Painting from Life: Colour, Form and Expression

Fri 24 Apr- 19 Jun (8 wks) | 1.45-4pm  | 16+ yrs

Designed for those with life drawing experience, this course develops your skills in painting from a live model using acrylic and/or oil. Through structured exercises, explore paint handling, expressive mark-making, tonal structure, and limited colour palettes to create confident, dynamic figure studies.

What will the course cover and how will it be taught?

This course offers an exciting opportunity for those with some life drawing experience to develop painting skills from a live model, using acrylic and/or oil paints. Through a series of structured exercises, you will explore paint handling, mark-making, tonal development, and the use of limited colour palettes to create dynamic, expressive figure studies.

You will learn to apply measuring skills to your life painting, mix colour and tone with intention, and represent the structure and form of the human figure. The course also emphasises developing personal mark-making techniques and understanding how other artists approach painting the human form, offering inspiration and context for your own work.

Teaching combines practical life painting sessions, live demonstrations, discussions, one-to-one guidance, peer feedback, and analysis of other artists’ work. Self-assessment and tutor feedback will help you refine your technique, deepen observation skills, and build confidence in translating life studies into compelling painted compositions.

Important Information 

This course will be held in Studio 3. There are no sessions during half term 25-29 May.

What do I need to bring?

Drawing boards and easels will be provided.

To the first session, please bring:

• Acrylic and/or oil paint – Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, Cadmium Red, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White (extension colours – Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Umber)
• 3 non-expensive surfaces like paper, lining paper or card (you can reuse old surfaces by priming them in white gesso primer). It is best to prime these surfaces beforehand, but not necessary when using acrylic paint.
• A selection of different-sized brushes.
• Small sponge.
• Material rags.
• Masking tape or clips to attach your paper to a board.
• Pencil or charcoal.

For Acrylics:

• Water pots
• A tray to use as a palette.
• Water spray bottle.
• Grease-proof paper.

For Oils:

• Palette knife
• Solvent (Sansador, Pure Turps or Zest It)
• Palette (tear off ones are good)
• White spirit for washing brushes.
• Gesso Primer

When using art materials, your clothes could potentially get dirty, so you may wish to bring an apron and/or dress for mess.

Are there any additional costs?

No  

About the tutor

Catherine MacDiarmid brings over 30 years of teaching experience to her role, combining extensive classroom practice with the insight of a dedicated, practising artist. She has exhibited widely, including the BP Portrait Award (2001/02), the New Light Art (2021/22 and 2023/24), and regularly at the Mall Galleries. Her work has received numerous accolades, most recently the Watercolour Materials Award at the Jackson’s Painting Prize in 2023 and the People and Faces Award 2025 at the Lake Artists Society. She is an elected member of the Lakes Artists Society and the Contemporary British Portrait Painters. Catherine has also appeared on Portrait Artist of the Year (2014 and 2018), reaching the semi-finals in 2019. Alongside private portrait commissions, her work is collected internationally, and she is based in her home studio in Kendal. 

See all Creative Learning courses here.