Abstracting Landscape

Service Description

Join our three day Abstracting Landscape Course 10.30 - 16.30 each day with lunch and all materials included Day 1 – Observation and Deconstruction Introduction & Inspiration: Explore how different artists have abstracted landscapes, from semi-abstract to fully non-representational. Looking & Seeing: Guided exercises in observation—sketching from photos or outdoor scenes, focusing on shapes, lines, and tonal contrasts rather than detail. Breaking Down the Landscape: Practice simplifying a scene into essential elements (horizon, blocks of colour, dominant shapes). Studio Exercise: Create several quick studies using limited palettes and gestural marks. --- Day 2 – Experimentation and Abstraction Mark-Making & Materials: Experiment with brushes, palette knives, collage, and mixed media to find expressive ways to capture landscapes. From Real to Abstract: Take yesterday’s sketches and push them further—distort, exaggerate, or simplify forms. Colour Exploration: Work with non-naturalistic colour choices to express mood or atmosphere rather than reality. Studio Exercise: Produce a series of small abstract landscape pieces exploring different approaches. --- Day 3 – Composition and Resolution Developing a Personal Language: Identify which methods and materials resonate most. Compositional Strategies: Learn how balance, rhythm, and scale guide abstract compositions. Final Project: Create one or two more resolved abstract landscapes, drawing on techniques from Days 1 & 2. Group Critique & Reflection: Share finished work, discuss process, and set intentions for continuing practice beyond the course.