A Crooked Little Cottage With Real Character

Buildings are where line and wash properly shows off. You will draw a cottage with a wonky roofline, two tall chimneys and a scratchy garden fence, keeping every line quick and slightly imperfect.

In go the golds, the purples and a warm burnt orange roof, plus a generous splatter for texture. Straight edges are not the goal here, and honestly they would spoil it.

Towers, Domes and Beautiful Chaos

City sketching looks impossibly clever and is secretly great fun. You will block in soft shapes for rooftops and domes first, then scribble the detail on top with a pen that never quite behaves itself.

Drips, splatters and gaps are all pulling their weight, suggesting far more than they actually show. It is the loosest week of the term and always a favourite.

Slender Birches Over Still, Pale Water

Something changes in the room when we paint a landscape. You will build up layers of soft green foliage, then draw slim tree trunks straight through them in ink so they stand clear of the leaves.

A pale wash for the water and the whole scene settles into place. Calm, absorbing work, and a lovely thing to hang when it dries.

One Duck, Plenty of Attitude

Birds are the best possible excuse to paint fast and loose. You will drop wet colour into wet paper so the greens and purples run together on their own, then pull the shape back out with a few fine lines.

Flick a bit of splatter around the edges and walk away. Half the character comes from the parts you did not control.

Scruffy, Soulful and Full of Fur

Fur is a gift to a loose drawer, because the messier your line the better it looks. You will build a shaggy little face out of hundreds of scribbled loops, layering warm browns and soft greys until it starts looking back at you.

Bring a photo of your own dog or cat and we will work from that instead. Expect a few laughs and a likeness that really does catch them.

Still Water and Birds on the Wing

Our own lake gets a whole week to itself, and it deserves it. You will paint a jetty reaching out over quiet water, then lay soft reflections underneath it with a nearly dry brush.

The gulls come last, only a few strokes each, wheeling across a soft grey sky. Peaceful painting, and it looks like home.

Follow the Boardwalk Down to the Sea

We finish the term where most of us would rather be anyway. You will paint a sandy path winding between the dunes, with a soft blue horizon waiting at the end of it.

The grasses go in last, quick upward flicks of a fine brush that give the whole thing its breeze. A warm, easy way to close out ten weeks together.