Holidays and Courses

Oil Painting Course
Drawing And Sketching Course
Summer Painting Holiday

Painting Holidays and Courses with Michael Kitchen at Wood of Shaws (5 days)
Residential guests Sunday 4pm - Friday 4pm or Monday 9.30 am - Friday 4pm for non-residential guests (Wednesday afternoons free). To ensure maximum participation between tutor and guests only 8 places are allocated on our holiday courses and of those only 6 may be residential. Non-painting partners are very welcome and there are no single room supplements. Lunches, morning refreshments and afternoon teas are also included for non-residential guests. Initial discussions to determine your own requirements will be followed up each day with proper, progressive teaching, demonstrations and ongoing personal assessments. Guests will have the opportunity to paint outside whenever possible and will be taken to a variety of lovely venues; fishing villages, coastal scenes, castles, country estates etc. An extra night’s accommodation may be taken by guests wishing to travel here or home on Saturdays.

OIL PAINTING COURSE AT WOOD OF SHAWS

In recent years there has been a welcome resurgence of painting in oils and the purchase of oil paintings. It is the medium of Masters and so enjoyable to work with. Conducted in the studio as an open workshop, we shall cover the materials and their uses and among other things learn how to capture dramatic paintings in light and shade, produce paintings in neutral and bright colours, paint a great sea-scape, at least one landscape and a still-life. A course primarily for intermediate painters, but beginners will also be welcome. Guests may use traditional oils, alkyds, or water-soluble oils. See Gallery page for examples of Mike’s oil paintings. (Dates on Timetable page).

DRAWING & SKETCHING COURSE (Using Your Sketch Book).

After many requests from amateur artists to improve their drawing skills and the fact that many otherwise good paintings have been let down by foundational drawing, problems with perspective and composition, we first introduced a specific drawing and sketching week to the program in 2009. The feedback from the first two courses has been so positive and encouraging that we consider this a ‘must’ for all seriously minded painters. An addition to this course will be the use of watercolours as a sketching medium.

Residential guests on all the above mentioned courses are accommodated at 'Badger Cottage' , Wood of Shaws, or with our friends at a neighbouring farmhouse. Lunches will be provided for everyone, including non-residential guests, and each day's painting will be rounded off with afternoon tea at 4.45pm. Dinners for all residential guests are served at the main house after which guests may relax in the sitting-room reading or enjoying an art instructional video from our extensive library.

Finally, with Mary's good natured, warm hospitality and excellent cooking, good companions and a host of exciting painting venues - your stay at Wood of Shaws should prove to be a very happy, memorable experience.