Drawing and Painting Nature for Beginners - Mansfield Woodhouse Library - Adult Learning

The course focuses on its theme of nature. The principles of drawing and painting are progressively practiced with techniques. You will discover how to apply contrast, colour theory, and tonal values to create beautiful expressive compositions using vigorous brushstrokes.

The course is suitable for beginners. No prior experience is necessary—just bring your curiosity and a willingness to explore!

The course guides you through the process of creating an expressive composition in acrylics. The course will help you to become more confident using acrylics, with tuition provided through a mixture of demonstrations and exercises according to your needs.

You will learn how to draw and paint trees, animals and plants.

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

• Demonstrate artist research

• Apply basic pencil drawing and painting techniques

• Create expressive artwork on a different topic each week

• Experiment with expressive techniques and mark-making

• Mix new colours (linked with colour theory)

• Develop and implement a marketing plan using at least 3 different channels (e.g., social media, email marketing, and local events) to promote their products. (MARKETING SKILLS).

What you will need to bring to the course:

• Pencils – A basic set of pencils (ranging from hard to soft, such as 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B).

• Paper – A sketchbook or drawing pad (preferably A4 size)

• Erasers – A good quality rubber eraser and a kneaded eraser (for subtle shading and corrections).

• Sharpener – A sharpener for keeping your pencils in good condition.

• Acrylic paint (Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Magenta, Cadmium Red, Titanium White),

• Synthetic brushes, baby wipes

• Acrylic or watercolour paper A3 pad,

• white acrylic gesso,

• 40x 50cm or A4 canvas

Funding and Fees

If you receive certain benefits, you may be able to take the course for free.
If money is stopping you from enrolling, please visit our funding page to see what help is available.

Living in England

To book and join one of our courses, you must live in England permanently and either:

• Live inside the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) area (Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire)

or

• Live outside the devolved areas listed below

You cannot enrol if you live in these devolved areas:

• Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)

• Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

• North East Combined Authority

• South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority

• Tees Valley Combined Authority

• West Midlands Combined Authority

• West of England Combined Authority

• West Yorkshire Combined Authority

• Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority

• York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority

• Hull and East Yorkshire

• Greater Lincolnshire

• Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority

• Cornwall Council

• Lancashire Combined County Authority

• Buckinghamshire Council

Residency Requirements (Additional Information)

If you live in the UK on a visa, we’ll need evidence of your visa to confirm funding. You can upload this when applying, and you’ll need to complete a short questionnaire.

Some exceptions include:

• Your visa must last until after your course ends.

• Asylum seekers must have lived in the UK for at least 6 months while their claim is being processed.

• You are supported by your local authority under Section 23C or 23CA of the Children Act 1989, or under the Care Act 2014.

Anyone who does not meet the funding criteria would need to pay full course fees.