Essential Art Vocabulary

International Women's Day - Annie's story, art pioneer (subtitled video)

Friday 30 March 2018

Week 9 our final session of term

This was our last session of the term. Congratulations to all for your wonderful work during the term.

Next term the course will be 11 weeks to make up for the lost session this term due to the snow. Meanwhile, although a much reduced group tonight for a variety of reasons, below are the paintings which show remarkable progress and achievement.

If anyone from the group develops their paintings further and wants to share them with the group please send them to the tutor by email and he will add them to the blog for you.

Term Three 19th April 7pm-9pm
Next term, for those returning and for new learners attending for the first time, we will spend the first 4-5 weeks learning or refreshing our knowledge, confidence and skills on key basic skills:


  1. Understanding and using composition to improve our design skills, and look at artists examples.
  2. Understanding and using shape and form using drawing to develop our seeing ability, and look at artists examples. 
  3. Using colour in different mediums (oils, watercolour, soft pastels and oil pastels) to develop our understanding of making colour through mixing, handling paint, loading a brush, and preparing the surface for the medium, and look at artists examples. 
  4. Bringing this all together in a still life, and look at artists examples.
  5. The following 5-6 weeks we will work to a theme but you choose an artist's style and a subject that inspires you to incorporate into your own project.

Now enjoy the paintings from tonight's session!









Saturday 17 March 2018

Week 7. Continued excellent progress/how to continue next term

Week 7 - only two further sessions to complete our projects and the term. Then a short two-week break for Easter. The new term starts on Thursday, 19th April. All current learners can continue next term. To rejoin/continue you simply call Bensham and quote course code PBG0934 and or title and the evening it runs and say you want to continue/enrol. Or you can do it online click HERE to go to the web page.

If you know someone else who would be interested in this type of course please pass the information above on to them, or encourage them to go online and browse the prospectus, thanks.

But back to this term! See our progress in the images below:










Thursday 15 March 2018

Important Dates


  • This term's last class is 29th March.
  • Next term, term 3, starts on 19th April. Next term will be 11 weeks long not 10 weeks. The is to make up for the class we missed due to the snow in term 2.
  • Deadline for submission of nominations for the learningSkills 2018 awards is Thursday, 24th May.

Friday 9 March 2018

Week 6: brilliant work

We are in week six now and paintings and ideas are maturing very nicely as are the studies being produced as we head towards the final quarter of our term. Look closely - it's really worth it - as the edges and details show creativity, ingenuity, real achievement and progress.










Thursday 1 March 2018

New work added

See Yvonne's studies which have been added to the post from our previous session (23 February). As we had to cancel this week (today) due to the weather, if anyone from the group has work they want added to this blog just email them to Bernard and he will add them to the site.