My First Workshop Teaching Seascapes In Soft Pastel

I've been painting full time with soft pastels for almost a decade, and working as a professional artist for 8 years, and in that time I've painted well over a hundred or more seascapes. I've loved every single one, and they always sell - people love a seascape to hang in their home! And why not - it brings one of the most evocative spaces in nature right into your own home. But I always get asked the same question; 'do you teach?'. And honestly, I never felt brave enough. One of the biggest problems most artist suffer from is imposter syndrome - the 'I'm not actually that good' feeling, and I certainly don't have a string of teaching qualifications behind my name - so how could I justify teaching?

But over time, that perception gradually began to change. I have attended several workshops myself over the years and came to realise a good teacher isn't necessarily adorned with a multitude of qualifications - actually the best teachers are the ones who teach because they're passionate about what they do, and they want to share some of that love, and some of that knowledge, some of their learnings (the good things to strive for, and the pitfalls to avoid!), with other people who want to learn.

So I decided it was finally time to start imparting some of that knowledge and experience I've culminated over the last decade.

I have kept my workshops small, to keep it intimate, casual, and allow me plenty of bandwidth to give my students lots of my focus and attention. I have also kept workshops in my studio, in Bristol - this way I can show what a working studio looks and feels like, in a comfortable and familiar setting. I provided one of my own reference photos, because that way the students don't have to worry about bringing their own images in, and we can all work to the same image using the same methodology. And I provided all the materials - specifically premium brand soft pastels (we used Unison Colour) and premium pastel specific paper (I had them using Uart paper). This way no student had to spend extra money buying expensive art supplies they may never use again (although I'd like to think I can help them fall in love with my favourite medium during my teachings).

I'm eternally grateful I decided to start teaching as my first workshop was an absolute joy to teach. My students were from diverse backgrounds, with differing levels of experience (beginner to experienced), and each student brought with them such a fantastic energy and focus! I split the 6 hour workshop across 2 days, to make it less exhausting (6 continuous hours of learning to paint in a new medium is VERY exhausting!), and over that duration I taught by carrying out 2 x 45 minute demonstrations and talking the class through step by step how to build up the layers of colour. Then it was the students' turn to work on their own piece, and I would work with each student, making sure they were comfortable with how they were applying the pastel, how to blend, correct mistakes etc. 

I'm so proud of all the students and the terrific paintings they all produced in just 6 hours. We specifically focused on creating the light (or glow) in a backlit wave, how to build up layers of multiple colours, and how to add sea spray, to touch on just a few areas - it was a lot of course content but the paintings they produced were absolutely brilliant.

All my 2025 workshops are now fully booked but I shall be setting up more workshops in 2026. Sign up here to be notified about 2026 workshops