Thank you for your booking.
On this page, you will find everything you will need to attend the session including the resources and equipment list.
If you have any queries whatsoever, please email ali@learningtopaint.co.uk allowing plenty of time for us to reply.
Overview of the workshop:
Using watercolour skills that we already have, we will spend the day together expanding on them and using materials that give greater accuracy to produce detail and texture.
Where to attend and what time to be there:
The workshop will be held at Stourpaine Village Hall, just five minutes drive from Ali’s studio in Dorset. To read more about the venue, please follow this link:
https://www.stourpaine.info/villagehall/whereweare/ and if you are using a SatNav, please use the postcode DT11 8TJ
We recommend that you arrive approximately fifteen minutes before the workshop starts, any earlier and we may not have arrived yet or may not have everything ready for you. We will supply ample tea and coffee throughout the day but you will need to bring a packed lunch with you as there probably won’t be time to visit our fantastic pub. There is both a microwave and fridge in the hall, Ali hires the whole building for the day so we are able to use all the amenities.
There is a very large car park just beyond the hall, walk past the cricket pavilion to reach our location and there is a slope if you are unable to do steps. Please be careful on frosty days as some of the surfaces can be slippery.
What you need to prepare:
Below this text, you will find all the resources, an equipment list and a handy hint of what you might like to do ahead of the session. It is entirely up to you how much you put in and leave out of your piece, you may even decide to have more than one painting experiment during the day, how you interpret the tuition and how much you follow along is for you to adapt.
Illustration techniques - Hedgehog
Thursday 23rd March 2023
10:00 - 15:30/16:00 (approximately) UK Time
Please download, print and draw out the following image in plenty of time for your session (more details in the equipment section):
Download HERE
Please print out to fill an A4 piece of paper, you will need it in black and white and colour.
Printing Advice:
Every smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop has a different way of managing how it downloads images and where it puts them on your system. This is also the same for brands and models of printers so it is essential to the success of acquiring these images, that you refer to the manuals or help forums for your particular devices. We will try to be as helpful as we can with advice but as we cannot see what you are seeing on your screen, it makes it nearly impossible to assist you effectively.
If you would like us to print and post these images to you, we are very happy to do that, all we ask is that you send an A4, self-addressed and correctly stamped board backed envelope to ‘Workshop Image Request’ c/o Downend Farm Studio, 3 Downend Farm, Bushes Road, Stourpaine, Dorset, DT11 8SY with a note as to which workshop you are requesting the images for. Please be aware that we need at least two weeks ahead of your session to complete this task, and if the self-addressed envelope does not have the correct amount of postage fixed to it, it may not reach you.
Equipment:
The tools and materials listed below are merely a suggestion and we hope that you will use similar products that you may already own, or if you have a little more experience, interpret the list as you wish. We have split it into ‘Essential’ and ‘Desirable’ so that if you are working on a tight budget, you can reduce what you use but still be successful with your creativity. Replicating the exact equipment shown in the workshop does not guarantee success but there is a reason why Ali uses the specific materials and techniques in her practice, more information will be given and discussed on the day.
Drawing out your composition:
As this workshop is aimed at Intermediate and Advanced painters, we ask that you draw out your subject BEFORE coming to your session as it helps to concentrate on the techniques and gives us more time to explore refining the subject. Please make sure that you place the subject in the middle of your surface, leaving plenty of white paper around it. The level of detail that you include is entirely up to you, the more you put in, the more there is to do but the more ‘finished’ you may feel it is. If you have any queries at all, please get in touch with Ali to chat about it, the first stage of the session after discussing equipment will be refining the drawing before we start painting, so tweaks can always be made then.
Essential:
Lightweight Drawing Board slightly bigger than your piece of watercolour paper.
Drawing board rest/slope.
Framer’s tape/masking tape.
Tablecloth/newspaper.
A good quality, 100% cotton watercolour paper, the weight and surface are your choice, but Alison would recommend 300gsm ‘NOT’ (Cold Pressed). A3 or quarter imperial would be an ideal size, you may choose to go larger but certainly not smaller or you may struggle.
Any brand of artists’ quality watercolours - Alison will be using an assortment of SAA, Daler Rowney, Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith and her own brand. Alison is happy to work with any assortment of colours and can provide information on the combinations you own, plus suggesting future alternatives. Spend a little time looking at the reference material and comparing it with swatches of colour from what you already own to make good choices, Ali will advise and share her choices on the day.
Your usual watercolour brushes, please make sure you have something relatively large with a good point. Alison will mostly be using the SAA’s Imitation Sable brushes or Da Vinci’s ‘Casaneo’ mops.
Pencil
Putty Eraser
Plastic eraser
Good size water pot
Hairdryer
Spray Bottle
Old Toothbrush
Kitchen Roll – good quality
White Gouache or white poster paint
Waterproof sketching pens in greys, browns and black
A selection of coloured pencils in colours close to the photo reference, Ali suggests grey, ochre, brown and black. The quality of the pencil will determine how easy they are to edit and erase.
Desirable:
Paper: You may wish to experiment with the type of paper you use. Be aware that heavier papers are harder to get bright colours to keep their tone and rougher papers don’t always show detail. You may also wish to consider a paper that has a torn or deckle edge to include in your composition.
Ali suggests creating colour cards or charts in advance of the session to help you choose and compare them to either the photo resource supplied above or to paintings from artists that you admire.
If you enjoy using gouache then you may like to bring gouache colours that suit the piece in order to create lots of opaque detail.
You will need a range of brush sizes to create this piece from large rounds or mops that hold lots of colour to something that will give you control of the detail.
If possible, it would be preferable to have both Permanent White and Zinc White Gouache for this project. Ideally, the ‘Designers’ range is a far superior quality.
Coloured Pencil is a bit like saying ‘paint’ as there are so many out there with varying price tags. You don’t have to use them at all and could opt for paint markers instead or you may choose to use a water blendable pencil such as Inktense or watercolour - the choice is yours,
It is always good to have some other materials to hand too. You may consider Brusho, sketching pens and paint markers such as Posca as a useful addition to completing this project. Again, choose colours that are sympathetic to the general tone of the piece.