Isle of Wight Art Classes in May and June 2025

Original Collage by Lee Papworth

UPCOMING ART CLASSES AND DATES

4 week course 'From Dorset to the West Country' at Northwood Village Hall starting Friday 2nd May, 10 to 12.30pm, £80

4 week course 'Women in Art'  at Bembridge Village Hall starting Thursday 29th May, 9.45am to 12.15pm, £75

EN PLEIN AIR SESSIONS (outdoor sketching and painting)

Drawing, Sketching and Painting at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary in Sandown on Friday 20th June from 10am to 12.30pm, £25 plus admission fee

Drawing, Sketching and Painting at Sandown Pier and Beach on Friday 27th June from 10am to 12.30pm, £25

One to one classes are also available.  To book a one to one class or a space on the above courses please email me at iowartclasses@hotmail.com

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

Upcoming Art Courses and Classes - April 2023

 

Original Oil Painting by Jean 2023

Just finished teaching two courses of winterscapes.  Many students produced in my opinion some of their best work - Jean, Terry; Helen and Peter in particular.  The results of this wonderful work can be seen below.  The next round of courses will begin shortly. The dates and subjects are noted at the end of this post.  Thank you to everyone who attended the classes and making them a success.

Original Oil Painting by Andrew 2023

Original Acrylic Painting by Dana 2023

Original Acrylic Painting by George 2023

Original Oil Painting by Gill 2023

Original Oil Painting by Gisela 2023

Original Acrylic Painting by Helen 2023

Original Oil Painting by Jane 2023

Original Oil Painting by Jo 2023

Original Watercolour by Lolly 2023

Original Unfinished Oil Painting by Pam 2023

Original Oil Painting by Peter 2023

Original Oil Painting by Terry 2023

Upcoming Courses

'How to Paint Better' 4 weeks starting 21st April 23 at Wootton Bridge Methodist Church Hall, 10 to 12.30pm, £80

'TBC' 4 weeks starting 25th May 23 at Bembridge Village Hall,  10.15 to 12.45, £75

'Drawing & Sketching at St. Blasius Church & Pond' Shanklin, 30th June,      10 to 12.30, £25

'Drawing & Sketching at Shanklin Chine' 7th July, 10 to 12.30, £30 (plus entry fee)

I will be adding more courses and one day en plein air (outdoors) classes soon - watch out for my next blog!  If you would like to join any class please use the blog form before.  One to one classes are also available.

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

Updated New Art Courses - September/October & November 2018

Original Oil Painting by Lee Papworth

I'm really looking forward to teaching the upcoming art courses!  All courses are open medium, so feel free to use any medium - oils, acrylics, watercolour, pastels and pencils etc.

See the list below for September, October and November's courses: 

4 week 'Cliffs, Sand & Sea' (open medium) Starts Friday 21st September 10 to 12.30pm at Northwood W.I. Hall (village hall), Northwood/Cowes, £70

4 week 'Lighthouses & Seascapes' (open medium) Starts Thursday 27th September, 

10 to 12.30pm at Bembridge Village Hall, Bembridge £70

1 Day 'Still life - Limited Palette' (open medium) Friday 2nd November 10.00 to 1.00pm at Northwood Village Hall (W.I. Hall), Northwood/Cowes, £35

4 week 'Painting Expressive Autumn Scenes' Starts Friday 9th November 12.30 to 3pm at Ryde All Saints' Church Hall, Ryde, £70

(Further courses and workshops to be announced)

If you would like to join any of the above art courses or would like further information please contact me via the blog form.  Beginners welcome. One-to-One classes/courses are also available.

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

Painting Cliffs, Sand and Sea - November 2017

Original oil painting by Sue H. 2017

I have just completed a four week painting course on painting cliffs, sand and sea.  Myself and the Learners began by looking at the various colours of cliff faces, sand and seaweed found on the Isle of Wight beaches.  

Each student mixed up their own versions of these colours which included everything from a beautiful magenta coloured seaweed from Ventnor beach to the subtle grey-blue colour of Blue Slipper clay from Lake Dunroamin beach.  

Next we discussed the influences of external elements such as sunlight, rain and wind on cliff faces, sand and sea.  The resulting paintings are excellent and were created by beginners to intermediate artists.  You can see the beautiful paintings below and I have added two paintings which were completed on a painting workshop in Northwood - as they fitted the theme nicely.

Original oil painting by Sue C. 2017

Original oil painting by Laraine 2017

Oil sketch by Meryel 2017 - see painting below

Oil painting by Meryel 2017

Original gouache painting by Jean N. 2017

Original oil painting by Simonne 2017

Original oil painting by Pam 2017

Original acrylic painting by Gaye 2017

Original painting by Sue H. 2017

Original oil painting by Meryel 2017

Original watercolour painting by Irene 2017

Original oil painting by Lolly 2017

Original oil painting by Liz 2017

Original unfinished oil painting by Diana 2017

Original oil painting by Jean 2017

Original oil painting by Simonne 2017

Thank you to everyone who made the course a success including Liz whose work is not shown above. 

Although the standard of all these paintings is high, please remember that some of these artists are beginners and all the artists are still learning.  My point is that if you wish to paint to this standard it is achievable as I will teach you the tools and techniques step by step.  Please do not be nervous or put off as you too can paint like this. You can contact me using the blog form below.

My next blog post will be about my upcoming courses in January 2018.  Private one-to-one classes are available all year round.

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

En Plein Air Paintings 2017

Original watercolour sketch of Shanklin Chine by Lee Papworth 2017

En Plein Air Tastic!

A few weeks ago a group of students and myself visited the Shanklin Chine to do some sketches and watercolour studies.  The course was well attended and very successful.  All students enjoyed the experience of drawing and painting outside.  They enjoyed visiting the Chine (some for the first time).

I personally did some watercolour sketches as well as teaching, helping and guiding the students create their own work.  You can see my sketches below.  For those of you thinking about doing watercolour sketching make sure that no sketch lasts more than ten minutes, if possible try to limit yourself to five to six minutes on each sketch.  This will keep your sketches fresh and not overworked.  Remember these are sketches are not meant to be finished works.  Happy sketching!

   

Original watercolour sketches of Shanklin Chine by Lee Papworth 2017

On sunny days during the spring and summer I often go en plein air painting on the Island.    I take my oil paints, white spirit, brushes and prepared canvas. My first painting was of the War Memorial on Sandown Esplanade with Culver in the distance and the next was of a ramshackled old hut on Lake Beach with the cliffs towering behind.

Unfinished original oil painting of Sandown War Memorial by Lee Papworth 2017

This is me in action!!! (taken by a very helpful holidaymaker)

Unfinished original oil painting of Lake Beach by Lee Papworth 2017

Both of these paintings are unfinished even though I spent just over two hours on both of them.  The main reason is that it is very tiring working in the blazing sunshine or when it rains.  You also use a lot of physical energy and it is mentally tiring because of the quickness of decisions that need to be made plus you are constantly having to converse with the general public who are interested in what you are doing.  

All of these factors add to the enjoyment and excitement of painting outside.  I recommend that everyone paints directly from the source, as observation is king!

In my next blog post I will let you know further details of forthcoming courses in September.  If you wish to know the dates and course details I am delivering please look at the last post.

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

Upcoming Autumn Courses and Painted Gardens

Meryel working on her painting

I have just completed a four week course entitled 'Painted Gardens.' This is the first time I have taught this course for over four years.  The excitement of teaching the course once again was matched by the students truly excellent work.  During the course the students and I looked at the history of painted gardens, mixing different greens, applying texture and surface marks.  The students that attended were a mix of beginners and more experienced artists. Overall I had the pleasure to watch some of the best work emerge from blank canvases in my fifteen years of teaching. The results of which are for you to see below:

Original painting by Meryel 2017

Original painting by Gaye 2017

  

Details of Gaye's painting

Unfinished original painting by Geoff 2017

Original painting by Jean 2017

Original painting by Sue 2017 (her first painting!)

Original painting by Sue 2017

Detail of unfinished original painting by Pam 2017

Detail of unfinished painting by Pam 2017

Original painting by Helen 2017

Original painting by Lolly 2017

Original painting by Lolly 2017

Study by Tere 2017

Thank you to all the students for making the course such a overwhelming success and for allowing me to show their work on my blog.  I would also like to thank Liz whose work is not shown here. 

If you would like to join one of my classes or have one-to-one classes, please contact me using the blog contact form below. 

Here are my upcoming courses for Autumn 2017:

Upcoming Autumn Courses and Workshops 2017

4 Week Painting Course 'Cliffs, Sand & Sea' (open medium)

Starts Friday 20th October 12.30 to 3pm - All Saints' Church Hall, Ryde - £70

4 Week Painting Course 'Evening Landscapes & Night-Skies' (open medium)
Starts Thursday 28th September 10.00 to 12.30pm - Bembridge Village Hall - £70

4 Week Painting Course 'Shanklin Chine & Other Island Scenes' (open medium)
Starts Friday 22nd September 10.00 to 12.30pm - Northwood W.I. Hall - £70

Gallery Visit/Talk 'Southampton City Art Gallery' (talk approx. 1.5 hours)
Friday 3rd November, meet at 9.45am at Red Jet Ferry (to depart at 10.15am) - £40
(You will need to buy ferry tickets, but bus to gallery is free and gallery admission is free)

More one day workshops will be available as the term progresses and these will appear on my blog.  One to one sessions are still available over the summer period.

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨