Sketching with Paint – New Ways of Seeing and Creating with Joe Webster

This one-day studio-based workshop with Joe Webster offers a lively and supportive introduction to drawing, sketching and expressive mark-making inspired by plants, landscapes and natural forms.

The day is designed to help you see the world differently and translate what you notice into confident visual responses. Through a range of structured exercises, you will explore the difference between sketching and drawing, learning how a quick study, an analytical drawing and a loose expressive sketch can each serve a different purpose. You will be guided through techniques for improving accuracy, clarity and confidence, before using those foundations as a springboard into freer, more dynamic and playful mark-making.

Inspired by the colours and atmosphere of autumnal woodland, including golden foliage against blue sky, you will investigate how to capture the essence of a subject without becoming overly detailed. Working with materials such as charcoal, chalk, ink, acrylic, pencil, pen, brush and pastel, you will experiment with line, tone, gesture, brush strokes and texture, discovering how different media can help create movement, mood and energy.

Colour and composition will also form an important part of the day. You will explore how warm and cool colours interact, how a limited palette can help unify a piece, and how carefully selected colours can make an artwork feel more vibrant and balanced. Along the way, Joe will share practical approaches for building strong compositions, loosening up, overcoming creative blocks and knowing when to stop before a piece becomes overworked.

This workshop is ideal for anyone wanting to build confidence, sharpen their observational skills and develop a more expressive, enjoyable and responsive way of working from the natural world.