Learn the secrets to capturing the dramatic encounter between sea and land in oils. Convey that fleeting moment when a wave crashes on the shore, its drama, energy and movement in this seascape oil painting course.

Unleash your creativity and infuse your paintings with texture, life, and depth through inspiring demonstrations and dedicated practice.

Learn to paint confidently in oils combining brushwork and palette knife techniques, to capture the glorious seascapes of St Ives surrounds. Artist Gary Long will share with you the secrets of harnessing the power of the knife to lift a painting.

Observe and sketch the coastline around St Ives, learning how to work with gouache to make annotations on colour and weather. Back in the studio develop these visual notes and sketches into lively and dramatic seascape oil paintings. Using an expressive approach in oils, you will gain confidence in using tools, techniques and a limited palette to capture drama and movement.

Teaching will be through demonstrations and one to one time with each student. Gary will also works on his own piece during the sessions so students can observe the process of development.

What will I learn?

1. The skills to develop paintings from drawing studies.
2. Confidence in using a variety of tools and techniques to get a range of marks and effects. This will help you create paintings that are interesting and striking.
3. Confidence in colour mixing so you can develop your own personal palette that you can recreate rather than rely on guesswork.
4. An understanding of the properties of oil paint so you can have more control of the paint and get the effect you want.

Who would this course suit?

Whether you are a complete beginner in oil paints or would like to build your confidence working with them, this course is a wonderful starting point. If you love painting landscape but feel stuck, this course gives useful tools for loosening up and animating your paintings.

Ahead of your oil painting course with us if you would like to brush up your skills, you are entitled to 25% off our online “Getting Started with Oil Painting” course here. You will be given a code after purchasing our studio oil painting course.

Our studio ‘Beginner’s Oil Painting’ courses can be found here.

What to Bring to the Seacape Oil Painting course.

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.

nb: This course will involve some time each day walking around St Ives, which may involve some rough ground.

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.