Painting Course Programme St Andrews

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Our 5 day painting holiday PROGRAMME

If you are passionate about your art and love varied, inspiring subjects this course is for you. Here is an outline of our weeks' painting programme which we feel would be hard to beat for its sheer variety.

Our 5 day courses run from Monday to Friday and here is a sample of a weeks' painting

We will also ensure that we are all sufficiently equipped for the weeks' painting out in the field with all materials and equipment supplied. (we provide easels, boards and small stools, painting materials including paper, brushes, paints, palettes, water carriers included).

West Lights (oils on canvas)     Painting the West Lights

Monday. Seascapes, beaches, river estuary, lighthouses and forests. At the civilised time of 9.00am we meet and take a leisurely drive in our comfortable people carrier through the countryside and over the gently rolling hills of the Howe of Fife. Eddie has chosen painting locations which are out of the public eye and we take up our positions to paint the sweeping beaches, the ancient forests or the picturesque lighthouse of West Lights on the River Tay. We will lunch either in local cafes/restaurants, perhaps the Dundee Contemporary Art Centre or enjoy a packed-lunch. Following an afternoons painting session you will be returned to town or your accommodation at approximately 5pm with a few paintings of your first day.

Painting on the West Sands, St Andrews

Tuesday. Buildings, boats and people will keep the artists' eye busy and test your colour knowledge and technique. Having got a few sketches under your belt and a feel for the week and tuition you will be ready for a new subject and challenge. Again meeting at 9am we drive  a few miles south to the famous ancient settlements of the Easy Neuk of Fife. Pretty harbours and busy fishing ports offer many stimulating subjects.  Perhaps for lunch we can enjoy the famous smoked haddock while studying reflections in the harbour.

Anstruther Habour, Fife

Wednesday. Traditional Landscape  - The Howe O' Fife. With your confidence growing along with your knowledge and skills we again take a short journey into the heartland of Fife and the beautiful farmlands.  Gentle rolling hills lay out a patchwork of colours and shapes, this is a delightfully relaxing  day. The landscape unfolds before you for miles and miles with refreshing, clear light. Perfect traditional landscape subjects with farm buildings, gates and hedge-grows. Perhaps a country fare would be in fitting with a visit to a wee Scottish pub in one of the villages in the area would be a pleasant diversion for lunch.

Looking towards Dundee, Water colour. January 2007

Thursday. Historic Architecture. It is time to take on the challenge of the wonderful historic architecture of the St Andrews town itself. We have a choice of St Rules Tower, St Andrews Cathedral, the Castle and many other beautiful Scottish historic buildings of the University in its grand grounds. This is a more challenging subject but none the less rewarding. We can take lunch in any of the street cafes bars and enjoy watching St Andrews life go by. In the afternoon we can enjoy the lesser buildings of fishing cottages, crooked stairwells, doorways, wynds and closes.

Fishing cottages, St Andrews.

Friday. Townscape and Group Choice. Our final day of painting and we are to spend the morning set back and taking in the whole town with the distinctive sky-line of St Andrews. Again another diverse and challenging subject.  Looking back over your weeks' painting it is the group who will decide the afternoons' painting subject and location will be. With so much to choose from it will be a hard decision.

With so many subjects we can afford to have a fluid approach to the programme taking in some subject which has caught our eye.

Eddie would be pleased to carry out a critique (optional!) of your weeks work which previous students have found very useful. This can be in private or generally as a  group.

If you wish, we can help you make arrangements for what past-time or activity you wish to take part in. 

Our Weekend and Day Courses are a choice segment of the above, ensuring we cover the main elements of colour identification, mixing and application, composition and subject placement. For more on tuition click here

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