Theme: Movement

Nature • Fabric • The Human Form

From Observation to Expression

🗓 Course Dates: Fridays, 16th October – 27th November, 10am-12.30

Half-Term Break: 23rd October

📍 Hoby Village Hall

(Parking available behind the café)

Takeaway: This 6-week course explores movement in its many forms; the flowing rhythms of nature, the folds and drape of fabric, and the energy of the human body. Working from observation, photographic references, and live dancer studies, we'll investigate how movement can be translated into expressive colour, dynamic mark making, and powerful large-scale artworks.

🌿 Course Overview

Throughout this six-week journey, we'll move beyond simply recording what we see and begin exploring how movement feels.

Using a variety of drawing, painting, and mixed media approaches, you'll learn how to capture gesture, rhythm, energy, and emotion through expressive techniques. We will work from observational studies of fabric, natural forms, and dancers, using these references as a springboard into more personal and creative responses.

We'll explore:

• Gesture drawing and quick observational studies

• Capturing movement and energy within the human figure

• Drawing from live dancer references and photographic imagery

• The movement of fabric, drapery, and flowing forms

• Expressive colour and emotional responses to movement

• Experimental mark making and layered surfaces

• Working on larger canvases with increased confidence and freedom

• Developing personal expression inspired by Expressionist artists

The course will gradually build towards creating bold, energetic pieces that embrace movement, atmosphere, and individuality.

🎨 What to Bring

• A sketchbook suitable for drawing and experimentation

• Pencils, charcoal, graphite sticks, and erasers

• Acrylic paints (red, blue, yellow, white, black) and brushes

• Canvas or canvas boards (A3 or larger recommended)

• Apron or old shirt

Oils are also an option

• Optional: inks, pastels, palette knives, collage materials, and any favourite mark-making tools

💃 Working from Movement

Several sessions will include drawing from dancer references and movement studies. The focus will not be on creating perfect anatomical drawings but on observing flow, balance, gesture, and energy.

Through quick sketches, repeated line work, and expressive painting techniques, you'll discover ways of capturing the essence of movement rather than every detail.

🌿 This is a nurturing space for all stages of creative journeying. Some come to refine, some to begin again. Gentle grounding practices may be woven in to support presence, creative freedom, and deeper connection with the expressive process.

There will be a strong emphasis on developing your personal style, alongside opportunities for collaborative exploration. Together, we'll grow, support, and create.