Our sketch out days and demonstrations are very popular. The demonstrations are held monthly (except during our exhibition and when we have our AGM) usually on a Thursday evening at the Herne Leisure Centre in Petersfield. The Sketch out days run during the late spring – early autumn season at a variety of locations and we try to accommodate everyone by having some in the mornings, some in the afternoons and some at weekends. All afford members an opportunity to meet and chat and indulge in their art, and are great fun. Below are a selection of images from there most recent event. Visit out members page if this inspires you to find out about joining PACS.
SEPTEMBER 2026 -
Richard Whincop - The South Downs in Oils
Our first demonstration evening post the exhibition saw Richard Whincop (well known to PACS) give a talk on the geological evolution of the south downs and how that influences the way he interprets the landscape when painting it. Starting with an almost undecipherable wash of random colour he then hones the painting with increasing degrees of detail. To illustrate this he worked on a painting from a blank canvas, then worked on a “work in progress” and finally on a painting that was almost finished. Richard uses a critical eye to work on areas of the painting that “don’t look right”. He says the point at which he thinks a painting is finished is “when it stops annoying me”. This was borne out as he applied just a few brushstrokes to a small area of the painting to achieve a pleasing improvement on what was there already. A true pleasure to see a master at work
September 2026 - East Meon
A few images from the last sketchout day of the season. For this session our organiser, Caroline Welch had selected the delightful village of East Meon. Our band of sketchers found a nice shady spot to take in the views.
Sketchout days are member only events so we don’t publicise them on our website in advance. Members can access the details of the programme on our Membership site (Membermojo). Follow the link to the Members home page.
If you have not logged into the membership site before you will find details on how to do it on the Help page
JULY 2026 Alison Butler
Transfer Printing onto Fabric
Alison is a PACS member and no stranger to giving demonstrations. She is also running a workshop in November, places for which will be going on sale mid August.
Alison has a background in textile design. And during this demonstration of transfer printing onto fabric she showed that the possibilities are almost endless. She started by applying special dyes to paper and showed how using a simple heated press the image was transferred onto the fabric. Not only once but the paper “master” can be used several times, the intensity of the image getting weaker with each pressing. She then showed how using templates made from natural pressed dried plant petals and leaves, or paper, can be used to create more interesting designs. This is the essence of the workshop she will be running in November.
This was the last demo before our summer exhibition. The next demo will be in September 12th, Richard Whincop – South Downs scene in oils.
The May workshop was Julia Cassels demonstrating her talents with using watercolour to capture movement in wildlife. Julia has travelled widely to find her subjects and at our demo she focussed on a group of ostriches. The final painting is a the end of this section, and was a challenge to get that far in the time.
Julia laid down the background using plenty of water and pigment, moving the board to allow the colour to flow across the paper to create a graduated effect. While that dried she demonstrated some exercises to work more loosely, and then after the break she returned to the ostrich painting to add the feathers of the adult bird and drop in the chicks. Then delicate application of darker tones to achieve shadows It was amazing how it all came together.
Above :-Julia in action and some of her books
APRIL 2026 - SKETCH IN WITH SONYA VINE
Our demo night in April was led by Sonya Vine who guided a group of members through the art of sketching. It was a lot of fun and we learnt lots from Sonya about loosening up in our approach when sketching
portraits. Special thanks to those members who offerd to be models for the evening.
If you have enjoyed scrolling through our events, why not find out more about becoming a member here. These events are free to members.
Sketchout days are restricted to PACS members only and take place in stunning locations like this.
View the Sketchout Programme here.