Workshop | Expressive Portraits in Watercolour with Aine Devine

Join us in the beautiful Mulranny Arts studio overlooking Clew Bay for a 3-day watercolour workshop with the amazing Aine Devine.

Aine’s description of the course:

‘It’s a great pleasure to me to pass on this approach to working in watercolour, a medium sometimes considered safe and tame.

I explore ways to create paintings that are full of drama and daring contrasts. And completely imbued with your own unique signature.

We are encouraged to walk the middle way between the abandon of free, expressive mark making, and a beautifully alert attention as we keenly observe the subject before us.

I’m a great believer in looking after ourselves as we go to paint, so I’ll be encouraging you to remember to breathe and to keep a radar up for any tension that may arise. I find we are then more willing to take that joyful leap of faith needed when painting from life.

I’ll also explain practical things like what colours to mix to represent the shadows on the skin, the hair and so on.

We will look at ways of using the flat brushes to explain the position of the features and the general forms of the model swiftly and with ease. I’ll also demonstrate lifting off, so that you feel the freedom of being able to lay the colour down with confidence, knowing you can ‘eat into it’ like a rubber in charcoal later on. During the painting process you’ll be encouraged to become fully attentive, observing the shapes that make up the model, then – steadying yourself – commit to the mark with ease.

As the day goes on, I will see each person individually and if it helps I’ll do little demonstrations from your viewpoint, and discuss whatever comes up for you as you paint. There really is great joy to be had in working from life in this way, looking and painting down our fresh discovery’s moment by moment. I look forward to accompanying you on this journey.

There will be a different model each day so you will have the opportunity to explore a variety of faces. Each day we’ll move a few places clockwise, so everyone gets a different view. We will stop painting at 3.30pm every day, so we can have a look at the lovely paintings that evolved during the day.’

Learn more and book via our website:

https://www.mulrannyarts.com/expressive-portraits-in-watercolour