Line, Texture, Tone - Coldwax Painting
Laura Menzies
Enjoy creating luminous abstract paintings using coldwax painting. Learn how these three fundamental aspects - texture, line and shape - can help develop your unique visual vocabulary.
Course details
In this course you will be encouraged to explore creative play in your art journals, allowing you to capture your personal curiosities and interests to develop your visual language and bring clarity to your practice.
Join artist Laura Menzies, in this four part series, as she shares her tips and tricks to help you kick start your own art journaling practice. Laura will talk about how she used a combination of painting, sketching, colour notes, collage and text to document inspiration whilst travelling recently in India.
Creative play through drawing, painting and colour exercises will help you to strengthen your connection to yourself and written prompts will help you to generate new ideas and perspectives. You will be looking at other artists and how they use art journaling in their art practices alongside completing exercises that will be the foundation for your own exploration. Over the duration of the course you will be working with acrylic paints, inks, collage, stencils and other gathered found materials and handmade tools.
Why can a creative journal be such a valuable tool for an artist?
The scribbles, notes and creative discoveries that you make in a sketchbook/journal can help to bring clarity to your art process, as you identify common themes and recurring motifs that you are drawn to. Reflecting on these will give you an insight into how your style has developed over time and will help to feed and develop other works of art. It is a safe, personal space for you that doesn’t have to be polished or finished.
By the end of this course, you will have gained new skills that will help boost your confidence and guide your art practice when you are feeling stuck or prior to starting a bigger project.
To get the most out of this course, you are encouraged to watch, take notes, and then work through the tasks that Laura will set you in between the sessions. You will then have the chance to share these completed tasks in the Facebook Alumni Group with your fellow students.
Course Structure
Part 1 – Introductory Session
Setting the Scene: Laura will share her insights into why creative journaling is an important process to strengthen the connection to oneself. Laura will introduce the materials and media that you will be using and exploring in the course. Hear her tips and rituals around preparing for the creative process.
Part 2 – Ways In
Ways In: This session will be about loosening up and experimentation. Start to build your own toolbox of go to exercises that will help you build confidence within your art practice. Expect to dive into some drawing exercises, discover colour palettes that reflect your personal style, explore mark making and collage.
Part 3 – Exploration of Place
Exploration of Place: Explore the items that you have gathered from a special place. Incorporate them into your creative journals through processes such as printing and stencilling. See how these items can inspire the shapes that you draw or be used themselves, to make the tools and brushes that you work with.
Part 4 – Building and Reflection
Building and Reflection: Laura will spend this session demonstrating building up layers and combining the techniques learnt in previous sessions. Incorporate writing into your practice and spend some time looking back, reflecting and connecting the threads. To round up the course, Laura will talk about taking the leap from page to canvas.
What will I learn?
- Ways to connect back to yourself and spark your creativity
- Enjoy the freedom to explore, play and loosen up without judgement
- How to work with acrylic, inks, collage and other mixed media in a sketchbook
- How to gather inspiration and new ideas easily
- How to work with found tools and materials
- Tips on taking the leap from a page to a canvas
Who would this course suit?
No specials skills are needed, just being open to where the course may take you. The course would suit those who are just starting on their creative journey and would benefit from a safe space to explore materials or ideas, and those who would like to explore the possibilities of starting a sketchbook practice.
There is no need for a designated studio space for this course. The exercises can be completed in various locations, whilst traveling or at home with limited materials.
Taught by
What to Bring
A list of materials will be available to see in your account upon purchasing the course.
You will need access to the internet and ideally a PC, laptop or a tablet with audio.
FAQs
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