RGA Fridays

Create your own collage papers using acrylic paint and wet strength tissue by a mono printing method. Cut, arrange and glue these papers in layers on canvas board to create a unique seascape artwork.

Discover the magic of suminagashi, where ink, water, the environment and of course you, combine to create mesmerizing marbled patterns. This ancient Japanese art is relaxing and suitable for absolute beginner and experienced artist alike, but be warned it is quite addictive! This is a very mindful art form, so perfect to calm your brain after a busy week.

In these two hours we will touch upon:

• The history and meaning behind suminagashi
• The tools; the inks and papers you’ll need
• Step-by-step instructions to create beautiful marbled patterns using traditional and more modern techniques
• A few ideas of how you can use your beautiful marbled papers. 

Ink stains, so please wear old clothes or bring an apron. Please also bring something to cover your table and some newspaper to dry your marbled papers on.

The marbling bath, rice paper, oriental brushes and ink will be supplied. 

An opportunity to explore working from a clothed life model, exploring a range of techniques using charcoal. We’ll look at more expressive approaches to drawing as well as how to use measuring to check proportion and placement. We’ll also explore rhythms, connections and shape design as ways of reinforcing our drawing.

There will be a series of dynamic poses followed by a couple of longer poses and maybe even a costume change!

Charcoal is recommended, however feel free to use any other dry media as well.

What to bring:

• Soft charcoal
• Putty eraser/rubber
• Cartridge Paper (or other paper suitable for charcoal)- at least A3 if using charcoal
• Newspaper/table covering
• Wet wipes

What will be provided:

• Charcoal and putty erasers available to use
• Sandpaper

This session is an immersion into colour, print and pattern using bold colours and decoration to fill a concertina book.

We will start by blocking in some background colours directly into the book.

While this is drying we will do some short exercises to generate ideas for filling the sketchbook, including motifs, patterns and doodles.

After that the fun really begins as we start to fill the pages with painted shapes and motifs and then adding more details with pens, crayons, pencils and pastels.

This is definitely a “more is more” session and you can use many different media on top of the painted backgrounds.

What to bring:

Please don’t be daunted by this list. Use what materials you have and don’t feel you need to rush out and buy everything (unless you want to!)

• Table covering and apron
• Acrylic paint and paint brushes
• Mixing palette
• Water pot
• Pencil and paper

For adding detail any of the following mixed media you already have:

• POSCA pens.
• Neocolour 2 or other water soluble crayons
• Oil pastels
• Gel pens
• Coloured pencils
• Stencils
• Sponge to apply paint. Kitchen sponges work well
• Kitchen roll
• Hairdryer

Attendees will need a concertina sketchbook to work in. We recommend the Seawhite A5 concertina book. You can bring your own book, or buy a Seawhite sketchbook on the day for £7.

What will be provided:

• Mixed media materials – pens, pencils, pastels
• Stencils