Having adopted paint as my much loved medium, I’ve also realised my need to learn so much more. More, of course, about technique, colour mixing, preparation, finishing and so on. But I’ve realised also that there is so much about a good teacher who can free you up to try new approaches, get you to think a bit differently about what you want to achieve and can help with those big questions - such as the classic, ‘is it finished?” 

The benefits of two rather different courses have stayed with me particularly and are still influencing my practice, albeit in different ways. A brief resumé of them here:

Directions in Abstraction.

This was a 10-week, online course that brought collective art-making, tuition and live demonstration directly into my home via Zoom. Working with acrylics, the tutor, Lin Cheung created what I felt was a really useful programme. Two sessions each week, divided into one practical three-hour session followed later in the week by a shorter session for coaching, critique and discussion.

Suddenly, I found myself painting alongside people from the USA, Canada, London, Stockholm and various other parts of the UK. Additionally there were very different experiences of making art but it didn’t take long for bonds to form and the group to feel supportive.

The art-making was indeed abstract - a new experience for me - and we mainly worked completely intuitively while working through the more practical aspects week by week. As ever, each student produced very different work and I feel we all benefitted from the critique sessions where we viewed and considered the directions each of us had taken. Lin is very skilled in supporting helpful and open discussions.

Once the course ended, many of us chose to continue as a group that Lin leads on a weekly basis for online critiques, Q&A’s, practical demos and general morale boosting! 

Landscape Painting in Oils.

Local Sussex artist, Julian La Bas, tutored this four-day course which ran at The Old Dairy just outside Lewes, East Sussex. Enabling - and in fact promoting - the process of painting en plein air, felt hugely liberating. Julian always paints in this way and produces oil paintings that are colourful and have a wonderful feeling of immediacy about them.

He is also a great tutor; sensitive enough to leave you alone where he can see you’re very much in the zone but always ready with practical advice and thoughtful comment when it’s needed. As ever, a varied cohort of amateur artists responded in different ways. The weather was sunny and warm and views across fields to trees and over to the Downs was perfect for responding to Julian’s brief and demos in whatever way felt right. At the end of the four days, I was so relaxed I genuinely felt I’d been on holiday - though the number of paintings I took home told another story.

Thinking about what I’ve taken away from these courses, especially in relation to the progress of my Fine Art degree work, I suspect it boils down to a couple of key things. On a practical level, just managing effective application of paint - both oils and acrylics - was immensely useful. Then there is the discussion and the input of ‘critical friends’ - all helping you to take a step back from your work and, perhaps, see it more objectively or even more kindly. Above all, a tutor ‘at your shoulder’ wins hands down in comparison to any book or video!