Are you ready to develop a stronger sense of personal style and meaning in your art? Discover how to unleash your imagination, let go, and confidently create work that expresses your unique perspective.

Working with a sketchbook, you will spend time exploring St Ives, gathering visual source material that will inform your work throughout the course. This process encourages a deeper engagement with your surroundings, helping you move beyond distraction and self-critique to identify the subjects, shapes and atmospheres that genuinely resonate with you. Your attention may be drawn to the intricate textures of sand and stone, the expansive Cornish landscape, or the presence of figures moving through the coastal environment.

As your sketchbook develops, patterns of interest and recurring themes will begin to emerge, offering insight into your personal way of seeing the world. Through this process, you will build creative confidence, develop greater self-awareness as an artist, and begin to recognise the foundations of your own distinct visual voice.

Back in the studio, artist and tutor Ilker Cinarel will guide you through the process of developing ideas from your sketchbook. Alongside exploring key principles of painting such as form, structure and composition, Ilker will share his approach to working with acrylics and guide you through a series of creative exercises designed to develop your ideas. A playful collage process will encourage unexpected connections between your sketches, helping you move beyond direct observation and discover new directions for your work. Drawing on these discoveries, you will develop a body of paintings that reflect your individual perspective, building confidence in your creative decisions and strengthening your visual voice.

What will I learn?

1. How to recognise and develop personal themes, interests and influences within your creative practice.
2. Use collage and other processes to generate, refine and expand ideas for painting.
3. Learn skills to enable you to tell the story that is unique to you.
4. Apply an understanding of composition, form and structure to create more considered and effective paintings.
5. Gain confidence in using acrylic paints.
6. An understanding of ways to layer observational landscape with more personal symbolism.

Who would this course suit?

Whether you are looking to refresh your practice, overcome creative blocks, develop greater confidence in your artistic decisions, or discover a stronger sense of direction within your work, this course offers a supportive environment in which to experiment, reflect and grow. Some previous experience of drawing or painting may be helpful, but curiosity, openness and a willingness to explore are far more important.

What to Bring

Our studios are fully equipped and we provide you with all the materials you need for your course. However, if you have a favourite set of brushes or any specialist materials that you would prefer to use, please bring them with you.

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.