Gill Cox Workshop
How to Abstract into a Painting
Friday 24th January 2025, 10am to 4pm in the Pavilion
This workshop dealt with how to abstract from the physical into an impressionistic painting. Attendees could bring their own clear image of a landscape or still life to work from. Gill also supplied a still life in the studio and other photographs.
Gill wrote before her workshop:
Using charcoal on paper, we will begin by simplifying your composition and its values deciding what to ignore as much as what to focus on. Then we will move on to our colour paintings from late morning.
We shall engage in loose and rapid back-painting with thin acrylic or water-based paints. Simplification is key to strengthen this art process. Thereafter, we shall experiment with varying applications of acrylics or oils using our brushes, objects or rags.
A short list of optional materials will be made available but the usual paints and brushes, plus one blank canvas, will definitely be required.
The aim of our day is to apply interest and perspective to the ordinary through experimentation. This workshop is suitable for beginners as much as for advanced painters and the price is £35.
We shall engage in loose and rapid back-painting with thin acrylic or water-based paints. Simplification is key to strengthen this art process. Thereafter, we shall experiment with varying applications of acrylics or oils using our brushes, objects or rags.
A short list of optional materials will be made available but the usual paints and brushes, plus one blank canvas, will definitely be required.
The aim of our day is to apply interest and perspective to the ordinary through experimentation. This workshop is suitable for beginners as much as for advanced painters and the price is £35.
Workshop Report
Gill Cox gave a workshop to thirteen members of the Society. The class began with a presentation dealing with the purpose of the day. Members then settled in to work with charcoal sticks on newsprint, in black and white, to be able to choose their tonal values and composition.
Thereafter, moving on to colour and using clear acetate placed over their images, the class identified and mixed the four main colours they could see. This was to introduce a harmony to the painting process later when applying paint to the main canvas.
A rapid colour sketch was then created on Fabriano 350g paper using the four-colour limited palette; [this would be] invaluable as a reference for the painting to come.
Once the canvases were primed with a warm background colour, the second half of the day was dedicated to the larger painting. Some chose flowers as their subject, others landscapes. Looseness and bold mark-making were the applied principles, coupled with speed and confidence. A few even made two paintings by the end of the day.
Every attendee produced a final painting that had developed way beyond their original photograph and subject - which is what we endeavour to achieve as painters."
Thanks to Gill Cox for writing this Workshop Report and to Robert Marchant for taking the photographs below.