Hannah Woodman – Works on Paper: Landscape and Memory in Expressive Painting

Over 3 days we will look at drawing and painting methods that help loosen up and achieve a more expressive approach to landscape painting. Using contemporary drawing techniques to help abstract our initial compositions, we will then explore colour for emotional effect and different mark-making to achieve movement and energy. We will be using water based media on paper to encourage spontaneity and freedom in our work. Please feel free to bring sketchbooks if you have them.

Points covered include:-

• characteristics of different drawing methods
• contrasting elements (positive and negative space, colour theory, tonal values)
• simplification techniques
• brushwork and mark-making
• achieving emotional content in your work

Day 1:

Brief discussion of expressive painting and how to collect and record information to personalise your landscapes.

Demonstration of different drawing techniques that help simplify our compositions and shift the emphasis away from realism to a more expressive energy.

Heading outside to put techniques into action and gather inspirational material, including drawings, photographs, found objects etc. Also written observations in response to a list of prompt questions designed to draw out an emotional response to the landscape.

Studio time, with painting demo showing working in layers and experimenting with non-naturalistic colour and mark making approaches that help create mood, texture and energy.

Day 2:

Producing 2-3 painted landscape studies referencing collected source material and techniques from the demos.

Exploring how to balance a reduction of detail with creating enough complexity across the picture surface to produce a meaningful piece.

Selecting a painted study to recreate in monochrome collage – focusing on composition, tonal value and form simplification.

Day 3:

Exercises to break down your reliance on realism and work more freely, injecting greater emotional content into your work:

Using your collages to draw on memory, emotion and experience in recreating a new landscape study.

Taking a section of your studies to recreate abstracted landscape pieces. Debrief and recap with printed material to take home alongside your work.