Nature of The Sessions
My workshops are based upon the ways that I create pictures. In addition to the actual techniques, this means that they are about developing confidence, observation, enjoyment of the process and finding creative ways to make pictures that work with the skills that you have. They are not about right or wrong, artificially rigid technical discipline or anything that encourages a fear of making mistakes.
If I had a manifesto that I wanted to promote, it would be this “use whatever tools you need to make great work, and never apologize for it “, and you can read more about that at the bottom of this page.
My Experience
I spent about 15 years as a university lecturer in design (before leaving to become a cartoonist – crazy right!). The bit that I really liked about that job was working with students on creativity and drawing and so now, working as an artist, it seemed natural to me to continue this in a much less formal setting.
Upcoming sessions
First of the 2027 workshops will be held in March.
Dates and venues will be listed here early in the New Year and at that time a booking form will be available on this page.
Use whatever tools you need to make great work, and never apologize for it
A small collection of my ramblings in support of artists to enjoy the shackle-free blissful creative freedom of not doing what they’re supposed to do.
You Don’t Need To Draw To Paint
Learning to draw should be something that you want to do for yourself, not because it is something that you think you should do to be respected as an artist. My opinion is that your art will certainly benefit from you being able to draw, and so will you, but it certainly isn’t necessary.
For example, if you currently trace images so that you can create a painting, that is perfectly fine, you are no less of an artist because of it. If someone else tells you that it is wrong, then they are probably just ignorant or virtue signaling. A great many brilliant artists do this using various techniques (tracing paper, projectors, grids etc.). It is pretty much proven that some very important artists from art history used optical techniques to transfer images onto canvas (Vermeer, Canaletto, Caravaggio, van Eyck, Reynolds).
If you still can’t shake the idea that tracing is cheating, then embrace it…
“The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you’re an artist”
David Hockney
Working From Photo References
I bet that the use of photographic references in art started within a few days of the first print being made! The reason is simple and obvious, working from life is riddled with challenges for the artist. Firstly, painting (and drawing) is a comparatively slow business, in most cases the scene that we have in front of us is constantly changing – people and animals move, weather transforms lighting by the second and even bowls of fruit turn in to mush if you’re hanging about a bit. So the ability to freeze a scene in time is irresistible. Having a physical reference of the scene that so inspired you is of such incredible and almost immeasurable value, that if the first camera shop wasn’t crammed full of artists when it opened I’ll eat my own lens cap.