Subject, Colour and Brushwork in Motion

In this five-day course, we will work with a deliberately chosen subject – and bring it to life. A city, a boat, a figure, a landscape, architecture or a personal visual inspiration can serve as a starting point. However, the subject is not painted realistically, but translated into a free, powerful visual language through tempo, colour and visible brushwork.
The subject provides a foundation, whilst the tempo brings freedom. Quick brushstrokes, rhythmic movements, clear lines, opaque areas of colour and transparent intermediate layers give rise to paintings that oscillate between figuration and abstraction.
We work with Aquarylic Colours, acrylic paints and chalk paints. Colour is applied, drawn, layered, reopened and recombined. The brushstrokes are allowed to remain visible and become an essential part of the expression. It is precisely the traces of movement, the immediacy and the imperfection that give the painting its vitality.
From a technical perspective, we explore how a subject can be simplified, abstracted and condensed into a painterly form. How much information does a picture need to remain legible? Where can form be omitted? When does a line carry the composition? How does tension arise between spontaneous gesture and deliberate composition?
In this course, ‘tempo’ does not mean haphazardness. It is a method for making decisions more quickly, working with greater boldness and avoiding getting lost in the details. Through rhythmic exercises, quick studies, transparent overpainting and bold brushstrokes, we learn to interpret a subject more freely whilst still keeping the composition in mind.
This course is aimed at anyone who wishes to work in a powerful, direct and colour-intensive style. The result is paintings full of movement, energy and personal style – straddling the line between subject and abstraction, control and letting go, speed and conscious painterly decision-making.