AYRSHIRE FIELDS & FERAL FOREGROUNDS

AYRSHIRE FIELDS & FERAL FOREGROUNDS

Paint an evocative Ayrshire landscape with a gloriously wild foreground

DATE: Sunday 9th August
TIME: 11am – 3pm
VENUE: Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine
MEDIUM: Watermixeable Oils
COST: £95 – all materials included

This expressive oil painting workshop is all about capturing the feel of an Ayrshire landscape seen through wild hedgerows — keeping the landscape simple … then letting the foreground go a bit gloriously feral.

Think cow parsley, rosebay willowherb, wild daisies, brambles, tangled weeds, grasses, seedheads and all the unruly bits that make a landscape feel alive.

The wilder the better.

We’ll be workingalla prima — which simply means painting wet-into-wet, in one sitting. No waiting days for layers to dry. No faffing. No overworking things into oblivion.

Just juicy paint, bold marks, soft edges, scratched-in stems, dragged colour, expressive florals and a foreground full of movement, energy and life ... there might even be some cold wax if you fancy really building out the texture.

You’ll learn how to build a simple, evocative landscape and then bring it alive with a wild, textural foreground that feels loose, expressive and full of personality.

Come ready to:

• Loosen up with oils
• Create depth without overcomplicating things
• Paint wild flowers, weeds and grasses without getting precious
• Use bold marks, scratches, drags and layers
• Let go of “neat” and find the joy in expressive painting

Materials

Everything is provided.

You’ll have paints, surfaces and materials ready for you — just bring your own brushes if you have favourites, any tools you enjoy using, and a reference image if you’d like to work from one.

Or just come and be inspired by Ayrshire fields, hedgerows and all the feral loveliness we’ll be exploring on the day.

What to expect

Working in oils alla prima will help you:

• get confident with wet-into-wet painting
  
• stop waiting for the “right” stage and start responding instinctively
• create soft skies, loose fields and expressive edges
• bring wild foregrounds to life with marks, texture and movement
• avoid overworking every tiny detail
• make a painting that feels atmospheric, energetic and alive
• This is a lovely workshop for anyone who wants to get braver with oils, loosen up their landscapes and stop making foregrounds feel like an afterthought.

Suitable for

This workshop is best suited to people who have painted a little before — you absolutely donot need to be experienced, polished or confident, but it’s not designed for someone who has never picked up a brush before.

If you’ve dabbled, played, been to a workshop, painted at home, or just feel ready to have a go at something a wee bit braver — you’ll be grand.

No need to be “good”.

Just bring a bit of curiosity, a willingness to loosen up, and a love of wild, unruly landscapes.

This one’s going to be a wild beauty.

Full refund for cancellations up to 7 days before the workshop. After that, refunds will only be issued if your place can be filled.