9 September – 16 September 2018

Artist Jon Schwochert will lead a landscape drawing and painting course in the historic region of Lot, southern France. The course will cover techniques and theory in plein-air landscape sketching and oil painting, while exploring the history and culture of the surrounding area.

The week will include excursions to the Pech Merle 30,000 year old cave paintings, the medieval town of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail, a local market and cafés and the Lot River.

Accommodation is at Cote Grange Puyjourdes, a recently converted farm courtyard featuring old stone walls, handcrafted windows, handcrafted stairs and balconies are juxtaposed with white linen, new modern showers, and Parisian textiles and surround sound.

​Sunday 9 September
- Pick up from Toulouse Airport and check in at Cote Grange
- Dinner and introductions
 
Monday 10 September
- Morning: Demonstration of landscape sketching and drawing techniques followed by sketching at Cote Grange
- Lunch at Cote Grange
- Afternoon: Demonstration of plein-air landscape painting techniques, logistics and theory at Cote Grange followed by a grisaille painting
- Supper at Cote Grange

Tuesday 11 September
- Morning: Demonstration followed by landscape painting at Saint Cirq Lapopie
- Lunch on an island in the River Lot.   Local chef Penny will prepare lunch for you in her potagé on her picnic table under willow trees.
- Afternoon: Continue painting at Saint-Cirq-Lapopie or along the river.
- Late afternoon:  Tour of and discussion of the 30,000 year old cave paintings at Pech Merle.
- Supper at Cote Grange
 
Wednesday 12 September
- Morning:  Optional excursion to Cahors market with Emma from Cote Grange, Puyjourdes.
- Late Lunch at Cote Grange
- Afternoon:  Plein-air painting at Cote Grange
- Supper at Cote Grange
 
Thursday 13 September
- Morning: Excursion to a local farm.  Sketching and demonstration
- Lunch:  Picnic lunch.
- Supper at Cote Grange
 
Friday 14 September
- Morning: Visit to Marcilhac sur Celé on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail, landscape sketching and painting
- Picnic lunch
- Afternoon: Demonstration followed by landscape painting and sketching.
- Supper at Cote Grange
 
Saturday 15 September
- Morning: Demonstration and landscape painting at Cote Grange
- Lunch at Cote Grange
- Afternoon: Landscape painting at Cote Grange
- Dinner in a restaurant in the local market town of Cajarc (not included in the total price).
 
Sunday 16 September
- Depart Cote Grange for Toulouse Airport

Jon Schwochert studied at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, before moving to London. He quickly became disheartened by the lack of technical training in the University system. Jon left university to train in traditional techniques and media at London Fine Art Studios. He completed his MA in Illustration at the University of Hertfordshire in 2015 where he received a distinction for his thesis. 

His drawings and paintings have been commissioned for video games, comic books, medical illustration, advertisements and editorial illustration. He has been published by Nintendo, The Artist Magazine, Self Made Hero, Rising Sun Comics, Manifesto Press and in many smaller publications. He has been a resident artist at the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Central School of Ballet in London.
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Currently Jon is based in London taking commissions and teaching at HuangHuai University, China several months of the year. 

​Cote Grange Puyjourdes is set in profound rural south west France, in a regional park in the Lot, and has panoramic views of kilometers of woodland. The buildings are created out of an old stone farm, recently renovated using natural materials.  Handcrafted windows, handcrafted stairs and balconies are juxtaposed with white linen, modern showers, Parisian textiles and surround sound.  The gardens cascade and are subdivided by old stone walls and in them you will find a 15 meter long swimming pool, table tennis, table and chairs and benches, wells and a water fall creating karma for rest, rejuvenation and creative thinking.

​- Artists will be required to book their own travel to Toulouse Airport
- The course is centred on plein-air landscape painting and will therefore require artists to be able to walk and carry their equipment for moderate distances
- Artists will be required to bring the majority of their materials
- Artists are recommended to book travel insurance and/or carry a European Health Insurance Card

Provided:
- Easels
- White spirit (banned on flights)
- Sketchbook
- Canvas boards

Not Provided:
- Palette
- Brushes (recommended mostly flats or filberts ranging from size 4-8, a couple of large brushes and one small brush or pointed round)
- Oil paints (Jon will be teaching to the following palette: titanium white, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium red, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, viridian, burnt umber)
- Linseed Oil
- Paper towels and cloth rags
- Palette knife
- Palette cups
- Sketching materials (pencils, pens and erasers)
- Umbrella and clothing for inclement weather
 
Optional:
- Cobalt dryer
- Extended palette
- Additional canvases

Costs include accommodation (7 nights), meals and regional wine, above mentioned materials, tuition and transport for excursions.
 
Costs do not include flights, mentioned materials or other expenses and the optional final night out at a restaurant.
 
Payable by 50% on reservation to secure your place and 50% three months in advance of the course.
 
Please note that if you cancel less than three months before the course commences you will forfeit your entire fee. You are therefore advised to take out travel insurance to cover events outside of your control that may result in your not being able to attend the course. Cancellations before then will be entitled to a refund minus a £100 admin fee.
 
Cost: £1400
 
For further information or to book, please email

In realistic drawing we seek to give the viewer the illusion of a three dimensional composition through light and dark. This illusion is also called chiaroscuro. The first step in this process is being able to see light and dark accurately. This is the first of two exercises I recommend to gain a basic understanding of light.

This exercise can be done in paint or charcoal. You’ll need:

Fabriano Ingres paper or thick textured drawing paper

Willow Charcoal

A Chamois

- or –

A canvas board

Black or burnt umber paint

Brushes and palette

Tissue

Turpanoid or white spirit

I recommend drawing from objects which are white or monochromatic. This means you won’t have the additional challenge of reducing colour information to black and white.
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Here’s the style of composition I recommend beginning with. Start with a black background and white objects. Use a single, direct light source and block out any additional light sources in the room with boards or a box. There’s nothing incorrect about multiple light sources, but they can add confusion to this exercise. Having a studio is always helpful, but as you can see it's possible to do at home.

​Try using a simple drawing system like the enveloping or ‘Encajar’ system that was popularised in Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This example is from Charles Bargue’s lessons for students attempting to gain entry to the Ecole de Beaux Arts de Paris. 

​Here’s an example I’ve set up. I start by drawing a box that contains all objects in the composition. Check the proportion of the height against the width. Then draw lines cutting out the negative space and marking mid points of composition. Remember to look at the whole composition rather than drawing object by object.

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​Here’s another two examples. Next, draw the lines of the shadow shapes. For this exercise we will be drawing solely in two tones so ignore the fourth stage. It will be covered in Part 2. In order to reduce all of the nuanced tones to black or white, squint when you look at your subject. This will simplify the tones and push middle tones to either dark or light. 

​Be careful when approaching the reflected lights. Reflected lights are almost always still a dark. If you make them too light, it will flatten the image and you will lose the illusion of chiaroscuro.

​Finally colour in the dark areas using the side of a one inch piece of willow charcoal. At this point we are only drawing shapes of light and dark. So if you have an area of shadow on an object next to a dark background, there is no need to colour up to the edges of the object. Draw over your lines since the whole area is in shadow. The below example shows the direction your charcoal should move.

Throughout your drawing, correct any proportional errors you find. Every time you put down new information is a chance to asses what’s already on the page. Don’t be discouraged if you see a number of errors once you colour in the darks. This is normal and is one of the best moments to correct your drawing.

Spend 20-30 minutes per drawing and repeat the process over and over again with different compositions. Seeing light and dark is learned through repetition. Think of this exercise the same way a musician practices scales or boxer punches focus mitts.

When you feel ready try more complex objects and backgrounds like the composition above. Don’t be intimidated by any subject. Everything can be reduced to light and dark.

I run classes on site and online, for more information please contact me.

​My Foundation students continued studying colour. After their long three hour paintings last week, I had them attempt four 30 minute paintings. See my above examples. There was a huge improvement in the energy of the classroom. My students stepped up to the challenge and the development from their first to last painting was obvious. 

Here’s the incredible work from my student Sophie Williams. Throughout the term I have been greatly impressed by her ability to learn quickly and willingness to take risks. This painting is a great example of her understanding of painting with mass, material handling and colour.

My Anatomy class finished their long project today. I think more than anything they learned just how much there is to learn. Many of my students want to do another term dissecting the figure. 

The term is flying by an we've already moved on to colour! This week I had my Foundation students work with a limited palette. Every term students can't wait to get to colour. But when they do, they are shocked by how much more they really have to learn before they will understand it.

My Anatomy students continued with muscles of the torso this week and will be moving onto muscles of the arms next week.

My Foundation class moved on to oil paint this week. I haven’t oil painted in three years and didn’t realise how much I missed it until I put my brush against the canvas. Here’s my first painting of the day.
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My anatomy students moved on to muscles this week – and they thought the skeleton was hard. Ha!

A couple of quick oil paintings from my last term at Lavender Hill Studios. I'll probably fit in a second sketch on the figure painting.

I'll be exhibiting for both weekends and will be present on the 6th and 13th giving painting demonstrations.