Online Experimental Life Drawing: Subtractive Painting with Oil Paint

Under the guidance of the artist Emma Prothero, these sessions invite you to discover the diverse capabilities of materials at your fingertips. Each month over Zoom, we’ll delve into a new drawing or painting method, exploring new and exciting approaches to life drawing. Working with references from the Draw Patreon artist photo library, shared on the screen during the session, Emma will lead you through a series of exercises which will give you the opportunity to push the boundaries of drawing, experimenting with varied mediums and tools to create innovative and unexpected outcomes - all while discovering what resonates most with you as an artist.

Designed for artists of all levels, these playful and relaxed drawing sessions will help you deepen your understanding of your materials and expand your creative toolkit and embrace the joy of experimentation alongside other sketchers over Zoom on the first Sunday of the month! The session is recorded for the Draw Patreon and you can access the recording by signing up to monthly membership.

What you need to take part

We recommend the following materials - if you don’t have these, you’re welcome to join anyway and try the exercises with materials you do have to hand.

• A selection of surfaces primed with gesso or white acrylic, such as; canvas, canvas board, wood panels, oil painting paper or plastic/metal sheets.
• A palette: options include wood, plastic, tear-off palettes or pots.
• Masking tape or clips.
• Rubber or latex gloves.
• Oil paint: any colour(s) of your choosing, though a darker tone is preferable (if you have one!)
• Paintbrushes of various sizes and types. Preferably bring a bristle brush, a large brush, a small brush & a soft synthetic brush (if you have them!)
• One or more of the following tools: a palette knife, cloth/rags, cotton buds, cotton pads, a silicone colour shaper, a sponge or baby wipes.
• Kitchen roll and dishwashing liquid (for cleaning).

The following materials are optional, but bring them with you if you have them!

• Oil paint mediums: Solvents/ thinners such as Odourless Mineral Spirits, Turpentine & White Spirit. Drying Oils such as Linseed, Safflower, Poppy Oil or Alkyd Mediums.

If you have any questions about the materials you need, just pop us an email on [email protected]. If you don’t have the right materials you’re still welcome to take part with whatever materials you have to hand.

Here is our full list of upcoming themes:
Sun 1st Dec - Subtractive Painting with Oil Paint
Sun 5th Jan - Cutouts & collages
Sun 2nd Feb - Drawing with oil paint
Sun 2nd March - Mono-printing
Sun 6th April - Kitchen lithography
Sun 4th May - Mono-printing with oil pastels
Sun 1st June - Ink & bleach
Sun 6th July – Contour-free drawings
Sun 3rd Aug - Ink wash figures

How to join the session

You can book a place at the session by purchasing a ticket via Eventbrite, but you can also access these sessions and save money by joining our Draw Patreon. The Online Experimental Life Drawing sessions are included in our Student All Access and Life Drawing Tiers, and are also recorded for Patreon supporters to replay and return to at any time. In addition to this, Patreon supporters get tiered access to a wealth of resources including our extensive artist photo reference library, live online life drawing & portrait drawing classes, online recorded courses and much more. You can cancel the monthly membership at any time. For more information and to sign up click HERE.

Before the class

• Before the session, make sure you have a Zoom account and drawing materials for the class

• At the advertised time of the session, set yourself up to draw in front of your device, sign in to Zoom and click on the link in your email to join the class.

After the session

• If you’d like to share your drawings with the rest of the community can post them up on the Draw Community Facebook group HERE

• You can also share your work with us on Instagram, tagging the model, tutor & @draw_brighton or using the #drawbrighton hashtag.

Host or Publisher Draw Brighton