Image credit Steve TannerImage credit Steve Tanner

Time to Break the Rules?

Abstract / Beginners / Figure / Landscape / Still Life

We haven’t scheduled this course yet. Please email us to register your interest for future availability.

Register Interest

Course details

Maybe it’s time to liberate yourself from anxieties about what you should paint and how you should be painting it? This series of webinars with artist Naomi Frears will look at various ‘rules’ in art making and explore how we might either adopt them or ditch them in our work. We will explore some of the established ‘rules’ for making a painting and ask how useful are they?

Naomi Frears Paintings 25th August 2016

There seem to be so many rules for making paintings out there – some are traditional and some come from the experience of artists or critics. Which are the helpful rules you can enjoy working with and which rules might be rather unhelpful and could be questioned?

Do you have a voice telling you what you should or shouldn’t be doing in painting? Does it sometimes confuse you or hold you back? We explore some of these rules and traditions of painting. We ask where they come from and question which ones are worth taking with you into the studio.

We will think about rules around the use of colour, composition, and even the rules around what we let ourselves make work about. After each session take away an exercise to do at home that will use these discoveries to trigger new confidence and enthusiasm. Share your work and ideas in our private Facebook group with other students.

We will record sessions and make them available for two weeks after each webinar for you to revisit.

Enjoyable for beginners who are curious to know what the ‘rules’ might be around painting but don’t want to feel intimidated by them. Equally you might be keen to liberate yourself from restrictions that might be stopping you working productively. It will also be a boost for people who are looking into fresh insights into how to appreciate and enjoy looking at art.

Webinar Series

Webinars start at 4.30pm BST/London time.

Webinar 1- Thursday June 11th

Colour – leaving the colour wheel aside, there are some quite firm rules about colour out there – is it right to forbid the use of black or accept that greens can be ‘wrong’? Is too much colour a problem? How have some of the most interesting artists interpreted or side stepped the rules?

Lines and Edges – hard or soft, present or absent – outlines, edges and meeting points within a painting have attracted ‘rules’. Are the rules helpful or are examples set by artists a better guide?

Webinar 2 Thursday June 18th

Composition – with a look at the dominance of certain kinds of perspective and proportion and a reliance on image-making by people educated a certain way, we will explore art that comes from looking at the world from a different angle.

Content – sketches and other reference materials – what is the subject of your work? How do you find what interests you and make use of source material? Is it really OK to use photographs and images made by others?

How does a webinar work?

Once you have booked a session, we will send you an invite to the session so you can register with Zoom and join us. You can put questions to Naomi during the session using the question and answer function during the webinar. We plan to record them so you can revisit the session to refresh your memory for up to two weeks after. You will also be invited to join our new Facebook Alumni group so you can share your discoveries with fellow students from around the world.

Who would this webinar suit?

These will be a great for beginners who are curious to know what the ‘rules’ might be around painting but don’t want to feel intimidated by them. Equally you might be keen to liberate yourself from restrictions that might be stopping you working productively. It will also be enjoyable for people who are looking into fresh insights into how to appreciate and enjoy looking at art.

Time to Break the Rules?

Abstract / Beginners / Figure / Landscape / Still Life

We haven’t scheduled this course yet. Please email us to register your interest for future availability.

Register Interest

Taught by

Naomi
Frears

View Naomi’s Work

Naomi Frears is a visual artist and filmmaker based in the Porthmeor Studios in St Ives. She works across multiple platforms including painting, printmaking and film and is well known for her enigmatic and subtly haunting paintings. Naomi led our very first Porthmeor Programme and designed the popular course ‘Sketchbook to Studio’ that she ran at St Ives School of Painting.

What to Bring

You will need access to the internet and ideally a PC or laptop or a tablet with audio. Phones are not really suitable to watch a webinar on as the presenter will be hard to see when she shares her screen with you. You don’t need to bring any materials with you to the webinar, perhaps some paper to make notes. But we will be sending you a recording of the session so you can revisit it. The exercise to do at home we will also email to you afterwards.

Timings and Breaks

Follow the link Zoom will send you at about 4.20pm. As soon as we open the webinar at just before 4.30pm you will then automatically connect. We expect each session to last about one hour. If you have any problems receiving your link email from us and Zoom email us and we can get that sorted before the start time. In the session if you have questions you can use the chat function and we will do our best to advise.

FAQs

Art Courses

Do I need any previous art experience?

Not always. We offer courses for all levels, including complete beginners, intermediate students and more experienced artists. You can look for the experience level listed on the individual course page to find the most suitable option for you. If you need any guidance on what course might suit you best, contact on our friendly team on 01736 797180 and they will be able to help.

In Person Courses

How large are your art classes?

Our studio courses are taught in small groups of around 10 to 12 people, allowing tutors to provide individual guidance alongside group demonstrations and discussions.

What is included in an art course?

Course fees include professional tuition from a practising artist and use of the School’s studio facilities. Materials and equipment are all included in our in person courses, workshops and life drawing sessions – so you can just turn up and get started. Teas and coffees are also provided throughout the day.

Can I attend an art course on my own?

Absolutely. Many students come to St Ives School of Painting independently. Courses offer a welcoming and sociable environment, with plenty of opportunities to meet other people who share an interest in making and learning.

How do I choose the right art course?

Start by considering how you would like to work. You may want to learn a particular medium, improve a skill such as drawing or colour mixing, explore a subject such as landscape or still life, or develop a more personal approach. Each course page explains the content, materials, level and teaching approach to help you decide. Our friendly, helpful team are always available to help further.

Please call us on 01736 797180 to discuss your options or email [email protected].

How do I get my work home?

Tutors have special techniques for transporting oil paintings and for our 3 day courses we will give you a plastic folder with a handle. These are also available to purchase for £3.50 or do bring a portfolio.

Please note: For the course Bigger, Bolder, Braver with Boo Mallinson, we will provide a large A1 size plastic folder for your work but please consider how you will be able to transport the larger canvases home safely before signing up for the course as we will not be able to store large paintings in the studio. On this course you will be painting on a 50cms x 50cms and a 1m x 1m canvas alongside smaller pieces.

For international students we are happy to arrange transportation of your work back home, postal costs will be borne by you.

What do I need to bring?

You don’t need to bring anything with you unless we specify beforehand. All materials, aprons and tools are provided, however some people do like to bring along their favourite set of brushes or sketchbooks.

What do I do for lunch?

Courses allow an hour’s break for lunch and there are numerous places nearby or you are welcome to bring a packed lunch into the studio.

What times do courses run?

Most of our courses start at 10am and end at 4.30pm on the first day. Subsequent days we start at 9.30am ending at 4pm.

Short workshops start at 10am in the Summer and 9.30am/ 1.30pm during September festival


Can I bring my dog?

The studios are busy places with lots of equipment and not suitable for bringing a pet dog. We can accommodate assistance dogs with prior notice so we can make suitable adjustments. If you wish to bring an assistance dog please call 01736 797180 or email [email protected]

Choosing an Art Course

Do you run life drawing classes in St Ives?

Yes. We hold regular life drawing sessions in St Ives, including Thursday evening and Saturday morning classes. These welcoming, tutored sessions are open to a range of experience levels and provide an opportunity to practise drawing from a life model. Our life drawing sessions are held just a 5 minute walk from our studios at The Island Centre.

Do you offer art courses for adults?

Yes. We run art classes and courses for adults throughout the year, from accessible introductory workshops to more intensive courses for people looking to deepen their creative practice.

What types of painting can I learn?

Our courses cover a wide range of approaches, including oil painting, acrylic painting, watercolour, gouache, landscape painting, still life, portraiture and abstraction. We also offer courses exploring colour, composition, mark-making and creative confidence.

What our students say

Just to say how very much I enjoyed and profited from the excellent ‘Time to break the Rules’ by Naomi Frears. It was illuminating, thoughtful, full of insights from a working artist and excellently illustrated with some lovely examples. I already have the two lists of rules (to be kept), given by Naomi, up on my studio wall.

Deb Catesby

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