Painting

Welcome to the Painting classroom. While we might be best know for our quiltmaking, drawing and painting are, and have always been, fundamental to our practice. 

Our aim here in the classroom is to encourage painting, make it accessible and practical to all. To that end, we’ll be focussing on waterbased products, watercolour, gouache and acrylic. These versatile media provide endless scope for experimentation and personal development. 

Video Workshops

Handpainted Gouache Resist

Linda will show you a fantastic method for creating a resist painting using gouache and Indian ink. The results are perfect for when you want to add some drama to your painting or sketchbook work.

Acrylic Painting on Poured Backgrounds

Make your poured acrylic painting your own by taking things a step further. In this workshop Linda will use a poured canvas as a background for a painted flower study. Use acrylic paints and a simple trick to place and draw your flower so you can quickly get onto the fun of painting.

Introduction to Acrylic Paint Pouring

Embrace the experimental and join Laura to explore acrylic paint pouring. She'll share her simple and cost effective paint recipes and favourite method for pouring.

Trying Caran D’Ache Neocolor II

Laura's been experimenting with Caran D'Ache Neocolor II for the first time. Join her to test them out on different papers, and see how she's been using them, both wet and dry, in her sketchbook pages.

Making ATC Books

What are you going to do with all those ATCs? In this workshop Laura will show you several ways to use them including making tiny sketchbooks!

Mixed Media Panel: Girl with a Bird

Video Workshop - Linda really enjoyed making a set of ATCs recently and thought they had potential to be scaled up. See how she's applied similar ideas to a larger mixed media panel to paint stylised portraits using acrylics, collage and stencilling.

ATCs – Tracing and Painting

Video Workshop - Linda’s working on her collection of ATCs. These mini works of art provide the perfect opportunity to practice your skills. In this workshop Linda will show you how to transfer a motif using tracing, then paint it using acrylics teamed with pens.

ATCs – Rubbings and Collage

Video Workshop - ATCs or Artist Trading Cards are mini works of art! In this workshop Linda demonstrates how you can make beautiful ATCs using rubbings on vintage paper, collage and drawing with stencils.

Inktense Rubbings: Background Pattern

You might have a portrait drawn with Inktense, or maybe a monoprint worked on fabric with tricky, empty background areas. In this workshop Laura will demonstrate how you can make rubbing plates and take rubbings with Inktense blocks to fill those areas with pattern and colour.

Inktense Portraits

Draw a portrait using Inktense pencils and/or blocks. Join us to see how you can use the exciting Inktense products to work with a free drawing approach that's loose in style and full of painterly marks. We're working on fabric with this one, but the techniques will also work on paper too.

Painting with Oil Pastel: Still Life

Inspired by the still life paintings of Cezanne, Linda sets up her own still life and makes a painting with oil pastel. Oil pastels are a great easy-to-handle alternative to traditional oil paint and Linda will demonstrate how to use them with a medium to blend your marks. 

Using Masking Fluid

Using masking fluid can be a versatile method for your watercolour painting both for conventional paintings and in your sketchbook work. In this workshop Linda will show you different ways to apply it for great effect. 

Watercolour Rescue

Have you ever started a watercolour painting, but then it didn't turn out quite as you hoped? Don't worry! We find that happens all the time, but there are lots of things you can try to rescue your work. In this workshop Linda will guide you through some of the practical solutions she has for fixing those paintings that don't quite work out first time.

Watercolour Flower Painting

Join Linda for a step-by-step demonstration of painting flowers. She'll show you how to control washes of watercolour and build layers to paint your subject. See how an underdrawing is successfully integrated into your painting and how to manage the flow of paint and lift out colour where necessary. Even if you've never painted with watercolour before, Linda will help you achieve great results.

Painting Birds

Birds are such an inspiration to us, whether it's big black crows in the fields, or the pretty garden birds that visit the feeders outside the studio. In this collection of workshops Linda will show you her methods for painting birds using acrylics on wooden panel and canvas. Suitable for beginners or the more experienced artist, Linda will guide you through, step by step.

Inktense Traced Print

Drawing is often the best way to start a watercolour, acrylic or mixed media painting, but what if you you feel your drawing skills aren't strong, or maybe you just want a fast and effective way to get your image down on paper so you can quickly get started with your painting? In this workshop Linda will demonstrate her technique for creating that drawing which will be the perfect foundation for your painting. 

Working with Inktense

Do you have a set of Derwent Inktense pencils, or blocks? In this collection of videos we'll demonstrate a diverse approach to using them in your work on paper and fabric. See how to make rubbings, use them to colour fabric, add colour to your altered books and even print with them. There are four workshops in this collection.

Ink Painting

In this collection you'll find a selection of workshops exploring the use of ink. We'll show you how you can combine acrylic ink and acrylic paint, use gouache as a resist for Indian ink, and make mixed media drawings with watercolour pencils and writing ink.

Mixed Media Drawing Techniques

Experiment with a range of different media with your drawing approach. Try a painterly style with oil pastels, restrict yourself with a limited range of media for a sketchbook study, and experiment with layering in your drawing using pen, coloured pencil and wash.

Mixed Media Painting: Collage Panel

Try your hand at creating a mixed media painting. Using a wooden panel, canvas or piece of card as a base, build up layers of collage, acrylic paint and drawing to complete your work. Laura will guide you through every step in detail, including how to apply layers of glazes with acrylic paint for richness of colour and luminosity.

Working with Acrylic Skins

Using acrylic skins is a fascinating way to add linear and text detail to your acrylic painting and mixed media projects. Join Laura to see how to trace a linear design, how to form the skin and how to use it. In the second video in this collection she'll show you how to apply the principle to text based designs.

Mixed Media: Digital/Paint

Explore the potential of combining real paint with digital techniques. In this video collection Laura will guide you through acrylic painting with sgraffito, digital sgraffito using Procreate on the iPad, and working with printed digital paintings adding further layers of paint and detail.

Serendipity Painting

Are you always nervous about getting started in a new sketchbook? Do the pristine pages scare you? Let me reassure you that you're not alone! In this collection of three videos you'll learn how to lose the blank, white page quickly and easily. Laura shows how she gets lots of glorious colour on her pages using water based paints, drawing inks and soluble pastels. She demonstrates step by step how she produces fascinating background effects for her sketchbook and art journaling work and how she constantly evaluates and responds to what she's created on the page.

Painterly Landscape

In this video collection Linda demonstrates exactly how she uses a combination of acrylic paints and inks to create simple little landscapes on watercolour paper and box canvases before developing the same theme into fabric and thread. She produces several decorative, paintings and panels that would be perfect in your own home or would make great gifts. The videos include everything you need to know to create your own landscapes in a variety of formats.

Digital Painting and Tracing

Use your iPad as a design tool. Learn how you can easily digitally trace and paint. Print your digital work to paper and incorporate it into your sketchbook.

Other resources

Gallery Talks

Be inspired by museum and gallery collections around the world by investigating video gallery talks. We've picked out a few from The National Gallery to get you started.

Gold Finishing Touches

Add a finishing touch to your poured canvasses with gold painted edges.

Painted Lace

Take a closer look at the painted lace in some beautiful Tudor portraits.

Stretching Paper

You can stretch your paper to ensure perfectly flat results and easier painting when using watercolour. In this quick demonstration Linda shows you how.

BP Portrait Award 2018

Join Linda to get a taste of the 2018 BP Portrait Award exhibited at Wolverhampton Art Gallery until November 30th.

Watercolour Paint Palette Basics

Linda's often asked about her choice of watercolour paints - discover her recommendations for a basic starter palette here.

The power of the complement

Linda’s talking about the effectiveness of complementary colours in painting or quilts.

Drawing and Painting

Linda's enjoying more sketchbook drawing and painting today. With spring in the air the garden provides the inspiration.

Art Kit Essentials

Laura's art kit essentials for sketchbook working on the go.

Organise your Stuff

Organise your stuff, make it pretty, use it up!

Linda’s Art Essentials

Find out what Linda's art essentials are for sketchbook work...