First Steps Art Workshop: How did it go?

First Steps in Art is a one day art workshop for absolute beginners to art.  Firstly after all the snow we had been having we were lucky with the weather.  No snow and everyone had a relatively easy journey. Six people assembled on a Friday in Buxton to take their first steps into learning about art.  Several people in the group were completely new to painting and drawing whilst  others had some experience but wanted a chance to explore and play with materials and find out more.

After a taking a little time to introduce ourselves we quickly got down to putting paint to paper and began the day with a short briefing on the materials.

Using Watercolour and Oil Pastel

The first exercise was using watercolour, wax crayon and wax pastel. Do you remember as a child making rubbings using wax crayons of interesting surfaces. Well that is exactly what we did. Our venue, The Green Man Gallery is an old building and there are lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore with a variety of surface textures to play with.  This was part of the first exercise –  using the rubbings and making collage papers to use later in the day.  We all made an abstract piece and then a collage before lunch.

Lunch was an opportunity to see something of the town.  Buxton is a place with lots of history and an excellent range and choice of places to eat and drink. there are cafes within walking and a deli just up the road from the gallery. And of course you can always bring your own food as the gallery has a large space on the ground floor where you can buy a coffee and sit and relax.

Acrylic Paint

The afternoon was mostly given over to looking at acrylic paint. Painting on wooden board is interesting as the hard surface allows for a wide variety of techniques to be used and because it is pretty robust you can scratch and scrape into the paint as it begins to dry.

After cleaning and clearing up we gathered to reflect on the day.  All delegates rated the teaching style as excellent or good and here are some of the comments from the participants.

Delegate Feedback

I would definitely attend another class.

Lin, you are enthusiastic and supportive, this helped my creative process and willingness to use the various materials. the workshop activities were enjoyable and fun. Thank you. 

Great day,enjoyed having the time to explore the different media and learn some new techniques. 

Enjoyable day. Thank you. 

Perhaps you’ve been thinking about this course for a while?  Not sure if it was for you?  I hope this information and feedback lets you know a little more about what to expect.

The next date is Friday 28th September and there are still some paces left. Contact me to reserve your place and come and play with paint for the day.