Paint the stunning Cornish Coast with expert guidance from three of our professional artists. Learn how to capture the essence of place, both in the landscape and back in the studio.

‘So enchanting and valuable. The course gives you a clear plan of action to research the subject and make studies of it , and demonstrates methods you can use – all of which is transferable to your ongoing practice. It’s also very interesting to hear about Zennor and the mermaid’. Geraldine.

In this unique course, we share three different professional artist approaches on painting the Cornish Coast, working both out in the landscape and from original reference material back in the studio. 

You will learn so much from each of our professional artists by completing a variety of preliminary drawing and sketching exercises in different materials and trying out various painting techniques, as the course progresses.  This is an ideal course to get the creative muscles stirring if you are stuck for ideas, or if you are simply curious on how other artists approach a subject matter.

This course offers over 8 hours of instructional content, featuring high-quality footage of lessons where our artists work in three beautiful locations in Cornwall, sharing their techniques and insights on working outdoors. Then they return to our historic studios in St Ives to delve deeper into their ideas and painting practices.

Our artists featured in ‘Painting the Cornish Coast’ are Gary Long, Hilary Jean Gibson and Victoria Gillow.

Gary Long visits Pendeen Watch in West Cornwall which is an inspirational location featuring a historic lighthouse and dramatic coastal views. Observe contrasts in light in the landscape and interpret these through sketches and gouache studies. Gary discusses colour mixing, layering, brush techniques and how to create depth and dimension in your work, finishing up with creating a textural painting of Pendeen Watch in oils.

Hilary Jean Gibson has a fascination for history and enjoys exploring narratives in her paintings. She will be walking and working with water-based materials, in her concertina sketchbook in different Zennor locations, sharing her observations as a visual diary and exploring the myth of ‘The Mermaid of Zennor’. Delve into the fun of exploring colour and water-based paint and combine this with the drawing and sketching exercises laid out in this course, to make composite paintings that capture the essence of a place.

Victoria Gillow focuses on the beauty of the dunes and expansive three miles of shoreline within the bay of St Ives. Create your own seascape with Victoria and learn processes to help you to paint the landscapes close to you. Explore the balance between realism and abstraction, infusing colour with imagination and emotion rather than simple representation. Scale up your studies and put the techniques to practice to produce a vibrant and expressive seascape painting.

All the lessons combined in this course will give you beneficial tools to start building your own creative toolkit and help you to banish the fear of how to start a painting based on a sense of place.

nb: The content of this course can be purchased as three separate shorter courses. However, if you purchase the longer course, you will make a considerable saving of £30, compared to buying the three shorter courses individually.

How does an online session work?

We record the sessions so you can watch on demand, as often as you like, for up to 180 days after purchase. This way you can pause a scene, rewind and finish your painting.

You will be invited to join our Facebook Alumni group so you can share your discoveries with fellow students from around the world. You can also share your work live with others on social media using the #schoolofpainting and tagging us @stives painting

You can watch on a PC, laptop or tablet and if you have chromecast or miracast you could even cast to your SmartTV from your phone.