Expressive Figure Painting for Beginners - Southwell Library - Adult Learning

On this course, you’ll work from a variety of figure references—including life drawings, photographs, and expressive poses—to develop a personal, intuitive response to the human form. Emphasis will be placed on bold mark-making, experimental colour, and compositional impact, allowing you to explore movement, emotion, and presence in your work.

During the course you’ll explore the human figure through expressive, dynamic approaches. Building on core skills, this course encourages you to move beyond realism and into more gestural, abstract, or emotionally driven interpretations of the figure.

Resources required:

Acrylic paper/sketch pad

A4 canvas

White gesso

A range of synthetic paint brushes

Photo reference

Acrylic paint (student grade):

Red (Magenta, Cadmium Red,

Yellow (Lemon and Cadmiun Yellow),

Blue (Ultramarine, and Cerulean),

Titanium white

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

• Greater London 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

• Warwickshire

• Surrey

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.