so just bring what you have.
White gouache
Surface.Your choice of paper.I will use Khadi paper, cartridge and unstretched watercolour paper.
Painting board and water pot
Brushes – Bring a few in different shapes and sizes.Not too small. I use round and flat. I mainly use several round size 16 or 18, a flat 1 ½”, 1” and ½” and a rigger. An old brush for glue and messy work.
Palette – I supplement my normal palette with small recyclable food pots ( yogurt etc) to mixlarger quantities of pigment in.
Drawing mediumswatercolour pencils (I especially like black)/crayons/oil pastel etc.charcoal. Just bring what you have.
Palette Knives Small ‘diamond’ shaped one for splattering, smearing paint and drawing lines. Optional
Granulation medium (Winsor and Newton) I will bring bottles to share but if you are particularly interested in exploring this -it may be worth getting your own bottle.
PVA glue (There will be some available)
“The Hive” at The Fish Hotel:
