Art Class Bookings & Events
Watercolour Studio – Summer Etchings with Gail Astbury @ Soanes Garden Room & The Rickyard
Course Overview 4 sessions 10.30 am- 2.30pm
Tuesday August 4th – 25th 2026
Full course - £150 or £45 per individually booked session
In this 4-week term, we will be delving a little deeper into the process and techniques of etching. The sessions are longer to allow for staggered use of the press and inking equipment. All the plexiglass plates, printing inks, paper, and press will be provided, and there will be a maximum of 18 places available.
The visual focus and inspiration for our drawings, watercolours and etchings will be the garden in bloom and the Clare Woods exhibition that will be showing in Pitzhanger from 29th July. Clare is a UK based contemporary painter, and printmaker who has recently been exploring the form and colour of plants and gardens with the physical touch and versatility of a sculptor. Born in 1972, Woods’ paintings are often discussed in relation to the work of British landscape painters of the 1930s and 40s, like John Piper, who we looked at this year. She uses photographs as her starting point, then uses both layering and reduction (erasure) processes to find the essence of things. We will start with the Soanes garden and the wider Walpole park to find our own colour and forms.
Week 1: Tuesday 4 th August
Soanes Garden Room 10.30 am- 2.30pm
Looking and observing closely the networks and shapes that we find in and around the garden.
For this first session we will be learning about Clare Woods, then like her, taking our own photographs, and sketching from the shapes and colours of the summer plants, fruits, and flowers. Then we will return to the garden room to make watercolours and/or collages inspired by Woods multi layered techniques.
We will also make drawings that can be used to transfer to the etching plates ready for the following week
This image is a collaged work on paper by Clare Woods
Week 2: Tuesday 11th August
The Rickyard 10.30 am- 2.30pm
Working from your own photographs and paintings from week one, we will create a drypoint print.
To warm up, you will have a mini plexiglass and a range of needles to practice mark making. Then you will get an A5 plexiglass to etch your chosen image.
A test print is made with newsprint to check the depth of lines the plate is inked up to make an edition of up to 4 A4 prints that you can add your own watercolour enhancements to whilst still damp.
Week 3 & 4: Tuesday, 18th and 25th
The Rickyard 10.30 am- 2.30pm
We will continue to explore drypoint etching techniques by adding the use of coloured inks.
This can be done by:
Rolling a range of different colours onto the plate using warm and cool colour palettes. These can then be hand tinted as before. To maintain some lighter areas, reduction techniques can be used where you ink up the plate, then wipe away shapes to find lighter areas within the darker tones as in the example here.
You can experiment with a new plate and again make editions of up to 4 each week.
Materials to bring:
Supplied:
Drawing boards
Paper
Waterpots
Masking tape
What you need to bring:
Watercolours
Brushes
Pencil for sketching
Courses take place at:
Soane’s Garden Room,
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery,
Ealing Green,
London,
W5 5EQ
For information on previous classes click here
FAQs
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I have space for up to 18 students at each session. Let me know if you want to be informed about openings from cancellations.
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Yes if you contact me beforehand to ensure availability and pay on the door. However, availability is often not guaranteed so booking in advance is recommended.
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Yes so long as you have made an arrangement to ensure there is space available. To guarantee your spot I would recommend booking prior to all classes.
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We must use water based materials due to the nature of the venue facilities used. Oils and other materials will not be allowed on the premises.
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Yes, there will be the opportunity to feedback about the facilities to fine tune things for the autumn term. If you have any recommendations in the meantime please post them below.
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Cancellations for drop-in bookings made 7 days or more in advance are eligible for a 50% refund.
Cancellations with less than 7 days’ notice are non-refundable, as it’s unlikely we can fill your spot on short notice.
If you're cancelling your full course up to 14 days before the first session a full refund is available or you may wish to carry it to the next turn, please reach out so we can discuss the best way forward.
Thank you.