Painting the Outside Inside

Saturday 28 June 2025

9.30am – 4pm

 Venue:  Salt Village Hall, Salt Rd, Salt, Stafford ST18 0BW

What can you expect from this full day workshop?

 Art workshops provide an environment where artists of any background come together, explore and expand their creativity, learn new techniques from peers and hone their artistic abilities.

 Meet at 9.30am for a coffee

 What does en plein air mean?   -   It means painting outdoors from start to finish, using your chosen medium.

 I tend to go outside collecting refence that talks to me.  Only you can decide whether you are inspired by what is in front of you, so everyone will be selecting different ideas.  Mostly due to the English weather and because I like my creature comforts,  I collect what talks to me and then move inside. 

 For this workshop we will spend 2 hours collecting reference material.  This may be in the form of photos, sketches or drawings or actual objects that we find during the 2 hours. 

 How do I know what to collect?  That’s why you are on the workshop and that's my role……

 Oh Help - I would love to draw from life;  BUT I am worried about what other people will say.  I feel awkward, I do not know what to draw, I do not want to carry a heavy bag, I don’t want to go on my own and so the excuses go on.  I am not saying there will be no drawing and there is no shortcut to getting better, except practice.  I will however be on hand giving guidance to help.

 A useful thing to remember is not to feel that you have to ‘get everything in’. Keeping it simple is key.  An artist is an interpreter of a scene, and your role is to tell the story you want to tell.

 Having collected our reference:

 We will then have a late breakfast before moving on indoors and taking our collections and reference inside to put our reference into a painting or paintings.

 If you have always painted from photographs, give this workshop a try.  Experimenting with a new way of creating always shakes things up and supercharges the learning curve.  After all, if we do not move forward, we become bored and stagnant.

 Going outside to sit in front of your subject is an experience that is hard to beat.

 The cost of this workshop includes a welcome drink, breakfast and refreshments throughout the afternoon.

A materials list will be sent out 2 weeks before the workshop.