Here’s a scene to warm the cockles of your heart on a cold winter’s day, in Mike Willdridge’s next interactive online painting session with the Watermill. Capture the warmth of an Italian summer’s day, painting along in your own home with Mike.
The Watermill lies in the province of Massa-Carrara, in the Italian region of Tuscany. In the old days, the sea was much nearer to Massa and Carrara, but over the centuries the erosion of the high Apennine mountains has deposited trillions of particles of sandstone on the coasts, putting the cities well inland. This has led to the creation of seaside resorts like Marina di Massa and Marina di Carrara.
Mike’s subject for this online interactive session will be a few bicyclists cruising along on the coast road. Here is the source photo:
Mike says: “This painting focus is on the light effects known as ‘contra jour’ – against the light. The challenge is to paint the warmth of the sunlight (almost in our eyes) using contrasting values and warm and cool colours.”
Mike would like you to make your online drawing before his session starts. (See below for details of what you will receive when you register for a Watermill interactive online session.)
Unlike many online painting tutors, Mike will not expect you to ‘look over their shoulders’ for a long demonstration, and perhaps be allowed to ask the odd question or two. No, you will be painting along at more or less the same time, trying out, step-by-step what they have shown you. Your tutor will demonstrate a tip or technique for only a few minutes before you start painting the same subject at home. Then, after you have had your turn, they will move on to the next part of the process. Lois Breckon will be on hand to feed your questions. The session will last two or three hours.
Mike Willdridge is very experienced in a variety of painting and drawing media as well as printmaking. After many years teaching adults in Devon, he now lives and works in West Dorset in the West of England
He is an energetic and enthusiastic teacher who encourages his students to be bold and take chances. He is particularly keen on all forms of drawing and constantly uses a sketchbook. These days, however, he restricts his teaching to an annual visit to the Watermill, demonstrations to local art groups and, more recently, online sessions in conjunction with the Watermill.
25 January 2024 ● Mike Willdridge
Seaside Massa-Carrara, Italy, with bicycles
‘Contra jour.’ Capturing the warmth of the sunlight.
Start time: 6 pm Florence, Italy; 5 pm London, UK (Greenwich Mean Time); Noon from Maine to Florida, USA; 10 am Denver (Mountain Time Zone) USA; 9 am from Los Angeles to Seattle, USA
To learn more and to register, please click here.
When you have registered, you will be provided with two links. The first is the Zoom link for you to join the session. Please double check the start time in your own time zone.
The second link is where you can download a source photograph of the scene that your tutor has chosen for you, his practice painting to show you where you are heading, a simple line drawing, and a list of materials (including paper, paint and brushes) that he suggests you may need for the session.
After the event, you are invited to add your painting to the gallery and to view paintings by fellow students. Randy or Mike will give a short critique of every painting that is posted within seven days of the end of the session. We will also send you a link to an edited video within 48 hours of the end of the session, which will enable to you revisit the tutor’s step-by-step teaching.
When you have painted with Mike online, why not join him for real at the Watermill in Tuscany Italy next summer? We would love to welcome you here. You can find more details of Mike’s week-long course, which runs from 7-14 September 2024, by clicking here.
(Mike’s course is almost fully booked, but we do have space for couples or friends sharing in our Vasari and Lippi suites.)
Mike Willdridge
7 – 14 September 2024
Watercolour and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.