Expressive Still Life in Acrylics - Advanced - Mansfield Woodhouse Library - Adult Learning

Drawing and Painting Still Life course offers a structured and creative exploration of still life through both drawing and painting. Ideal for advanced learners, it will guide you through expressive techniques while encouraging your own creative expression. You’ll work from real objects and carefully arranged compositions, learning how to use bold brushwork, dynamic composition, and experimental techniques. The course will encourage abstraction and personal interpretation, combining acrylics with tools like palette knives, sponges, and even mixed media to push your practice further. You'll experiment with pencil, charcoal, and acrylics, gaining confidence in translating what you see into expressive and visually engaging artwork.

The course blends demonstrations, guided practice, and individual support to help you develop both technical skill and a personal style.

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

• Produce a series of at least three still life studies in both drawing and painting media, showing development in composition and observation

• Accurately draw simple objects from observation, demonstrating understanding of proportion and basic perspective

• Apply at least two shading techniques to represent light and shadow in a pencil or charcoal drawing

• Mix and apply a minimum of six colours using acrylic paint to represent realistic or expressive colour in a still life composition

• Design a balanced still life composition, considering shape, space, and focal points, and complete it as a final artwork

• 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)

This course will give you a solid foundation in still life, while encouraging creative interpretation and confidence in your artistic abilities.

Please bring with you to the course:-

• Acrylic paper/sketch pad

• A4 canvas

• White gesso

• A range of synthetic paint brushes

• Graphite pencils (2B, 4B, 6B)

• Acrylic paint (student grade)

• Red (Magenta, Cadmium Red

• Yellow (Lemon and Cadmiun Yellow)

• Blue (Ultramarine, and Cerulean)

• Titanium white

• A drink, notepad and pen