Building Stories: A Two Day Adventure in Landscape, Narrative and Imagination
Building Stories: A Two Day Adventure in Landscape, Narrative and Imagination
Friday 24th April and Saturday 25th April 2026
10.30am until 4pm both days
Course Overview
Immerse yourself in a weekend of artistic discovery exploring storytelling through paint, texture, line and atmosphere. This two-day workshop invites you to explore the relationship between human-made structures and the natural landscape through painting. You will develop your narrative skills and enhance your compositional techniques while experimenting with texture, tone, and line. This class is perfect if you want to feel more confident when composing your painting, you would like to explore strong line work and the effects of hard versus soft transitions- in layman’s terms, how messy do you want to paint?
What to Expect
Across the weekend, you will work through a number of exercises that focus on painting scenes that feature elements such as houses, barns, gateways, and fenceposts. These features will help you create artwork with strong focal points and dynamic movement, giving your paintings a clear sense of narrative and direction. I will show you how to create layers and history on your work as well as guide you through a process that allows you to work intuitively and playfully on a piece of work.
Day One: Composition and Preliminary Studies
Exploring Compositional Devices: I will show you how to use the rule of thirds, L-shapes, cruciform, and compound curves to structure your paintings. Our first exercise will help you to understand how manmade features enhance landscape narratives and fit within these compositions. You will then have a number of sketches you can work from
Line and Line Weight: We will experiment with line direction and line weight, using fluid acrylic, charcoal and carbon pencils to create expressive drawings and studies
Texture Creation: We will begin by using saturated ground colours to create an influential base to work on before building up layers that explore tonal contrast and composition. This hands-on exercise can be completed in your sketchbook or on cartridge paper.
Day Two: Building Depth and Narrative
Tonal Push Exercise: During the morning, we will delve into the use of shape, tone, and layered paint. Work through a guided exercise (with supporting handout) to understand how tonal shifts can bring a sense of history and depth to your landscapes.
Line on Texture: We will use our sketches and studies from day one to explore how we use line to define buildings and other structures on textured surfaces.
Layering and History of Paint: Our focus on day two will be to build up towards a resolved piece of work, each exercise undertaken will act as part of a tool kit of approaches that you can incorporate into your painting.
Who Should Attend?
This course is suitable for artists of all levels who are interested in developing their landscape painting skills and exploring the interplay between place, narrative, and creativity.
Materials and Preparation
All necessary materials will be provided including paints and painting panels, though participants are welcome to bring their own sketchbooks and preferred painting tools. Please wear clothes suitable for creative work.
About the Location
The venue, Hook Norton Memorial Hall, is conveniently located on Chapel Street in the picturesque village of Hook Norton (postcode: OX15 5JT). The village offers a tranquil escape and serves as the perfect backdrop for a weekend of creativity. Please note, on-street parking near the hall is limited, so it’s advisable to arrive early. Additional parking can be found on the High Street or on Sibford Road—both are just a short stroll from the venue. Make sure to allow yourself a little extra time to find parking and settle in comfortably before the sessions begin.
These workshops tend to fill up quickly, so I encourage you to book early to avoid disappointment. Whether you’re embarking on your first steps into painting or looking to invigorate your existing practice, this course offers the perfect blend of practical skills, supportive guidance, and creative inspiration.
I can’t wait to welcome you for two days of painting, laughter, and discovery!
Note
All booked places are non-refundable, except when a workshop is cancelled or in exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances include but are not limited to medical emergencies, natural disasters, or other unforeseen events that prevent attendance. If the class is sold out and I can your resell your spot to someone on the waiting list, you will receive a credit for the ticket value minus the booking fees.