Project Plan: Beginners Art Classes
Monday Morning Beginners Classes (Level 1) 10-12pm
Location: Campion Art Studio, 31 Campion Terrace, Leamington Spa, CV32 4SU
Level 1: Beginners
Time: 10am-12.30pm
Date: Monday mornings: 8 June - 13 July 2026 (6 week term).
Cost: £165 (6 week term)
(If classes are marked ‘sold out‘ please email us to register your interest and go on the waiting list. Thankyou)
The beginners class will gently introduce you to a wide range of art mediums and subject matter, with a foundational drawing element inherent in almost all projects. Please see below for details.
The Foundations of Drawing & Observation: ‘Drawing a simple ‘Botanical Study with Birds’ Illustration in Pencil and Ink’.
Focus:
Learning how to break down complex subjects into simple shapes using ‘drawing envelopes’ and how to recreate them on the page in pencil and ink. Creating preparatory sketches and balanced compositions, making under-drawings in preparation for paintings.
Using different weights of fine-liner pen to create a piece of work that uses mark making to explore contour and form. (Drawing techniques will continue to be developed throughout the course.)
Covering:
· The fundamentals of drawing shapes accurately using ‘drawing envelopes’.
· Using Graphite pencils, grades from 2H – HB - 6B
· Using Ink Fine Liner Pens 0.5mm, 1mm
· Describe form with lines and contours.
· Scaling.
· Composition.
Introduction to Watercolour Techniques: ‘Painting a simple ‘Botanical Study with Birds’ in Watercolour’.
Focus:
Producing an under-drawing lightly on watercolour paper.
Learning how to use watercolour, the associated materials.
Using different techniques to create a range of effects, exploring their transparent and luminous quality.
Covering:
· An introduction to Watercolour Paints and how to use them.
· How to prepare your watercolour paper & which brushes to use.
· Learning how to mask off areas to keep them white.
· Practising flat washes, graded washes, and "wet-on-wet" techniques.
· Choosing a colour scheme.
Introduction to Tone using Collage: Designing a Striking: ‘Fruit Slices’ Notan Collage’.
Focus:
Learning about "Notans" to simplify compositions and create striking graphic illustrations by contrasting dramatic light and shade.
Covering:
· Which materials to use to create a tonal collage.
· How to prepare your paper.
· Composition: Scale and positioning your composition on the page.
Introduction to Tone using Charcoal: A ‘Reductive’ Portrait Drawing in Charcoal’.
Focus:
Studying how tonal values give objects 3D form by identifying dramatic light and shadow shapes.
Covering:
· An introduction to Charcoal and how to use it.
· An introduction to Portraiture.
· How to prepare your paper.
· Drawing your composition accurately on the page using line and tone.
· Using Putty rubbers to create highlights and dense charcoal lines to create shadow.
Introduction to Acrylics & ‘The Colour Wheel’: Painting a ‘Simple Abstract Still Life in Acrylics using just 3 primary colours’.
Focus:
Using just 3 primary colours (plus white) to paint an ‘abstract fruit still life’ painting in acrylics.
Learning about colour, mixing, colour temperature and how your colours interact with one another.
We are going to consider some basic compositional ideas and guidelines, before sketching out and painting our composition on paper.
Covering:
· An introduction to Acrylic Paints and how to use them.
· Some basic compositional guidelines when setting up and lighting a still life.
· How to mix colours accurately.
· How to accurately draw elipses.
Introduction to Oil Pastels: Creating ‘Colourful Windows on a Landscape’ using Oil Pastels.
Focus:
Mixing and blending pigments. We explore the different effects that can be achieved with this vibrant colourful medium.
Covering:
· Drawing, 1 Point Perspective (Vanishing points).
· Introduction to Oil Pastels and how to use them.
· Mark making in colour.
· How to blend and merge colours to best effect.
· Creating ‘colour windows’ to explore the different visual effects of pure line versus blocks of colour in an image.
Want to have a go at these projects yourself? Please see the classes tab for more details on how to book.