Class details
Among the Trees Watercolour Course led by Gail Astbury coincides with the exhibition running at The Hayward Gallery. The exhibition runs until 31 October 2020 and features work from 37 international artists who explore ours and their relationship with trees and forests.
Course Dates: 15 September – 20 October
Day: Tuesdays
Time: 2 – 4pm
Course Fee: £120 Adults (£90 Concession)
Limited to 10 people
During this 6 week course Gail uses the works of modern and contemporary watercolour masters who focus on trees in different ways. Many of the artists are part of the exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.
Week 1: Inspirational Master – Raoul Dufy who used open wash background colours with brush drawn detail and textures on top. Compare his avenues of trees to the Oak and Lime trees in Walpole Park.
Week 2: Inspirational Master – Abel Rodriguez. We will focus on the way he observes and draws leaf structures and biodiversity. He creates a layered and carefully constructed treescape canopy with no background. He is particularly fond of the trees of the Amazon.
Week 3: Inspirational Master – Toba Khedoori is an Australian painter fascinated by the detail in nature which surrounds us everyday. We will study how she paints closeup networks of branches and leaves using a limited colour palette and how she creates loose, sculptural tangles of foliage. She uses sketches and photographs to gather information for her painting.
Week 4: Inspirational Master – Peter Doig is famous for re-imagining nature through which to see a crime scene or a hidden history. He frequently uses photographs and newspapers or film clippings to create his composition which he then simplifies. He adds colour and texture to create mood and atmosphere.
Week 5: Inspirational Master – Georgia O’Keefe. This American painter has been named as “the mother of modern art” and her style is instantly recognisable. She is fascinated by nature and in this session we study her techniques of using autumn leaves. We shall focus on their patterns and colours at the same time as simplifying the composition and using a single image to fill the space.
Week 6: Inspirational Master – Laura Owens uses light and playful processes to create magical paintings. She uses an open wash background like Dufy but adds collaged details, such as leaves and birds to create a lyrical whole.
About the Tutor
Gail Astbury has a B.A. (Hons) Fine Art Painting from Wimbledon UAL and has recently gained an MA in Contemporary Arts Practice from Goldsmiths University and Tate Galleries 2014. Her work has featured in many prominent locations such as London’s Trafalgar Square, the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Academy and she has works held in the collection of the MMSU Museum of Modern Art in Croatia.
Gail makes series of paintings and watercolours in her studios in London and La Péruse, southwest France. Her work starts with her immediate surroundings, taking photos, sketching and amassing a picture library to draw reference from. She then plays with the imagery, using scale, colour, edits and zoom to select and highlight interesting focal points. She uses a range of techniques from renaissance lighting and brushwork to the colour and decorative compositions of 20th century modernism through to contemporary mass media image making and production. The resulting paintings are celebratory, they tell visual tales and proclaim societal hopes and fears. http://www.gailastbury.com
