Painting Atmospheric Skies - Acrylic
Bethany Milam is an experienced and enthusiastic teacher and professional artist, working and teaching in a variety of media. She conducts regular classes as well as one-time workshops and demonstrations, both online and in person. Bethany aims to inspire students of all ages and teaches with a growth mindset approach.
Bethany has always had a passion for nature, wildlife, and birdwatching, and she enjoys making observational drawings and paintings of animals, birds, and natural landscapes. She is also a continually curious nature journaler, passionate about exploring and documenting the natural world through art. She enjoys experimenting with both traditional and new, sometimes unusual, materials and techniques.
Bethany has been teaching for 15 years and has a PGCE in Life Long Learning. She conducts regular classes in Oakley and has previously worked with several organisations, including Hampshire Futures (Adult Education), Learning at the Centre (Basingstoke Discovery Centre), Hampshire Learning (Hampshire Libraries), the Adult and Community Learning Partnership (Basingstoke College of Technology), The Hurst Leisure and Learning Centre, and Kingsclere Village Club. Bethany has facilitated a diverse array of workshops for schools, charities like ArtCare, children’s clubs such as the Brownies, adult organisations like the WI, and various art clubs.
Additionally, she has organised a day of workshops focused on mark-making and drawing owls for a commission at Merton Infant School’s entrance hall, as well as leading an altered book project for the North Hampshire Home Education Group. This experience further expanded into teaching a Key Stage 3 art class and a Pre-GCSE art class for the Home Education Group (HEET).
Since 2020, Bethany has embraced online teaching, successfully conducting regular art workshops and short courses that cover various media, including watercolour, coloured pencil, acrylic, and pastel. She also offers tutoring and mentorship to students and fellow artists.
Bethany’s art is more than just beautiful imagery; it’s an expression of the interconnectedness of all living things and a gentle reminder of the preciousness of our natural world. Through her paintings, nature journals, and teaching, she invites viewers to pause, observe, and rediscover the wonder that surrounds us every day.
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This session will provide participants with the essential techniques and insights needed to create breathtaking, realistic, and expressive skies and clouds.
We will begin by selecting and mixing various shades of blue to capture the different tones of the sky. You will learn to create gradients using wet-in-wet blending techniques, which create seamless transitions. We’ll also explore the illusion of depth in your paintings.
Next, we’ll focus on mixing colours for clouds, emphasising that clouds should include more than just pure white. You’ll learn to introduce hints of blue, grey, pink, or yellow, based on the light time of day and weather. We’ll examine the main types of clouds and how to use the scumbling technique to paint them.
Throughout the workshop, you will gain the skills to depict weather through clouds as we paint quick studies of wispy cirrus, fluffy cumulus, and imposing cumulonimbus storm clouds.
You will then follow a step-by-step demonstration to paint a dramatic sunset, exploring various acrylic painting techniques, how to effectively blend colours, and combining the skills learnt previously.
Furthermore, you will gain valuable knowledge about colour theory, perspective, and composition, all of which will significantly enhance your skills for future landscape paintings. Unleash your creativity and take your paintings to new heights!
Materials to bring:-
Full details will be provided in the First Reminder email(normally a month before the event) to those committed to this workshop.
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