Sebastian Aplin
Painting courses
Workshops overview
The two-day workshops have been devised to give you an introduction to various traditional painting media and to the way I approach teaching art so that you can decide, in the future, if you would like to continue with a longer foundation or improver course. Each workshop comprises two sessions that are on consecutive Tuesdays or Wednesdays (depending on the workshop you choose) over the spring and summer and you are welcome to book on to more than one if you wish. Each 2 day workshop cost £60 pp.
All the workshops are the same duration and cost with a maximum of 6 participants. The booking page will be live from the beginning of May. If the workshop is booked up please leave your details on the contact form and I will get in touch if a space becomes available.
The purpose of the Foundation workshops is to prepare the ground for understanding the mechanisms of figurative painting so that you gain the skills to embark on your own painting projects. Observation practice exercises figure largely in the workshops, and I devise and demonstrate specific painting studies from resource images or from life that will help you manipulate paint to model your subject matter effectively. Slide shows of historical master works will help us investigate how and why these mechanisms work. You will develop an ability to break down objects into dark and light forms and look at how blocking, contrasting values and painting the negative image combine to create the illusion of form.
In the Improver workshops you will be familiar with your art materials of choice and have some experience of using them. We will focus on applying the skills learned in the foundation workshop to traditional subject matter such as portraiture, still life and landscape. We’ll take a closer look at how light dictates our colour palette and how we can control the mood of our paintings by colour and composition choices. We will discuss issues around painting from “live” subject matter as well as ways to source, edit and make use of resource images.
Materials are not provided but I have published lists of equipment with links to some online providers. Click on the link to save the word document on your computer.
Charcoal Acrylics Oils Watercolour
Easels/Table easels/boards are provided and thick A4 and A3 cartridge paper will be available at cost price (not suitable for watercolour painting).
A pdf of each session’s presentation is sent to each member of the group, which is handy for reference or if you miss a class!
I will be adding to the website blog periodically, to expand on topics we touch upon as well as give you the option of publishing your own paintings is a supportive environment
Foundation workshops
Principles of charcoal sketching
Tuesdays 10th and 17th of June 2025. 10 to 12:30
£60
Charcoal sketching is the most efficient means of developing an ability to outline and simplify forms, model with light and dark and develop a sense of dramatic composition, and as such is often considered to be the basis of painting. All that with just 3 things; a stick of charcoal, a rubber and some paper! We will do several exercises to develop your observation skills that will serve you in good standing for any future drawing or painting you undertake.
Principles of painting (acrylics)
Wednesdays 11th and 18th of June
£60
Due to their quick drying and opaque covering qualities acrylics allow the painter to develop an intuitive sense of the negative image since forms can be lightened or darkened in hue at the stroke of a brush. Straddling aspects of oil and watercolour painting, it is excellent for quick sketches that can be worked and reworked easily and spontaneously.
Principles of painting (oils)
Tuesdays 24th of June and 1st of July
£60
Oils are often considered to give you the richest colours because of their natural sheen and have been the means of expression of centuries of artists who have developed painting techniques in this medium. Once you have the practice of working with oil-based materials you will see how satisfying using oils can be because of the way brushstrokes can blend and colour mix on the palette and the painting surface.
Principles of watercolour painting
Wednesdays 25th of June and 2nd of July
£60
Watercolours offer a spontaneous expressive richness due to the dynamic way pigments react with water and the paper it soaks into. It has historically been used for outdoor sketching, due to its ease of transport but also because it can define architecture and natural environments efficiently. In contemporary painting its organic nature has been used as a counterpoint to more precise realism
Improver workshops
For the Improver workshops should be familiar with the materials you will be using and have some experience of painting.
Portraiture in charcoal
Tuesdays 8th and 15th of July
£60
We will work from resource images to practice rendering the human form with light and shadow, using the background to accentuate form and experience using different tone grounds for our drawing.
Still life and flower painting
Wednesdays 9th and 16th of July
£60
We’ll come up with the challenge of painting from life and find ways to simplify our forms and refine our figure/ground relationship by the use of shadow and colour harmony. I will be demonstrating in acrylics but you can use other painting media if you wish.
Portraiture and figure painting
Tuesdays 22nd and 29th of July
£60
We will work from resource images to practice rendering the human form with light and shadow, using the background to accentuate form. I will be demonstrating in oils but you can use other painting media if you wish.
Plein air painting watercolour sketching
Wednesdays 23rd and 30th of July
£60
We’ll look at ways of using contrast and negative image painting to recreate the world around us. We’ll identify the most dramatic elements of composition in a scene and learn how to work with watercolour to bring it to life.