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'Exploring Expressive Watercolour Techniques' - a weekend course with Sarah Stokes

'Barn Swallows and Highland Cows' - an immersive weekend of expressive Watercolour Techniques with Sarah Stokes.

Quirkyworkshopexploringexpressivewatercolours event.

Event Date

24 May 2025

This event occurs daily from
24 May 2025 to 25 May 2025

£ 295

Description

We're delighted to welcome much acclaimed, professional artist Sarah Stokes, to Greystoke for this busy May weekend workshop.

Students will cover a multitude of artistic and specifically watercolour skills which include “wet into wet”, colour mixing, timing, brush strokes, looseness of approach, and pigment control. Sarah will also teach you how to see and depict tone effectively, in both black and white, as well as in colour.

Firstly in the morning of day one, you will get to explore the importance of tone, as we draw a cross section of a highland cow’s face, capturing its soulful gaze. We will use charcoal concentrating on creating convincing fur, eyes and expression.

After a tasty home made lunch - hopefully in the garden - we will finish this characterful and lovable breed, before starting our main watercolour piece painting a pair of beautiful barn swallows perched on a branch. During the session you will learn how to simplify your palette down to just the 3 primary colours to create a myriad of hues and tones. This is an excellent opportunity to learn how to establish the first layer, “wet into wet” and then to build up the piece with a mixture of brush strokes and techniques

On our second day we will finish off and perfect the barn swallows. You will learn how to paint convincing feathers, to paint “white” breasts and to bring life and energy to a piece through energetic brush strokes.

I will also show you handy ways of correcting a piece if the wrong consistency or colour has been applied or if a piece has become “muddied”.

We will also discuss what makes a good reference photo and the best places to obtain them.

On this workshop, you will learn the following skills:

Better understand the role of shape, tone and brush strokes in creating texture to wildlife, whether it be a bird, a mammal or still life.

Get to grips with timing and pigment control needed to make the most out of watercolour
Create any colour of your choice and harness the power of desaturated colours
Use warm and cool colours to bring interest and harmony to your artwork
Find a harmony between loose and tighter brush strokes
Paint from a series of prepared reference photos
Create a whole range of colours from primary colours
Add finishing touches such as splashes, pen and ink and acrylics
Depict the colour “white”
Capture a sense of fluidity and spontaneity to your work.