Life Drawing: The Figure in Colour (Spring 2026 Term)

Weekly: Wednesdays 10am-1pm

Dates:

You may choose to take this course as a 5-week or 10-week course.

First booking block
14^th, 21st and 28^th January
4^th, 11^th, February

Second booking block
25^th February
4^th, 11^th, 18^th, 25^th March

This course focuses on depicting the figure in colour. Working mainly in watercolour, you’ll gain confidence with handling the unique qualities of watercolour and develop a practical understanding of colour theory. A variety of approaches will be covered, ranging from gestural and experimental to a more representational and considered style.

Participants will work from easels with a life model present for all sessions.

Who’s this course for?

• Intermediate learners with some life drawing experience
• Advanced, proficient learners with regular practice

A little general experience with watercolours will be useful but is not essential.

What you’ll explore:

• Observational drawing skills
• Tonal studies
• Wet-in-wet gestural studies
• Depicting hard and soft-edged shadow.
• Painting quickly with 3 consistencies of paint
• Mixing flesh tones from the primaries
• Long studies, observing colours in different skin tones

Learnings you’ll walk away with:

• Objective observational methods to draw proportionate figures
• An understanding of how to plan and logically structure your approach to painting
• Improved control of watercolour, using wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry methods
• Mixing flesh-tones from the primary colours
• Learning to see subtle colour biases within skin tones
• Refining your own creative response and approach

Materials and supplies required:

• A range of pencils: e.g. H, HB, B, 2B, 4B and a pencil sharpener
• Bulldog clips
• Masking tape
• Putty rubber
• A2 drawing paper pad
• Minimum of 2 coloured pencils
• Approx 6 sheets of A2 tracing paper
• 10 plus sheets of good quality A2 cold-pressed (also known as NOT surface) watercolour paper*
• Palette with large wells (can be plastic) or a few mini jam jars with lids
• Minimum of 3 watercolour brushes: Emily recommends one larger wash brush (round or flat)
• One round headed brush between size 5 and 8 and one finer brush under size 5
• Watercolour paints (2 reds, 2 blues, and 2 yellows): Suggested cadmium red, alizarin crimson or permanent rose, Winsor lemon or lemon or aureolin, cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, Winsor green blue shade or viridian
• Optional extras: Winsor blue green shade.

The Winsor and Newton Cotman pocket set should have the basic colours you need. Either tubes or blocks of paint are suitable.

* Good quality watercolour paper makes all the difference to your painting. It is very difficult to produce a good painting on bad paper. If possible, avoid papers made from cellulose (particularly Cass Art’s own brand). Emily recommends Bockingford and Saunders Waterford, although the latter is very expensive and there are other good brands. Watercolour paper comes in different weights. The heavier the paper, the less buckling from water there will be, but heavier paper is also more expensive. Emily is happy to advise about paper at the first session, with sensitivity to each person’s budget. If budgets are tight, 3 good quality sheets of watercolour paper and several sheets of cheaper watercolour paper would suffice.

What to bring to the first class:
Paints won’t be required for the first session. Please bring cartridge paper pad, 1 sheet of watercolour paper, a sheet of tracing paper, pencils, eraser, bulldog clips to the first session.

What to wear:
An apron for painting sessions or clothing you don’t mind getting watercolour paint on. Most watercolours will wash out of clothing. Please dress in layers as the room can get very warm, as we heat it for the life model.

About the tutor:
Emily Burton holds a BA in Graphic Design, specialising in illustration, and an MA in Drawing. With nearly twenty years’ experience teaching a wide range of art courses, she brings both expertise and enthusiasm to her classes.

Emily enjoys working with adults of all levels, valuing the humour, life experience and curiosity they bring. Her teaching is clear and structured, yet responsive to the needs and individuality of each student. She aims to create a supportive environment that nurtures confidence while also challenging those with more experience.

In both her teaching and personal practice, Emily encourages rigorous observation and creative experimentation.

Testimonials
‘Emily’s teaching is 100% based on an excellent understanding of how the body works and looks from the inside out – skeleton, muscles, movement, shape of the skull and facial features, etc., all of which is taught in a non academic, but thorough way as we go along. It has been my experience that I didn’t really learn how to draw either the body, or the face, without this underlying information. The classes are relaxed, progression at our own pace, with more drawing than talking and with plenty of laughter along with the learning’. –Dafna G

‘The course was very well planned and run, with clear info about the intention of the exercises. The tutor also gave very detailed and relevant background information about anatomy . She was very attentive to individual class members’ needs as well as the class dynamic. Overall the impression was that of a highly experienced teacher with a lively interest in her subject’. –Susan F