Landscape Abstracts in Acrylics - Next Steps - Southwell Library - Adult Learning

Take your landscape painting to the next level in this advanced course designed for those with prior experience in acrylics who want to deepen their skills and develop a more expressive approach to painting. This course will challenge you to push the boundaries of traditional landscape painting, allowing you to explore bold techniques, unique compositions, and emotional depth in your work.

This course will help you discover the freedom and creativity of landscape abstraction in acrylics.

Move beyond realistic representation and discover a more contemporary approach to landscape painting in this inspiring acrylic painting course. Using colour, texture, expressive brushwork, and simplified forms, you'll learn how to capture the essence and atmosphere of a landscape rather than every detail. You’ll experiment with mark-making, texture, and colour mixing to bring energy and expression into your work.

On this course, you’ll be guided step-by-step through the process of creating expressive, contemporary landscape paintings using acrylics. You’ll begin by exploring the fundamentals—such as how to handle acrylic paint, mix colours effectively, and use brushes and other tools with confidence. As the course progresses, you’ll learn how to compose a landscape, build layers, and create depth and atmosphere using a variety of painting techniques.

Throughout the course, you’ll be encouraged to loosen up your style, try new techniques, and develop your own artistic voice. The teaching is flexible and responsive to your needs, with one-to-one guidance and group demonstrations that support both beginners and improvers. You’ll finish the course with a stronger understanding of how to use acrylics and a collection of your own expressive landscape paintings.

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

•    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.