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Art Workshops & Classes

I  run evening art workshops in painting and drawing techniques, currently out of Doodles Ceramic Studio in Marchmont, on Monday evenings. These sessions are designed to be fun and relaxing, for beginners or improvers wishing to carve out a bit of creative time for themselves, while learning new art techniques. 

 

If you would like to be added to my email list for Workshops, so you will then be notified in advance of any upcoming workshop dates, please email me on sheila_chapman@btinternet.com, or use the subscrption form above to enter your details. (This subscriber list will only be used to send out emails relating to upcoming Sheila Chapman Art Classes. )

 

 

UPCOMING SESSIONS 2024:

 

A new term is starting on Monday evenings in Marchmont, from 19th August 2024 - full details below!

 

Email me on sheila_chapman@btinternet.com to book a place.

 

BEGINNERS & IMPROVERS WELCOME!

Max 9 students per class

Class times: 7pm - 9.15pm

VENUE: Doodles Ceramics Studio, 27-29 Marchmont Crescent, Edinburgh EH9 1HQ

 

ALL ART MATERIALS INCLUDED*, plus tea/coffee & biscuits

(*If you prefer to work with your own brushes you are welcome to bring them.)

 

Classes can be booked individually for £24 per class (except WEEK 4 which is £28), or you can book the whole 8 week term for £180. For individual classes I require full payment in advance in order to book your place. If booking for the whole term I will accept a deposit of £80 to secure your place, with the full amount payable by 1st August. (Or you can pay the full amount in advance if you prefer). Payment will be by online bank transfer, or by Paypal if you prefer.  

 

 

New 8 Week Course!

Weeks 1 & 2: PLANTS & FLOWERS

Weeks 3 & 4: PEOPLE

Weeks 5& 6: NATURE

Weeks 7 & 8: LANDSCAPES

Art Adventures, Inspired by…

WEEK 1 - 19th August - INSPIRED BY…Jim DINE

 

Experimenting with mark-making using soft and hard charcoal we will create

dynamic drawings of plants, working from live plants in the studio.

 

WEEK 2 - 26th August - INSPIRED BY…Elizabeth BLACKADDER

In this class we will work with pencil and watercolour to paint a still life

arrangement of flowers (in the studio), inspired by Elizabeth Blackadder’s techniques.  

 

WEEK 3 - 2nd September - INSPIRED BY…David HOCKNEY

We will do some warm up coloured pencil drawing together, then work on a

coloured pencil portrait of a friend or family member (from your own reference photos).  

 

WEEK 4 - 9th September - INSPIRED BY…Paul REGO

In this class we will do some warm up pastel drawing, experimenting with

both hard and soft pastels, then follow Paula Rego’s pastel process to draw

a portait of a clothed model in the studio. There will be a live model for this

class. (NB Individual class fee for this class is £28 to cover the model’s fee.)

 

WEEK 5 - 16th September - INSPIRED BY…Carl FABRITIUS

In this class we will each create our own miniature painting of a goldfinch (from reference photos), using acrylic paint on small prepared wood panels.  

 

WEEK 6 - 23rd September - INSPIRED BY…Georgia O’KEEFE

Working from sample seashells in the studio we will create an enlarged

painting of a single shell, employing bright colour and shading inspired by

Georgia O’Keefe’s work.  

 

WEEK 7 - 30th September - INSPIRED BY… J.M. TURNER

Tonight we will work on tinted paper using only blue, red yellow and white

gouache to create a few loose Turner-style watercolour landscapes. (Working

from reference photos.)

 

WEEK 8 - 7th October - INSPIRED BY…James GURNEY

In this class we will paint a small scale gouache landscape inspired by the

techniques of the artist and DINOTOPIA illustrator James Gurney, whose

painting videos can be watched on Youtube. We will watch one short

demonstration video together then attempt to create our own gouache painting following his techniques. (Working from reference photos - provided)

 

What to Bring to Classes

Please wear old clothes that you don’t mind getting paint on (permanently!), or bring an apron to wear over your clothes.

 

Please bring something to take your work home in at the end of the evening -

remember it may be raining when you leave. A small portfolio case is ideal, or a plastic

bag and a piece of card you can tape your work on to for transporting it home.

 

In Week 3 please bring one or two reference photos of family or friends printed out on

paper - the best ones are where they are probably just sitting around at home, or are

busy doing something e.g. sewing, gardening, cooking etc. (If you don’t have a printer

you could email them to me and I will print them out for you.)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PAST CLASSES:

"Learn Acrylic Landscape Painting" with Sheila Chapman Art

29th Aug - 3rd October 2022

 

WEEK 1: 29th August, 7-9.15pm 
Basic intro to colour mixing & textural effects for acrylic landscape painting, step by step process for "working in layers", plus how to vary your brushstrokes and keep it "loose"! We will look at works by well known artists Joan Eardly and Kurt Jackson for inspiration.

WEEK 2: 5th September, 7-9.15pm 
We will create some small landscape studies using warm and cool colour palettes, and high key or low key (muted) palettes - looking at Scottish artists John Lowrie Morrson (JoLoMo) and James Morrisson for inspiration

WEEK 3 12th September, 7-9.15pm 
Scottish Beach scenes - looking at the Scottish Colourists approach to painting the west coast and developing our own painting (from reference photos or sketches) . Bring your own beach reference photos for this one, if you like - doesn't have to be a Scottish beach!" 
 

WEEK 4: 19th Sept "People in the Landscape", 7-9.15pm 
We will look at how to compose a landscape painting incorporating figures, and look at the works of William McTaggart and Peter Doig for inspiration/ideas. Working from reference photos or sketches - feel free to bring some of your own if you would like to work from those. 

WEEK 5: 26th Sept "Wildlife in the Landscape", 7-9.15pm 
Now is your chance to work on your own stag painting, or highland cows, or Scottish seabirds (puffins?!), in their natural landscape. Bring your own photos of animals in the landscape, or I will provide some for inspiration. Thinking about the animal's pose and setting, and how to make it "lifelike". We will be taking a realist approach inspired by some contemporary wildlife painters working today. 

WEEK 6: 3rd October "Snowy scenes!" 7-9.15pm 
Get ready for painting winter views - we will discuss how to choose colours for describing snow, and how to capture light and shade in a very white scene. Looking at Impressionist paintings by Monet and Pissarro for inspiration. 
 

 

 

 

 

Monday 7th June - "Planning a Composition - Working from Still Life & Photos" 
7-9pm, £18

 
In this session we will explore how to make interesting picture compositions, with good contrast (lights/darks).  We will first work with small still life objects to make several small compositional studies, then we will explore cropping a landscape photograph to make interesting compositions, looking at defining distance and considering what to leave in/out.  I will bring some sample photos along but you can also work from your own photos, if there is something you'd like to paint. 

MATERIALS: Acrylic paints, selection of brushes (at least two different sizes), reusuable palette or a "tear off" palette pad, A4 and/or A3 acrylic painting paper (or thick mixed media paper), kitchen towel or rags (for wiping brushes).  A few of your own landscape photos (printed out please). 

(Photo of girl courtesy of https://www.freepik.com/photos/frame'>Frame photo created by yanalya - www.freepik.com)
 
 
Monday 14th June - " Small Colour Studies - Landscape" 
7-9pm, £18
 
In this session we will try out different colour combinations in a series of simple colour studies of the landscape, including complementary colours, high key colours and muted tones. This class will involve working from landscape photographs which I will provide. We will make one more detailed painting, working from the studies, in the latter part of the class. 

Materials: 
Same as for 7th June class. The small studies can be done on A4 or A3 size, but you may wish to do the final painting on A3 size (or a bit larger than A4) to give yourself more room. 
 
 
Monday 21st June - "Improving Your Brushwork" 7-9.15pm , £18
In this session we will do some fun warm up exercises to practice different brushstrokes, then work from still life objects to try to mimic different textures and character using expressive mark making e.g. spiky, fluffy, soft, rough etc.  We will also explore some mixed media approaches to add interesting marks and details to the paintings. 

Materials: 
Same as for the 7th & 14th June classes, but ideally it would be good if you could bring a few different types of brushes if you have them e.g. a flat head brush and a round head brush, a long handled brush and a short handled one. (But no need to buy loads of new brushes, just bring what you have!).  

Also: 
Stick of charcoal; and
A basic set of soft pastels, or oil pastels (if you don't have these already, you can just continue working in acrylic paint and charcoal, if you'd prefer not to buy them just for this class). 
 
 
Monday 28th June - "People in the Landscape" 7-9.15pm , £18
 

In this session we will tackle composition, scale and movement, in order to produce some small studies incorporating people in various landscapes (city and country). We will work from reference photos which I will provide for the studies, but please also bring one or two of your own photos to work from for the final painting of the session. 

Materials: 
Same as for 7th & 14th June, but also bring a few of your own photos! 

 

 

 

PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS (on Zoom): 

 

Monday 15th March - "PLANT-TASTIC! -Mixed Media Drawing", 7-9pm, £12
 
In this session we will enjoy exploring the forms and colours of various green plants and flowers, using charcoal, soft pastel and acrylic paint (different combinations of each). working from "live " plants in my studio,  we'll focus on capturing the shapes and character of each plant, making use of the  strengths and nature of each medium, to make expressive mixed media drawings. There will be a sharing session at the end of the class, where people can show and discuss their work (voluntary!). 

Materials required:
- Thick cartridge or mixed media paper (300g weight, if poss), larger than A4 if possible 
- a piece of coloured paper (e.g. pastel paper, grey paper, or brown wrapping paper if that's all you have at home)
- charcoal stick(s). Preferable some soft charcoal and also a piece of compressed charcoal if poss (but not essential). If you don't have charcoal you could use a grey or black soft pastel (but it won't be quite as easy to blend or erase)
- eraser
- kitchen towel or a rag (for blending/erasing, or just wiping your fingers!) 
- selection of soft pastels (at least a few colours)
- acrylic paints (at least a few colours, including white), plus a few brushes
- water container and palette (for mixing the paints)  

If you need to purchase any materials, be aware that delivery from online art stores may take at least a few days. Alternatively WH Smiths is still open and sells art materials, plus some bargain stores (such as B&M I believe) stock basic art materials. Inexpensive art supplies can also be purchased online from "The Works" store.  
 
Monday 22nd March - " Mixed Media Landscapes" 7-9pm, £12
 
In this session we will explore various ways of adopting a "layered" approach using mixed media, to build up expressive mixed media landscapes, on paper. We will use a combination of charcoal, pastels, acrylic paint and collage to build up an interesting and varied surface. (This class will involve working from landscape photographs, shared on screen). There will be a sharing session at the end of the class, where people can show and discuss their work (voluntary!). 

Materials: 
Same as for the "PLANT-TASTIC" class, but additionally some PVA glue (or a glue stick) and  a few papers which can be cut or torn up and used for collage e.g. newspaper, envelopes, brown wrapping paper, old journals, discarded drawings/paintings, wrapping paper (best if not shiny wrapping paper though). 
 
 
Monday 29th March - "Sketching Animals - Line and Wash" 7-9pm , £12
In this session we will watch short video clips of different animals and do quick sketches from the screen, then do longer drawings from a still photo of each animal. Will be a mixture of wildlife, birds and farm animals. We will work with pencil and watercolour to quickly try to capture the characteristic features and movements of each animal. For the longer drawings I will demonstrate a step by step approach with the watercolour application.

There will be sharing time throughout the class where we can view each other's work (completely voluntary though!) 

Materials: 
- watercolour paper (thicker the better e.g. 250 or 300g)
watercolour paints; plus some brushes (small and larger)
- a few jars of clean water (to avoid need to keep changing your water) 
- kitchen paper
 or clean absorbant cloth
graphite pencil and an eraser
- some coloured pencils (optional, but may be handy for adding extra details) 
 
 
 
Monday 5th April - "Sketching Animals - Untutored Session" 7-9pm , £6
 

 

PAST WORKSHOPS: 

 

Monday 11th January - MINDFUL DRAWING - 7-8.30pm - FREE CLASS!
In this session we will focus on drawing the intricate details of a selection of interesting objects, focussing on shapes, patterns and colours. I will guide us through a series of warm up drawings and exercises and then everyone can work on a final drawing on their own (bring along a small object of your choice for this purpose - something with a lot of detail is good).  

Materials required: cartridge paper or smooth watercolour/mixed media paper; graphite pencil (2B if you have one) and an eraser; selection of coloured pencilsblack fineliner pen; watercolour paint (one red, blue and yellow will do, if that's all you have); and a jar of clean water. Just bring coloured pencils though if you don't have any watercolour paints as yet.  
 
 
Monday 18th January - LOOSE WATERCOLOUR LANDSCAPES - 7-9pm
COST: £12
In this session we will enjoy using the free flowing properties and luminous colour of watercolour paint to capture the essence of a landscape, in a simplified, expressive form. We will work together using images shared on screen, and then work from one or two photographs of your own in the latter part of the class. There will be a sharing session at the end for anyone who wishes to show and discuss their work. 

Materials list: watercolour paper (the thicker the better); watercolour paints; at least two watercolour brushes (including the largest one you have!); a water sprayer or a clean kitchen sponge; a few jars of clean water (to avoid need to keep changing your water); kitchen paper or clean absorbant cloth; graphite pencil and an eraser (optional); one or two printed landscape photos  
 
Monday 25th January - QUICK WATERCOLOUR PORTRAITS - 7-9pm 
COST :£12

In this session we will do 10minute sketches of each other's faces, using watercolour and coloured pencil. There will be guided warm up sessions and tips on how to draw facial features, throughout the poses, followed by one longer 15minute pose at the end (hopefully...). This class will require volunteers to pose for 10 minutes each while the others draw them! We will be focussing on creating quick characterful sketches (rather than photographic likenesses), given the time available and to keep it a fun session for everyone - no previous experience of portrait drawing necessary! There will be a sharing session at the end for anyone who wishes to show and discuss their work. 

Materials list: watercolour paper  or mixed media paper (the thicker the better); coloured pencils; a graphite pencil; an eraserwatercolour paints; at least two watercolour brushes (including the largest one you have!); a few jars of clean water (to avoid need to keep changing your water); kitchen paper or clean absorbant cloth

 

 

 

"Expressive WatercolourTechniques":


Monday 14th Sep 2020Playing with Colour - We will go over some basics like mixing a

wash, loading the brush, working on dry paper, then wet-in wet techniques, splashes and spray,

and do a few small studies experimenting with these techniques. Please bring two or three

photos or sketches as reference material for the studies.   


Monday 21st Sept 2020Working with a toned background and white gouache - we will

try out some mixed media techniques on coloured paper, using black and white pens and

gouache paint together with watercolour, to produce lively watercolour sketches. Again,

please bring two or three reference photos to work from. Any subject matter is fine.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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