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

Discover a fresh and creative approach to still life painting in this inspiring acrylic painting course. Rather than focusing on precise realism, you'll learn how to interpret everyday objects through bold colour, expressive brushwork, and dynamic compositions.

Working from carefully arranged still life setups or photo references, you'll explore ways to simplify shapes, build texture, and use colour to convey expressive forms.

Through demonstrations, guided exercises, and individual support, you'll develop confidence in acrylic painting while creating vibrant and expressive artworks that reflect your own artistic style. This course is suitable for learners who want to loosen their approach, experiment with new ideas, and create bold, expressive landscape paintings.

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

• Research contemporary still life artists (Ans Debije).

• Mix and apply vibrant acrylic colours, avoiding muddy tones.

• Simplify forms to capture the essence rather than focusing on intricate detail.

• Create texture and visual interest using a variety of tools, including brushes, palette knives, and non-traditional mark-making tools.

• Evaluate your own artwork and creative process, identifying strengths and areas for future development in expressive painting.

• Develop social skills to help you with voluntary work / community projects

What you need to bring to the course:

Acrylic or watercolour paper A3 pad, white acrylic gesso, 40x 50cm or A4 stretched canvas, acrylic paint (Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Magenta, Cadmium Red, Titanium White), synthetic brushes

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.