Contemporary Still Life - Southwell Library - Adult Learning

Southwell Library, Southwell

Date	4 June - 9 July 2025
Sessions	Wednesdays: 1:30pm - 4:30pm
No. sessions	6
Venue	Southwell Library, Southwell View venue details
For ages	19+
Group size	5 - 10
Cost	FREE - £63

About this course

Explore the timeless art of capturing everyday objects in an abstracted and modern light. This course will encourage you to look closely at fruit, vessels and cut flowers and simplify them to their core components. The aim is to suggest things and not to overly describe a thing. Experiment with expressive mark-making, colour combinations and texture. This course will ignite your creativity, expand your visual language and deepen your understanding of composition, colour and form.

This course focuses on how to arrange shapes and apply vivid colours on the painting surface to achieve interesting visual effects:

- Selecting appropriate photo references

- Analysing examples of contemporary still life painting

- Prepare the surface to receive the painting

- Sketch the composition on paper and canvas

- Work with complementary colours

- Varnishing

Resources required:

Acrylic or watercolour paper
Wite acrylic gesso
30x 40cm stretched canvas
Palette knife (not plastic)
Glycerin*
Spray bottle
Synthetic brushes
Apron
Baby wipes
Cotton rags
Photo references
Acrylic paint:
Red (Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red,
Yellow (Lemon and Cadmiun Yellow),
Blue (Ultramarine, and Cerulean),
Magenta , Turquoise, Titanium white

The art materials are to be discussed during the first session of the course when the tutor will cover the topic.

Booking your place and fee information

If you are in receipt of certain benefits you will be offered the course for free, however if you have a financial barrier which may prevent you from enrolling on the course, please visit our webpage for further information https://www.inspireculture.org.uk/skills-learning/funding-your-courses/

To secure your place on the course BOTH the following must be done:

Complete the EVENTBRITE BOOKING, AND
Complete our INSPIRE ONLINE ENROLMENT FORM for each person attending the course.

You should be redirected to the Inspire Online Enrolment Form after completing the Eventbrite booking. If you are not redirected, please use the link supplied in the Eventbrite booking confirmation email.

To book and enrol on one of our courses, you must have been living in England and have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years.

Some exceptions may apply if you are living in England with evidence of the right to remain and are from an EEU/EEAU country (completion of a questionnaire will be required). As we no longer receive funding for our ESFA-funded courses for learners living in the devolved areas listed below, full cost fees would apply to these courses if you live in these areas: