ONLINE: DAVID CURTIS;
Expressive brush strokes in Oils

Join David, from the comfort of your own home whilst we watch the landscape of St. Abbs being painted in Oils from David’s preliminary watercolour painting and sketches.

This event has now passed. We will be releasing the recorded version before Christmas 2023.

For this online painting demonstration, David Curtis will paint the subject in a 3 hour painting demonstration and talk.

MEDIUM: OILS

SKILL LEVEL: ALL LEVELS

DURATION: 3 HOURS

This video will be available to re-watch at your leisure until 2nd December 2025.

Photo reference: We will email you David’s reference image of St Abb’s in watercolours. If you need us to re-send this to you, please contact us.

Materials list: We will email you David’s materials list. If you need us to re-send this to you, please contact us.

In this 3-hour livestream, David will be demonstrating in Oils using his watercolour reference of St. Abbs where David visited recently. We will share with you the full reference image that David will be working from. David explains, “This is a reasonably complex image, but I am going to simplify it in Oils for you. It won’t be a copy of this watercolour, it will be bravura, energetic and sparky - and I hope it will be confidence booster for you. It’s the perfect image for me to talk around. It will be blocks, shapes, triangles. It would be less effective if this image wasn’t so profound and exciting; you might start to find it less convincing if this wasn’t the case. It is a punchy subject which will allow me to use expressive brush work - The Brave and Bold treatment of Oils”.

David likes to transfer the fluidity of the watercolour medium to the solidity of oils. David likes to demonstrate in this way looking at the drawing, tonal values and structure and composition. “I will use the wet into wet washes from watercolour and show you how that transmits to oils. The blocky approach will glean some of the detail but keeping it lively and loose in a shorter time scale than the watercolour will take. This is a carefully constructed piece within which I think you need a particularly successful compositional value. We will look at composition, colour and tone, there’s so much to explore and enjoy”.

More about David Curtis;

David Curtis is one of the UK’s best-known painters, with a number of prestigious art awards. His work is widely exhibited and is also published as fine-art cards and prints. He is the author of the bestselling Light and Mood in Watercolours and Capturing the Moment in Oils.

Essentially a ‘plein air’ and figurative painter, working in both oils and waterclours, he observes transient lighting conditions and effects of atmosphere in his compositions.  David is the author of ‘A Light Touch, the Landscape in Oils’ and ‘The Landscape in Watercolour – A Personal View’ both published by David & Charles.  Two APV films of the same titles are on video format and form part of a television series. A third APV video ‘Light Effects in Watercolour’ was released in October ’97, and a fourth film – ‘Light in the Landscape’ was released in November 2003. David is also featured on a TV series – Connecticut Coast to Coast, USA ’96 broadcasting.  A third book and a fifth film, both entitled ‘Light and Mood in Watercolour’ were published by Pavilion Books and APV Films respectively during 2005.  A fourth book ‘Capture the Moment in Oils’ was published in 2007, with a film of the same title by APV Films.  A fifth book on both oils and watercolours and seventh film by APV Films, both titled ‘Painting with Impact’, were produced in 2010.  A sixth book and eighth film, both on ‘plein air’ works in oils and watercolours, entitled ‘Painting on Location’ from Pavilion Books and APV Films were produced in 2013.

To learn more about David click here.

Some feedback…

  • Fantastic. I caught david’s last hour and I look forward to the entire video when it is ready. Just to repeat: David Curtis really kept me in the game of painting outdoors, even before we all started calling it painting en plein air. Another Brit would be Trevor Chamberlain. There just weren’t many how-to books out there at that time and I found both of them at the perfect time. So watching David work his painting live was a meaningful experience for me. I don’t think I’d still be at this crazy thing we call painting en plein air without him. (And a few others as well.)

    Thomas

  • Hi Symi Thank you so much for organising this live stream event, hosted by David. Having read all of David’s books, admired his work and even bought several of his paintings, it added a new and exciting dimension too see him transform a blank canvas into another stunning painting, and to do so with a detailed commentary and a sprinkling of his warm humour. A really great way to spend 3 hours on a cold and frosty day.

    Adam

  • Last Saturday I had the privilege of watching a livestream painting demo by an artist I have long admired, David Curtis. It was hosted by Symi and filmed by Joe Hawkins. David Curtis is an English artist who has been painting outside since long before we ever thought of doing it and it was a joy to ‘meet’ him and then watch as he painted in real time. I was able to understand his process by seeing his color mixing and how he proceeded through the couple of hours it took to complete the painting. Though I have his books on painting outside, it was so helpful to see him actually working on a painting. Though nothing beats being in Yorkshire and painting there, it was a productive few hours learning from an established British artist in the comfort of my own home. Thank you so much.

    Laura

  • Availed of online 3hr art demo with Workshops in Yorkshire. It was brilliantly organised and superbly well filmed. All in all, Including choice of artist to demonstrate, the experience couldn't have been better, or more valuable!

    Trevor

  • Hi Symi, I thoroughly enjoyed the session with David Curtis today. I thought it worked extremely well with you helping the conversation to flow and Joe’s camera work. Thanks so much for giving us this brilliant opportunity to see David paint live and answer our questions. It was fantastic. Please pass on my thanks to David aswell for such an incredible session and work of art. Very inspiring.

    Julie

  • Hi Symi, That was a great session. Really enjoyed it and look forward to the next one. David is brilliant. Thanks again!

    Eileen