Explore the ever-changing ebbing and flowing of the ocean and learn how to create the effect of light shimmering on water with the use of cold wax and oils.

The distinctive light of St Ives has attracted artists for many years. Porthmeor Beach, conveniently located right on our doorstep, is renowned for its breath taking sunsets and the captivating interplay of light on the ocean. Each tide brings with it a different set of attributes to express through paint, be it rolling waves, meandering seafoam or moody skies.

This new course will help you build confidence in representing light, and also the textural quality of the natural world. We will begin with a series of expressive sketchbook studies using graphite, watercolour and gouache. Students will have the opportunity to work from direct observation, focusing on capturing the unique landscape of Porthmeor Beach with its distinctive features and surroundings.

Kieran will share with you how being and working outdoors can transform your practice through direct experience. Drawing in the moment with immediacy and vitality allows for a personal selection of visual moments which cannot be achieved by any other means. Throughout the course these drawings and studies will start to inform and characterise your paintings.

Kieran will demonstrate how he approaches different concepts and methods of representation of light in his own work, including the use of cold wax. This technique creates a translucency in the paint which allows the white primed substrate to shine through, giving a luminescence to the work, that mirrors the light.

What will I learn?

1. Learn how to use cold wax to create luminescence in your work.
2. Explore how to mix a range of media to create textural and spontaneous responses to the seascape in your sketchbook.
3. Learn a more immediate way of gathering ideas inside and outside of the studio.
4. Build confidence in a freer and more expressive way of working.
5. Gain insights into how other artists incorporate the landscape into their paintings.

What to Bring

Ahead of your oil painting course with us if you would like to brush up your skills, you are entitled to 25% off our online “Getting Started with Oil Painting” course here. You will be given a code after purchasing our studio oil painting course.

Our studio ‘Beginner’s Oil Painting’ courses can be found here.

Timings and Breaks

The first day starts at 10am and finishes at 4.30pm, please aim to arrive ten to fifteen minutes before the start time.

All course days after that start at 9.30am and finish at 4pm and there will be an hour for lunch. There are plenty of nearby places to eat and we will serve tea and coffee at break times during the day.