Art East Anglia
Art East Anglia provide weekend workshops and courses in Norfolk. Our courses explore subjects such as portrait painting, oil painting, Plein Air landscape and drawing. We run regular art classes, short painting courses and workshops with internationally recognised tutors.
Our tutors include Andrew James , Ian Rowlands, Tom Stevenson, Claire Haward ,
Patrick Byrnes, Mark Chen, Anastasia Pollard, Suzon Lagarde, Adele Wagstaff, Julia Hawkins .
Working with the figure,
Painting beyond representation
Suzon Lagarde
11th 12th March 2026 Mixed Media / Paints
Sharing from their personal practice, Suzon will guide you in developing your own creative voice throughout this 2-day workshop. A process combining careful observations with heartfelt and spontaneous marks, overlaying realism and abstraction.
Working with a model on the first day, we'll use our observations as starting points for personal paintings - inviting in emotions and narratives. Playing with a range of techniques which allow us to brainstorm visually, we'll explore how to take painting from life further, transforming observation into something deeply personal and expressive. Those various experiments will help you find what best supports you in taking a painting from initial idea to finished piece.
Suzon’s enthusiasm and guidance create a supportive, inspiring environment where you’ll feel encouraged to take creative risks, explore deeply, and uncover your personal visual signature.
£240 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
All Levels
Themed Portrait Painting Intensive
Julia Hawkins
14th 15th March 2026 Oil Painting
Join us for the weekend dedicated to the art of the themed portrait. This workshop moves beyond simple likeness to help you create narrative artworks that capture character and tell a story.
Over two immersive days, working from a live model, you will explore how to infuse your portraits with meaning and impact. The model will be posed in a manner and dressed in clothing designed to inspire your creativity within the chosen theme.
Workshop Highlights:
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Develop a Theme: Learn to translate an abstract idea and narrative into an interesting dynamic composition.
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Utilize Composition: Master the use of props, pose and costume details to support your theme.
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Work from Life: Enhance your observational skills by painting a subject in real-time.
£310 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
Intermediate/Advanced
Dynamic Pastel Portrait
Mark Chen
2nd 3rd 4th May 2026 3 Days Pastel
Day 1 — Introduction & Shadow Massing Objectives: – understand the course structure & tools – learn to simplify information and see portrait as abstract shapes – become familiar with pastel handling & pressure control Practice: Shadow–shape exercises using limited colours (approx. 1–2hrs / 3–5 quick studies) We focus on abstraction: reducing the head into big value masses before thinking in details.
Day 2 — Head Structure & Background Integration Objectives: – learn structural thinking for head & features – develop value hierarchy and shape design – practice relationship between figure & environment Practice: Block–in portrait with emphasis on planes and major value masses. Use the background in a similar way as Day 1 abstraction exercise — as an active shape.
Day 3 — Composition, Expression & Painterly Mark Making Objectives: – understand how composition emerges from abstract shapes – explore expressive mark–making as a language – experiment with different approaches to describing form
£340 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
Intermediate/Advanced
Still life – a contemporary approach
Ian Rowlands
16th 17th May 2026 Oil Painting
Still life – a contemporary approach
A two day workshop that focuses on still life but with a contemporary spin, aiming to build confidence and fluency in painting from objects. We will avoid the standard and often contrived subject matter; flowers, fruit, vegetables in favour of more ordinary, everyday objects. Making the ordinary extraordinary.
Students may wish to bring their own objects to create a narrative in their paintings which may represent a kind of self portrait. We want to see every square inch of the painting containing an object or an interesting negative space which is as prized as the objects themselves.
£260 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
Intermediate/Advanced
Portrait Painting Masterclass with Demonstrations
Anastasia Pollard RP Oil Painting
20th, 21st, 22nd June 2026 3 Days
A three day portrait painting Masterclass where we will work on one portrait from start to finish through a highly structured approach. The focus will be on how to achieve likeness through drawing with paint, careful observation of the flow of light and how it reveals form and precision with colour mixing. There will be both demonstrations of both portrait painting and colour mixing.
£330 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
Intermediate/Advanced
Intermediate/Advanced
Plein Air Painting
Maria Rose Plein Air Painting
8th, 9th, 10th July 2026 3 Days
Join Maria Rose ROI for three days of ‘plein air’ painting, capturing the North Norfolk coast in a fresh and immediate way, in oils or acrylics. Maria will introduce the fundamentals of plein air painting, helping you to simplify the process of working outdoors from life. We will be exploring our locations with multiple short painting sessions on small panels, responding quickly and intuitively to changing subject matter and looking at how colour theory can help us to react more instinctively to create lively and fresh landscape paintings responding directly to nature.
£320 Morston, Brancaster
Intermediate/Advanced
Life Painting in Oils
Adele Wagstaff Oil Painting
4th, 5th, 6th July 2026 3 Days
This course will cover all aspects of making a well composed painting of the nude, from drawing to setting up, colour-mixing, and exploring how tone and colour temperature can be explored to describe the structure, shape, form and anatomy of the human body.
During the three-day course you will have the opportunity to work on two oil studies; our first model will hold a one-day pose as we will explore a limited palette, and our second model will hold a sustained pose through days two and three to allow for a more considered study of the human figure.
While mixing and laying-out a palette, we will introduce and discuss basic colour theory. There will be one-to-one tuition throughout the three days, alongside opportunities for group feedback as we look at how all the paintings are progressing, and the course will end with a group discussion as we look at each others’ work.
£310 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
Still Life Painting in Oils
Clare Haward
22nd 23rd 24th August 2026 3 Days
Between Observation and Memory
In this three day workshop, students will begin with close observational studies of a still life set up. Time will be spent considering the composition, exploring colour relationships and paying attention to form, tone, temperature, line and shadow. We will make tonal and coloured sketches in oil. We will look at the compositional idea of the 'notan', colour mixing and paint application, as well as consider scale and viewpoint.
Students will move on to recreating these compositions from memory, creating simple distillations or wild reinventions. Decisions will have to be made regarding colour, composition and gesture, and memory will combine with intuition to create imaginative paintings rooted in the observed world.
£ 280 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
Intermediate/Advanced
3 Day Portrait Painting Intensive
Charlie Pickard
5th 6th 7th September 2026
A three-day workshop dedicated to one of the most captivating challenges in art: the portrait. This course offers a rare opportunity to work from the live model over multiple extended poses, giving you the time and focus needed to develop a fully realized and expressive likeness.
Throughout the class, you’ll study the structure of the head and face, learning how form is revealed through planes, value, and light. Instruction will emphasize accurate colour mixing, thoughtful colour design, and confident brushwork to bring vitality and clarity to your painting.
Individual feedback and group critiques will support your growth toward greater academic precision and artistic fluency.
Perfect for painters looking to deepen their understanding of portraiture and refine their technical foundation.
£330 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
Intermediate/Advanced
Portrait Painting In Oils
Andrew James
12th 13th September 2026
This intensive portrait painting workshop is for a small group of students, allowing time for personal guidance to develop individual’s skills in accordance to their ability. The course is built around aspects of expressive portraiture. Disciplined observational work will be pursued whilst looking to simultaneously develop the formal qualities of oil paint in order for it to become a more explicitly descriptive medium.
£290 Hindolveston NR20 5DD
