Tag Archives: workshop

A new workshop for creatives in Edinburgh

8th November 2018 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

Create your own sketchbook in the morning and then, after a hearty lunch fill those blank pages with lovely watercolour sketches in the afternoon.

My new book binding and sketching workshop in partnership with Cass Barron and Arienas Collective is launching on November 23rd. This creative full day class combines creating your own leather, or pleather bound book which we will then fill with sketches of the New Town.

Join local bookbinder Cass Barron to create your own A6 (landscape) leather, or pleather, covered sketchbook, complete with decorative exposed stitching and a nifty fastening to store your pens and pencils.

Then after a well deserved lunch break, I will take you and your newly bound book to the streets for a sketching tour, where you’ll learn some tricks of the trade and get some gentle encouragement to fill those blank pages. On colder days, sketching will be mainly indoors at the amazing Scottish Portrait Gallery.

a great opportunity to let your creativity flow … learn a range of skills and leave with a personalised sketchbook.

This workshop is a great opportunity to let your creativity flow in a supportive environment, learn a range of skills and leave with a personalised sketchbook.

Book binding and Sketching workshop. Friday 23rd November 2018, 10am – 4pm, £95 per adult which includes all materials, lunch and refreshments throughout the day.

Click here for more information and to book your place.

Bookbinding with Cass on facebook

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Brand new locations for my sketching workshops this autumn.

3rd October 2018 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

Join me at Rosslyn Chapel on Thursday 18th October and in Edinburgh’s Old Town on Saturday 13th October and Saturday 10th November.

No prior knowledge is needed for my relaxed and friendly workshops. I provide all the materials and you will create a number of sketches out on location before adding detail and watercolour whilst discussing your pieces over refreshments. You will leave with a unique piece of art as well as a unique souvenir you created yourself.

First up is a perfect location for sketching: Edinburgh’s Old Town on Sat 13th October and Sat 10th November.

Thanks to the lovely people at the Patrick Geddes Centre above Victoria Street we will tour the Lawnmarket around Edinburgh’s Old Town creating a number of sketches in ink and watercolour. You will pick up some sketching tips and increase your ability to capture the world around you in a few lines.

In this combined history and sketching tour you will increase your knowledge of Edinburgh’s World Heritage site while picking up some sketching tips and increasing your ability to capture the world around you in a few lines.

All materials are included and you will also receive a hot lunch at the Patrick Geddes Centre, either before the afternoon session or after the morning session.

For more information and to book your place on this very exclusive workshop, which will take place on Saturday October 17th and Saturday November 10th, click HERE

A very special trip to the Rosslyn Chapel on Thursday 18th October.

Capture this very special and mysterious location in pen and watercolour. We will create a number of sketches as we tour the excuisit interior which is crammed with carvings creating a wonderful location to sketch. Refreshments will be provided as we watercolour our drawings plus admission for the day is included so you will be able to relax in the grounds after the workshop.

For more information and to book your place on this one off workshop, click HERE.

The sketch above was drawn on location at the Rosslyn Chapel with ink and watercolour.

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A sketching tour of Holyrood Palace

6th August 2018 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

My second sketching workshop around the grounds of Holyrood Palace was a huge success, and it was great to see the beautiful works of Canaletto once again.

Friday was such a great day, with a lovely sketching tour around Holyrood in the morning and then a walk through Edinburgh’s festival mayhem to see the opening event of #FiveTelegrams at the Usher Hall.

We had a sell out of 12 sketchers for the Palace workshop which is a lovely number enabling me to provide plenty of one to one help to each person, and also as the palace grounds can be busy with visitors just now.

We started with a guided tour of the Canaletto exhibition, highlighting some of his Venetian paintings and pointing out some key sketching tips which he may of used to create his compositions.

We then toured the grounds including the Quadrant area and Abbey ruins which you can see were superbly captured above.

If you would like to come on on of my sketching workshops in various locations around the city, see the Workshops page here.

The Caneletto collection is on display at The Queen’s Gallery until Sunday 21st October 2018

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Car free streets for #CleanAirDay in Edinburgh

27th June 2018 Edinburgh Sketcher 2 Comments

As cars were banned from The Mound, Hanover Street and part of George Street for the afternoon I was asked to run a sketching workshop

On Clean Air Day, which is the 21st June events were held throughout the UK promoting better, cleaner inner city environments for pedestrians and cyclists. Here in Edinburgh the City of Edinburgh Council closed the route between the top of the mound and the St Andrews Street end of George Street.

An ‘Urban Garden’ of cushions, trees and huge deck chairs were arranged and electric bikes were tested on the car free streets. There were processions and talks about how important it is to provide clean air, plus a pipe band and a ceilidh along the cobbled thoroughfare.

I thought is was great and think there should be sections of George Street pedestrianised to make this a permanent feature, or at least a summer feature when the weather is good as it was on Thursday.

After a quick invitation on line I was joined by some enthusiastic sketchers and we made these drawings of George Street without cars. Thanks those who came along and I look forward to catching up with you at a future event.

For more information about the Clean Air Day celebrations, and for information about how to be involved in next years event, see the link below.

The sketches were all made on location with fineliner pens, waterbrushes and small watercolour sets.

Clean Air Day website

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Making montages in the New Town

22nd March 2018 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

Tomorrow I will be once again sketching with Arienas Collective. And with many dates booked in for 2018 there is plenty of opportunities for you to join us.

The Arienas Collective experience is that of a friendly, relaxed creative hub in the heart of Edinburgh’s New Town. Run from a beautiful home environment our host Lynn creates a welcoming space where you can release your creativity.

Spaces are limited to these special workshops to enable more one to one tuition and in the full day workshops a delicious lunch is provided as well as teas, coffees and snacks. All of which mean guests canlet the time flow by, being fully submerged in the creative process.

All equipment and materials needed are provided so you can just turn up, leave any day-to-day worries behind, and immerse yourself in creating something unique

I think there are still a couple of places free for tomorrows all day class, details of which can be found at the link below. We will be touring the New Town picking out some sights to sketch and creating a number of quick ink drawings. We will also visit the Portrait gallery before returning to the cosy studio at Arienas Collective to add watercolour and frame our masterpieces. I look forward to seeing you there!

Sketching the New Town with Arienas Collective

More dates for my Arienas Collective workshops can be found on my Workshops page HERE.

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New Year New Skills at the Engine Shed in Stirling

12th January 2018 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

I will be running a series of workshops in Stirling this year at the Engine Shed, an educational conservation centre.

Scotland’s first dedicated building conservation centre is run by Historic Environment Scotland. Since opening last year it serves as a central hub for building and conservation professionals and the general public, and is a fascinating place to visit.

The original ‘shed’ dates back to around 1900, built as a goods transfer building it lies on the banks of the River Forth opposite the train station and enjoys great views over Stirling to the Castle.

I was there this time last week for a day of sketching and will return for more next month. During the morning I supplied paper and pens to visitors and encouraged them to sketch the displays as they toured the shed, before adding some paint with a watercolour wash. Above are some of the fabulous drawings created by visitors.

In the afternoon we had a more structured two and a half hour class where we worked on some sketching exercises and I shared some time saving tips to help capture a complicated view in a few quick lines.

I look forward to returning in February and to book a place on the next Sketcher Day keep an eye on the Engine Shed What’s On page via the link below.

The Engine Shed website

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Join me capturing Edinburgh’s Christmas in sketches

11th December 2017 Edinburgh Sketcher 2 Comments

Create your very own montage of festive sketches at the one off Christmas workshop in Edinburgh’s New Town

Spend Friday 15th December with me picking up speed sketching tips both inside and out as we make our way around Edinburgh’s New Town, drawing some of George Streets beautiful decorations and spending some time in the Portrait gallery on Queen Street.

Lunch and beverages are included in this seven hour festive workshop. We will venture out with both ink fine liners and watercolour sets before creating a bespoke framed montage to take home, together with a boosted confidence in your own ability!

For more details and to book see the link below and I hope to see you on Friday.

The Ariennas Collective website

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A wonderful evening at the Museum

16th November 2017 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

I hosted a creative workshop table at the latest Museum Late event on Friday, which was Jacobite themed to tie in with their current exhibition: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites.

The Museum Late events are always very popular with around 1500 people enjoying a drink and seeing the museums many artifacts in a relaxed atmosphere, whilst listening to live music and taking part in a few themed activities.

After the success of my After Hours Fringe Lates table where visitors created their own Royal Mile picture from my line drawings I did a similar thing with Jacobite figures and locations.

I supplied four locations featured in the Outlander television series as backdrops and a number of small either redcoat of jacobite figures which could be cut out and stuck on top to create a Jacobite scene, whether a battle in front of Linlithgow Palace or a love scene at Lallybroch.

The scenes could then be painted with watercolours before being mounted in a small frame.

The table was a great success and constantly busy which was excellent, with many visitors taking home their own mounted masterpiece.

The location line drawing s that I used on the night are from my book ‘Midhope and More’ in which I look at 10 Outlander filming locations around Scotland. Details of the illustrated guide, which was made with tour company Mary’s Meanders and is a perfect present for any fan of the Book and TV series can be found by clicking on the image below.

Click to open 'Midhope and More' in my Etsy shop. — Click to open ‘Midhope and More’ in my Etsy shop.

The National Museums Scotland What’s On page.

Mary’s Meanders tour company website.

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Sketching in the Engine Shed

26th October 2017 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

On Saturday I ran a sketching Day workshop at The Engine Shed in Stirling, somewhere I have wanted to visit all year.

Opened earlier this year the Engine Shed is Scotland’s dedicated building conservation centre, run by Historic Environment Scotland. It serves as a central hub for building and conservation professionals and the general public.

The original sandstone building is approx 100 years old and was part of a military complex on the banks of the river forth. Inside is a large open space with large steel trusses spanning the width of the building and a number of exhibits showcasing the traditional building materials, methods and skills in Scotland.

Central in the room is a huge map of Scotland which when you hover an ipad above it shows a huge amount of information, this use of gadgetry is very addictive, I loved it!

During the morning I spent time sketching with visitors and moving around the various exhibits, taking time to concentrate on the details. When focusing in on the details I notice so much more, and take in a great deal more. We all learnt lots about thatch!

The Engine Shed website

Historic Environment Scotland website

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Speed Sketching in the New Town and the Portrait Gallery

7th September 2017 Edinburgh Sketcher Leave a comment

I am very pleased to announce new dates for my popular speed sketching workshops, this time in the New Town with Arienas Collective, a new creative hub in the heart of Edinburgh.

Join us as we explore Edinburgh’s New Town and Portrait Gallery with sketchbook in hand, using ink and watercolour to record our city tour.

For the first time we will take watercolours with us which will enable us to capture more of what we see and more time out drawing before we return to our New Town base for a cuppa.

You will take home your favourite drawing in a frame plus a number of other personal pieces documenting your journey, creating a lovely package of self made art as well as an improved confidence in your own ability.

This workshop will run as both a full and half day introductory class to speed sketching, and also as a half day advanced course where we will make a montage of a particular location using your sketches. It is also available as a private group booking for up to 10 people.

Please see the link below for more details and to book through Arienas Collective. I look forward to meeting and sketching with you soon.

More details and to book your place on the New Town speed sketching class click here.

Create your own sketchbook in the morning and then, after a hearty lunch fill those blank pages with lovely watercolour sketches in the afternoon.

Join me at Rosslyn Chapel on Thursday 18th October and in Edinburgh’s Old Town on Saturday 13th October and Saturday 10th November.

My second sketching workshop around the grounds of Holyrood Palace was a huge success, and it was great to see the beautiful works of Canaletto once again.

As cars were banned from The Mound, Hanover Street and part of George Street for the afternoon I was asked to run a sketching workshop

Tomorrow I will be once again sketching with Arienas Collective. And with many dates booked in for 2018 there is plenty of opportunities for you to join us.

I will be running a series of workshops in Stirling this year at the Engine Shed, an educational conservation centre.

I hosted a creative workshop table at the latest Museum Late event on Friday, which was Jacobite themed to tie in with their current exhibition: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites.

On Saturday I ran a sketching Day workshop at The Engine Shed in Stirling, somewhere I have wanted to visit all year.

I am very pleased to announce new dates for my popular speed sketching workshops, this time in the New Town with Arienas Collective, a new creative hub in the heart of Edinburgh.

Sketches, news and family life in Scotland's capital city.