Join artist David Webb for this exploration through the streets and thoroughfares of St Ives. Working in watercolour, learn how to capture the character of this unique location. 

Be inspired by the iconic cobbled streets and fisherman cottages of St Ives. On this three-day course, David will take you to some of the town’s most famous sites as well as it’s hidden gems, capturing its unique sense of place through the medium of watercolour. 

Gathering information on location through sketching, you will learn how to capture the character of its streets from various locations around St Ives. You will learn basic principles of linear perspective and aerial perspective, helping to give your drawings the illusion of depth. Back in the studio, David will show you how to transform these sketches into bold watercolour paintings.

Learn how to create vibrant paintings with a limited palette as well as several techniques to freshen up your practice. These include painting wet-into-wet and developing your paintings with transparent washes. Suitable for beginners and more seasoned painters alike, this course will help you tackle some of the common problems that arise when drawing and painting buildings. Although based around St Ives, you can apply these more widely to portray village and town scenes more accurately. 

What will I learn?

• Lessons on watercolour techniques, such as wet-in-wet 
• Developing your painting with transparent washes 
• Colour mixing and working with a limited palette 
• How to draw buildings and streets convincingly, with use of linear and aerial perspective 

Who would the course suit?

Anyone with an interest in drawing and painting buildings. Experience and skill in drawing would be advantageous but not essential, as tuition will be provided.

There will be some walking involved around the town, when we are outdoor sketching, which will probably involve some hills/slopes. We will be working outside most days for a few hours so come prepared with warm and waterproof clothing.