Shifting Coastlines: sketching the coast
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a lovely 4 day art course at Paintbox School of Art in Cockenzie near Edinburgh. The tutor was the lovely Kittie Jones whose work I have seen and admired for a long time.
I do love these small scale art education enterprises which seem to offer a great learning experience for a fraction of the cost of an art degree. I used to run Horsley Printmakers which held printmaking courses for many years. I no longer teach, preferring these days to focus on my own work but attending a course as a participant is a wonderful treat!
I enjoyed myself immensely and, even though I have a BFA and an MFA plus 30 years professional experience, I still find myself learning a huge amount. I especially enjoy going on courses with an outdoor drawing/painting component. It might seem crazy but, as a busy parent, I've found very little time for this in the last two decades. My landscape work has been studio-based working mainly from memory and compositional principals.
Kittie structured this course really well, watching the forecast like a hawk so we could get out drawing as much as possible. We did various exercises to build up the skills we would need to put them altogether in a larger piece: continuous line drawing, tonal studies and colour studies. We used biro, charcoal, pastel, collage, trace monotype and black ink in various combinations.
It's hard marshalling your art equipment sitting on rocks so it needs to be simple. Kittie very cleverly built up our kit slowly from just a biro and stick of charcoal to a range of materials but still very pared down. This restriction is so important; when we have too many choices, we fail to choose effectively and dither about!
Day one was a magnificent sunny day and we made the most of it. Cockenzie House, where Paintbox is based, is right next to the sea with some really interesting rocky outcrops and not one but two harbours. We spent the day drawing the rocks and I couldn't keep the smile off my face as it felt so good to be out drawing in the sunshine in such a great place! At the same time I felt slightly nervous as my plein air skills were a bit rusty and I have quite high standards for myself.
The other three days of the course the sun did not show it's face but we still got out and drawing conditions were fine. When it rained, we did printmaking and collage indoors. Kittie did two excellent slide talks with some very well chosen images from artists who sketch at the coast. Kurt Jackson and Joan Eardley formed part of her selection. It was interesting to see how their sketches were swift with a few well chosen marks standing in for complex elements like the sea and rocks.
This was particularly relevant for me attempting to draw the rocks which were incredibly complex and interesting with many cracks, pools of water and barnacles. You can't draw every detail so some kind of simplification needs to take place. I tried different approaches often using gestural marks to indicate foreground shapes. I also identified an area of interest that I wanted to give more detail and attention to - where the sea meets the rocks in little beaches really stood out for me - it's such a beautiful combination of powerful shapes with texture and colour changes in a relatively compact space.
We had a rather damp visit to one of the harbours where I was very taken with the beached boats and tried to draw them as fast as I could whilst holding an umbrella over the paper! In this situation it's an "information grab" before returning to the more comfortable conditions of the studio. Looking back, I like this drawing as much as the ones I spent more time on - the conditions of the day and the charm of the boats seem very fresh and not overworked.
The collage above was made on the beach in a short space of time. I was really out of my comfort zone with this and struggled to combine the materials and get a sense of place whilst holding down the papers to stop them blowing away in the wind!
The course was called "Shifting Coastlines" which I thought initially referenced erosion and geology but, whilst making the drawing at the top, which took all day, it became clear that the movements of the tide were even more relevant. A nice rock you were drawing would gradually disappear under the waves!
It was a lovely group of nine women and one man (Why are there always more women on art courses??) plus Kittie and the lovely Mary who was a super art assistant (she prepared all our materials). Everyone was very supportive and encouraging of one another's efforts. We had little end of day chats where we shared our work. This usually followed the pattern of the participant lamenting their deficiencies and Kittie and the rest of us encouraging and praising their efforts! Why is it that we're quick to see the accomplishments of others but are our own harshest critic?
I had such a great time that I'm already looking forward to next year. I'd definitely go to Paintbox again but I'm also looking further afield for new coastal and landscape inspiration. Let me know if in the comments if you have any recommendations for courses or art retreats.
I know many artists follow my blog for whom a post like this has obvious relevance but even if you're from a different walk of life, I hope it will be an encouragement to be a lifelong learner and to try new things that challenge your settled routines. You never know where it might lead! I love the concept of CPD (from the world of education - Continuing Professional Development) but you don't need to be a professional to enjoy the benefits. It could be creative development or personal development! Anyway, the name doesn't matter, it's just the idea of growing and learning all through your life.
If you enjoyed this post, you might like to read about other courses I've been on at The Lund and Bullclough School of Art.
What a joyful set of posts to follow. Inspiring to read and see your work develop and appreciate all the ups and downs of creativity. Thank you Rebecca.
Hi Rebecca, I've just discovered this online! Thanks so much for such a thorough and thoughtful write up of our week together at Paintbox - it was lovely having you on the course and I'm so pleased to see how much you got from it. Keep drawing! All the best, Kittie
Thank you so much for describing the course you took part in at Paintbox, and so generously letting us see the results, such beautifully sensitive sketches. I feel inspired to do something about my own CPD, which has lapsed since the closure of our wonderful Malvern School of Art, which I attended regularly.
As ever, very much like your work and enjoy your sharing of it - processes both thought and production - and thank you for doing so.
Thankyou for inviting me into your process, I will use your work to guide mine - Caroline Whalley