You will mostly be working with site-specific, naturally occurring pigments, including sinoper, natural blacks, ochres, iron oxides, haematite and graphite. You will use these in lump form on the first evening to make a free, collaborative drawing of medieval-style artefacts.

There will be an outing to St. Botolph’s church to view the nearly complete cycle of 12th century wall paintings and to gain an understanding of local pigments and the extraordinary Romanesque style of illustration.

Inspired by these, you will make large scale drawings on heavy paper, learning how effective the simple, graceful lines in wall paintings can be.

You will learn how to grind and mix pigments with natural ingredients to make watercolours held in shells, the medieval paint palettes. Working on a small scale, you will immerse yourself in in the medieval world of imagination, fantasy and social comment, as you take manuscript marginalia as your inspiration.

These darkly humorous little drawings which decorate texts encapsulate a world turned upside-down, where man is hunted by killer rabbits, strange beasts emerge from capital letters and scenes of everyday life emerge from the grotesque or ornamental.

This is a subject and materials-led course suitable for all. The tutor will guide you through the processes with demonstrations and drawing exercises, while you gain confidence with the techniques and a familiarity with the liveliness of medieval subversive images.

From there, you can develop your own language of imagery with ways of drawing which are stylishly simple. You will also develop new methods of colour mixing with a limited but dynamic palette.

Included

The College will supply most of the materials including some watercolour paper, cartridge paper and masking tape per student, plus a range of pigment powders and natural pigment stones to share amongst the group. Plus honey, glycerine, gum Arabic, clove oil, charcoal and iron gall ink to share amongst the group.

What students need to bring

• Any medieval art references you enjoy
• A small sketchbook

Available to buy

Available from shop: Charcoal, graphite, paper

Available from tutor: A range of natural pigments

Additional information

Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).

Arrival day
Residential students can arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm for registration
6.45pm: Welcome, followed by dinner (included)
8 - 9pm: First teaching session, attendance is essential

Daily timetable
Course teaching 9.15am - 5pm (lunch included)
Dinner: from 6.30pm (included for residential students)
Evening working: students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with permission from the tutor and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed

Departure day
Course teaching: 9.15am - 3pm (lunch included)
Residential students will need to check out of rooms by 10am

Please note, the tutor may make slight variations to the daily timetable as required

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