So many famous painters, like Sargent, Sorolla and Monet all painted outdoors from life as an essential part of their painting practice – and for good reason! Painting ‘en plein air’ is exhilarating, sometimes emotive, but always memorable and mindful. It often leads to looser, harmonious paintings which feel more like the subject.

If you already paint in oils or acrylics at home and would like to cross the threshold into painting outdoors, this 1 day workshop with artist Julie Dunster ARSMA, SWAc will get you started with strategies to help you leapfrog many of the difficulties of working outdoors from life.
Julie will help you plan for success to ‘overcome the overwhelm’, offering you a replicable process that you can apply to painting any subject, which she will demonstrate step by step across the day. Outdoors you will learn how to identify and simplify subject matter, assess tonal values and choose and mix appropriate colour to produce notes, sketchbook designs and your very own painting to take away.

Learn more about Julie Dunster

Suitable for artists who have painting experience, but are new to painting outdoors (en plein air).

Tickets £100 (10 Places) go on sale to the general public on 15th March, and 1 week earlier to festival benefactors who benefit from priority booking.

Materials List:

• A sturdy outdoor sketching easel or tripod with attached pochade
• A wooden or grey-toned palette if your easel does not feature an integrated one
• Sketchbook and set of greyscale tonal pens or 6B, 2B, HB pencils
• Value scale
• 3 x Triple primed canvas board approximately 12’ x 10/ 30cm x 24cm
• Paint: Julie will have the following colours on her palette but please bring whatever you usually use that is similar. You’ll notice that there are warmer and cooler versions of the primaries and some convenience colours.  Red (Scarlet Lake), permanent magenta/quinacradone rose, yellow (bright yellow lake), ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, plus titanium white and earth colours burnt sienna/transparent red oxide, yellow ochre, raw umber, sap green.
• A mixture of hog and synthetic brushes including flats, filberts in small medium and large sizes and a rigger
• Palette knife for mixing and applying paint
• Dipper pot or other container of low odour mineral spirits and oil painting medium (if you usually use it) or a water jar if acrylics
• Wet wipes and kitchen roll
• Bag for waste
• Means of carrying wet paintings – either prepare the boards by sticking matchsticks on the back in the corners in advance, or bring cotton buds so that you can stack them, with a dry clean board on the top, and tape together with paper tape. Alternatively use a painting carrier.

Plan for your personal comfort – bring drink, snacks, and check the weather forecast before you dress- layers are useful!

Provided: Plein Air Prompter

Julie Dunster: