Previous Classes

Watercolour Studio – Painting on paper with Gail Astbury @ Soanes Garden Room

 Course Overview 6 sessions 10am- 12.30pm or 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday January 7th – ever Tuesday after that finishing on 10th February 2026
Full course - £125 or £25 per individually booked session

In this 6-week term, we will be delving a little deeper into the traditions of artists who work on paper. Whilst we are still in the festive spirit, we will start with Wayne Thibaud’s  American Still Life who is having his first solo show in the UK at the Courtauld institute until 18th January 2026. Then we head to the British Museum’s Nordic Noir themed Exhibition, Works on Paper for more inspiration into how artists work creatively with paper. This free display is on show in room 90 Featuring over 150 works by 100 artists from the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). The dominant theme is nature and ways in which to depict our emotional responses to the world we live in.

Wk 1 Wednesday 7th &
Wk 2 Tuesday 13th January

Wk. 3 & 4 Tuesday 20th & 27th January

Wk 5 & 6 Tuesday 3rd & 10th February

Wayne Thiebaud b1920 - 2021
Wayne believed in the importance of commonplace objects that might otherwise be overlooked or considered kitsch for his subjects to paint and draw. His work turns hot dogs, lemon meringue pies and glossy cream cakes into some of the most enticing in modern painting. 

 Wk1 Please note this first session only is on Wednesday instead of Tuesday we will start with mark making and drawing, taking inspiration from his prints, where he builds tone through cross hatching. Using favourite objects from your home to observe and immortalise.

Wk2 Rendering in colour we will continue to build on the tonal drawings through to layering and glazing with watercolours to achieve lush and enticing effects. We will also take a quick look at the William Nicholson’s ravishing still life paintings that are at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester

Mama Andersson b 1962

 Wk. 3 We will look at the evocative power and haunting beauty of contemporary Nordic art, and how the region's artists continue to develop the legacy of Edvard Munch's expressiveness and creative inventiveness. 

Yuichiro Sato b 1979

Wk. 4 Taking a technical look at some of the graphic techniques in the exhibition we will explore how we can use watercolour alongside other drawing media for dramatic effect.  This week we will make use of backwashes then drawing or fine painting overlays like Finish artist Sato.

Anna Ancher b1859 – 1839 anna-ancher-painting-light

Wk. 5 As we head into February we will brighten our palettes first with Anna Ancher, a Danish artist drawn to the light at Dulwich Picture gallery.

Wk. 6 Then to round off,  we will take a look at some of the exquisite works on paper and the fine techniques from the Story of South Asian Art Exhibition at the RA until 24th February mrinalini-mukherjee

Watercolour Studio – Urban and rural experiences with Gail @ Pitzhanger Manor Garden Room 

 Course Overview 6 x Tuesdays 10am- 12.30pm or 1pm-3.30pm 

November 11th - 16th December 2025    Full course - £125 or £25 per individually booked sessions   

In this 6-week term, we will be tracing landscape painting from contemporary painters back to classical 18th century vistas of town and country. Starting with the enigmatic Peter Doig, to Kerry James Marshall’s vision for the African American experience, then back to London’s underworld with Edward Burra, Walter Sickert and Whistler.  In December, we revisit Turner and Constable to understand how they became the founding fathers of British Painting. Despite Doig being born almost 200 years after Turner and Constable, all these painters reflect a profound desire to connect with the world around them, be it wholly natural or full of human interactions and inventions. 

Peter Doig ‘Night Playground’ 1997-98

Kerry James Marshall ‘Better Homes Better Garden’s  1994

Edward Burra ‘An English Country scene’ 1970 

Joseph William Mallard Turner Sketchbook

Wk. 1 & 2  Tuesday 11 & 18th November:
Peter Doig at the Serpentine House of Music show 

Wk. 1 From the 10th of October Peter Doig has a new show at the Serpentine gallery that explores the cultural influence that music and film has had on his career. I would like you to create an urban scene of a place that you know where unexpected cultural exchanges happen and flourish. This show is free to visit 

Wk. 2 Peter recently curated a group show in New York titled ‘The Street’ featuring some of his own works alongside those by peers he admires and former influences from the mid-century including Edward Burra’s enigmatic world views that you may recently have seen at the Tate. This collection of paintings shows his continued fascination for the surprising beauty and mystery of the urban setting.  

Wk. 3 Tuesday 25th November 

Wk. 3 Continuing with the urban theme we will explore a range of contemporary and mid-century artists who have been captivated by inner cities. I will introduce you to Kerry James Marshall who references Doig in his reimagined American cityscapes. You may also wish to research your own favourite artists from the the Euston Road School to Banksy and everything else in between who reflect our urban life.

Wk. 4, 5 & 6 Tuesday 2nd, 9th and 16th December 

Wk. 4 For the second half of this term we take to the road and head for the hills. Many artists of the 20th and 21st century represent their fascination along with anxiety about innovation and industry spreading over even the wildest part of the British Isles and beyond. Emma Stibbon RA is not alone in questioning man’s effect upon the natural world through her painting. Like Turner she is a voracious global traveller who seeks to documents her trips through watercolour.  I’d like you to start painting your visions of the wider environment. 

Wks. 5 & 6 We will explore the legacies of two titans of British art, following Tate’s new exhibition about their rivalry and originality. We start with Turner from his roots in the metropolis; commercially minded and fiercely ambitious. He thirsts for travel ultimately led him to developing original ways to apply paint and depict light to capture the raw power of nature he was immersing himself in. Constable on the other hand contented himself with the landscape of his childhood to revolutionise the role that skies 

played in his sweeping landscapes.  Turner v Constable show 

A new 6-week art course with artist Gail Astbury on Colour and Form

starting on September 9th at Pitzhanger Manor Garden Room, Ealing

Course Overview 6 x Tuesday mornings or afternoons from Tuesday 9th of September 2025 until 14th October , 10am - 12.30pm or 1pm - 3.30pm

9th of September 2025

Wk. 1 How to create a composition inspired by a garden

In honour of our new location in the Soanes Garden Room, I wanted to start with the theme of the garden. This topic also follows on well from our exploration into the Japanese printing techniques of last term. We will go outside to make some compositional and colour sketches .

16th of September 2025

Wk. 2 Continuing to take inspiration from the National Galleries collection. You can choose one painting to focus on from any period or subject currently on display at the new rehang.

I love this portrait by Henri Rousseau now on show in room 45 or a gorgeous painting titled ‘Summers Day’ by Berthe Morisot currently in Room 41.

There will be lots of example for you to choose from or search their extensive online collection if you don’t get chance to have a visit. 

23rd of September 2025

RA - Kiefer / Van Gogh 28th June – 29th Oct

Tues- sun 10am- 6pm Ticketed exhibition

Wk. 3 This exhibition explores how both artists have approached common themes – nature, literature, transience, and the universe through visual means. Whilst Vincent used only tradition art materials, Kiefer has included unusual elements to his paintings such as seed, straw and metals. We will compare their colour uses in terms of symbolism versus naturalism. You may also like to consider incorporating collaged elements.

30th of September 2025

Wk. 4 Looking at and comparing their use of perspective, viewpoint, and scale and what different effects those create.

7th of October 2025

Howard Hodgkin: In a Public Garden opens on the 1st October and I will lead a guided tour on the 5th October from 10.30am – you can book a ticket with Ealing residents discounts or get 50% reduction with an Art pass.

Wk. 5 This landmark show will feature around 60 vibrant, prints that span five decades of Hodgkin’s career, from 1966 to 2016. All works are on paper, and many have been hand finished so great examples for us as watercolourists.

Working from memory and imagination, Hodgkin created images of transience, in which ambiguous, dissolving forms are the pictorial equivalent of an autobiographical sensation or perception. We will use the garden for colour and formal keys to inspire us to create some experimental washes and glazes

14th of October 2025

Wk. 6 Thinking about his themes such as water or places like Venice and investigating how he translates visual sensations and memories into paint.

‘Introduction to the work of Alison Watt and Hiroshige’

A 4-week art course with artist Gail Astbury

at Pitzhanger Manor Garden Room, Ealing

Course Overview 4 x Tuesdays from Tuesday 10th of June 2025 until July 1st, 10am - 12.30pm

or 4 x Wednesday mornings from Wed 11th of June 2025 until July 2nd, 10am - 12.30pm

Gail Astbury is launching a new, 4-week watercolour art class in Ealing beginning in June 2025.

In weeks 1 and 2 we will be taking our ideas and inspiration from The Pitzhanger Manor Gallery’s current exhibition by painter Alison Watt which you can visit until June 15th. Check their website for opening hours and prices as they have some scheduled closures as well as discounts for residents. https://www.pitzhanger.org.uk/whatson/alison-watt/

In weeks 3 and 4 we will take a lyrical journey through the open roads of Edo Japan, with master printmaker Hiroshige. Here we will uncover some of the hidden meanings behind the symbolism, and explore new watercolour techniques to describe the natural beauty of nature, landscape, and urban living. https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/introduction-hiroshige-artist-open-road

Pitzhanger address at bottom of the page.

Alison Watt (born 1965 - ) Into the Light

Alison’s paintings are an act of intense looking to extract an essence or reveal a thing’s uniqueness and history. Her still lives become as inquiring as her portraits

 

Week 1: How to position natural forms for still life painting

Week 2: How to create harmony through unified values. We will explore the higher “key” that Alison employs with her use of light tones.

If the weather is kind, we will be able to work ‘en plein air’ in the garden or gather cuttings.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858) Artist of the open road

Utagawa is one of Japan’s most celebrated artists and a technically gifted woodblock painter.

 

Week 3: Exploring the symbolism and storytelling in Hiroshige’s dynamic compositions. We will also examine the use high vantage points and the omitting of unnecessary detail in his editing process.

Starting with some pencil sketches and colour studies

Week 4: Revising how to make graded washes in watercolour to imitate Hiroshige’s bokashi style - subtle colour shifts. These will be applied to the previous week’s sketches.