Whether you are a beginner or an experienced artist looking to loosen up your process, this course is a chance to explore a unique Cornish fusion of modernist abstraction and traditional woodblock print.

Discover the expressive potential of Japanese woodblock printing through the lens of the St Ives Modernists. Inspired by the bold colour, gestural abstraction and landscape-rooted vision of artists like Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon and Roger Hilton, this three-day course invites you to explore woodblock printing in a freer, more painterly way.

You will be encouraged to interpret the surrounding Penwith landscape in your own voice — breaking down form, light, and space into simplified, dynamic compositions. The aim is not perfection, but expression — using the forgiving surface of wood to create loose, lyrical lines and layered colour that echo the spirit of modernist abstraction.

Over three immersive days, you’ll move from outdoor landscape studies, capturing energy, shape and texture to translating these marks into simplified, painterly woodblock designs. With demos and one-to-one guidance, you’ll learn how to carve and print using water-based inks, watercolour and gouache. Working with double-sided woodblocks, you’ll layer colour and form to create bold, atmospheric prints.

By the end of the course, you’ll have a vibrant series of modernist-inspired prints — and the skills to keep exploring this expressive, hands-on technique.

nb: how does this course differ from the ‘Japanese Woodblock Printing’ course that Adrian teaches?

• Time will be spent outdoors in the St Ives landscape, observing and recording the shapes, rhythms and patterns.
• Both sides of the woodblock will be utilised – creating a two-plate reductive woodblock print. Carving away a little each time to create different colours and textures and building up subtle differences in colour.
• This course encourages more spontaneity and freedom, and is less fixed on technical application, with an emphasis on raw cutting, texture, and simplified composition. The end process is a more expressive print.

What will I learn?

• How to simplify the landscape into shapes, tones, and texture and translate drawings into designs for woodblock printing
• Carving techniques for a loose, painterly style
• Painterly inking up techniques using watercolour and gouache
• How to use double-sided woodblocks to layer and expand compositions
• Build confidence to continue woodblock printing independently

Who would this course suit?

This course is suited to artists of all levels who want to refresh and expand their creative practice. Whether you are a painter, printmaker, or simply looking to reconnect with making, it offers a playful and intuitive approach to landscape and mark-making. Discover new ways of seeing, simplifying, and working with colour — techniques that can enrich any artistic discipline.

This method of printing uses water-based inks, making it a safer, more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional solvent-based printmaking.

What to Bring

Timings and Breaks