An accessible, forgiving, and wonderfully versatile painting workshop
If you’ve ever wanted to start painting but didn’t know where to begin – this is the workshop for you. Gouache (say it “gwash”) is the ideal medium for beginners and experienced painters alike. It’s affordable, easy to use, and incredibly forgiving: it blends beautifully, wipes away easily when you make a mistake, and can be used thin like watercolour or thick and bold like acrylic.
Once the darling of illustrators, graphic artists, and designers, gouache was somewhat overshadowed by digital tools like Photoshop — but it’s making a huge comeback, and for good reason.
Already paint with watercolours? Great news- you don’t need to buy any new kit. Gouache is water-soluble and plays well with your existing brushes, palettes, and paper. In fact, masters like John Singer Sargent often combined the two in their work to great effect.
Whether you’re a total beginner or a watercolourist curious to expand your painting practice, this joyful, hands-on workshop, led by talented tutor Jason Skill, will help you fall in love with glorious Gouache and leave with confidence to keep painting long after the class ends.
What to expect
Time at ArtisOn is designed to take you away from it all and provide the environment, the time and the guidance you need to create. You can expect a warm welcome, skilled and friendly tutors plus the chance to meet like-minded people keen to share ideas and experiences. You can even leave us to clear up the mess! There will usually be two workshops going on and we encourage everyone to mingle and be nosey about what the other workshop is up to.
Arrive in time to meet other participants over a cup of tea or coffee and biscuits before beginning your session at the appointed time. There will be a mid-morning break for refreshments and a chance to talk over progress with others. Lunch is usually around 12:45 for about 45 mins – you can expect a homemade 2 course lunch. The main course will be delicious but don’t overdo it as the puds are usually worth waiting for! There will be a further afternoon break with the most wonderful cakes from Roots & Fruits Home Bakery, a North Yorkshire micro-bakery producing handmade bread and cakes. All food and refreshments are included in the price of the workshop.
Finish time is given as a target – there are occasions when the session may overrun so do let us know if you need to be away promptly.
We aim for your day to be a real treat… of course you could always learn a new skill in a shed or a draughty village hall with a curly sandwich, but we want you to have more fun than that! So we make it a day being looked after, with good food, good company and great inspiration!
