Tuesday 12th – Friday 15th August, 10:30am – 4:30pm
About this course
During this four day-long workshop, Lucy and Edward of Old Mill Arts will guide you through various skills and processes involved in making your own high quality, nature based art materials.
Each day you will be both crafting and making with threads of colour theory, history and context woven throughout the sessions, relating to each new material created.
This workshop is suitable for beginners who want to try making art materials, and for those who have already begun their journey with making natural art materials, but would like to refine their skills, or learn further skills.
Day 1: Foraged pigments and wild clay
Working with charcoals in the morning, we will be testing the qualities of different types of wood, foraging for materials on site. Through drawing and creating ‘char’ black ink and paints with charcoaled pine cones we will move into the afternoon session. In the afternoon we will begin thinking about wild pigment processing – discussing what they are, and how to source sustainable, non-toxic pigments for painting and drawing. From here, we will turn our attentions to wild clay – forming wild clay vessels for inks and paints.
Day 2: Making pastels from earth and plant colours
In the morning we will focus on pastel making with wild pigments, adding earth and plant pigments. This session will use natural and forged materials to inform our palette. In the afternoon, we will turn our attention to creating artist’s crayons and oil pastels with wild, earth, non toxic and plant pigments alongside creating pastel holders for your studio.
Day 3: Inks and drawing tools from the landscape
The session will begin with us making reed and bamboo pens, moving onto creating a feather paintbrush which we will use with botanical inks made in class. As we move to the afternoon we will continue our botanical ink making before pit firing out wild clay vessels from Tuesday now they have air dried.
Day 4: Heritage and contemporary paint making
Paint making in the morning, exploring watercolours, poster paint, tempura and glair. In the afternoon we will be filling wild clay paint palettes and sealing the wild clay ink well. We will also be making a pocket sketchbook using handmade paper fro Old Mill Arts as a cover to take away.
What we will provide / What you should bring
Most materials and tools will be provided, or foraged together.
Students should bring a notebook and/or sketchbook.
A camera / phone camera is helpful for visual note taking. If participants have paintbrushes they like to use, bring those along. An apron is advisable or old clothes. We will have face masks available for protection from fine pigments.
About the tutors
Edward and Lucy are artists and workshop facilitators with Old Mill Arts, based in Dumfries and Galloway. After searching for a richer connection to their creative materials, the two spent several years developing and learning interwoven practices in the crafts of making art materials.
Edward and Lucy teach all over the UK in these various crafts, empowering artists and creatives in making their own art materials linking participants to the cultural heritage of these crafts, having conversations about sustainable art practices, and illuminating the huge potential of making in collaboration with the natural world.
There are no upcoming dates for this event.
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If travelling to the Centre by car, please park at Waterstone Crook car park. Parking at the centre is reserved for disabled blue badge holders and those with limited mobility only. Find out how to get to Forgan Arts Centre here.
Please read our Terms & Conditions. If you have any questions or access requirements, please contact us. We’d be pleased to help.