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Capture your life and the world around you
Facilitator: Jo Beal
Boost your creative habit with Jo’s Further Adventures in Art Journaling weekend drawing retreat. The focus will be on drawing, growing your enjoyment in drawing and using it to creatively reflect and capture your life and the world around you. You’ll gain new skills and have fun along the way, all set with our beautiful grounds! Suitable for all.
Event time: Fri 23rd Feb 2024 at 4:00pm - Sun 25th Feb 2024 at 4:00pm
- Build confidence in and enjoy your drawing
- Use your drawing to creatively reflect on and capture your life and the world around you
- Explore a range of creative approaches to making a journal page
- Try out drawing and creative lettering techniques
- Suitable for beginners and anyone wanting to boost their drawing and creativity
What You Will Gain
- Discover an amazing creative habit
- Gain confidence in your drawing
- Develop observational drawing skills
- New ideas for creating personal and thoughtful journal pages
- Have fun along the way!
The Weekend
Starting on Friday evening you’ll begin your Adventures in Art Journaling drawing retreat with an introduction from Jo, and then get relaxed and focus for a weekend of drawing and creative discovery with a colourful and fun warm-up exercise.
Throughout the weekend you’ll explore a range of creative approaches or different ways to make journal pages including maps and mapping to reflect on and capture a walk or journey, breaking things down to visually tell the story of a place or location and drawing what you love! We’ll take inspiration from Hawkwood itself, inside and out, favourite and found objects and from moments experienced during the weekend.
Jo will come with masses of examples, step by step guidance and demonstrations to inspire and support you throughout the weekend. There’ll be plenty of time for you to create your own amazing journal pages each day.
With fun warm-up activities, drawing techniques and tips to build observation skills, themed drawing sessions and ideas for using creative lettering, by the end of Sunday you’ll be thinking of all kinds of creative ways to draw and capture moments in your journal!
Bring any sketchbooks or current journals to share and show others, if you’d like to. Jo will bring all her ‘drawing diaries’ and sketchbooks along with books that she’s gained inspiration from over recent years to share with you.
This retreat is suitable for beginners or anyone wanting to boost their drawing skills or creativity.
Hawkwood
Hawkwood is a stunning Grade II listed 19th Century country house, surrounded by 42 acres of sustainably managed woodland, farmland, and gardens. Set in the heart of the Cotswolds – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – it is a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. With a diverse selection of nearly 150 courses, there’s plenty to choose from, including courses in transformative leadership, future thinking, inner life, music and the arts. Our programme of courses is led by experienced tutors and leaders in their fields.
What Is Included
Both residential and non-residential rates are available. Residential options are fully inclusive with all meals provided. Non-residential options include suppers, lunches and all refreshments and exclude B&B.
Additional Activities
Mindful walking through our woodland trails
Meditate in our Woodland Sanctuary
Go on a hike and explore the Cotswolds AONB
Discover surrounding charming market towns
Materials List
For this art journaling course, you’re encouraged to use what you have to hand at home.
Use whatever you may have, from biros (different colours) to felt tip pens (a range of nib sizes if you have them), pencil crayons and fountain pens, as you’ll experiment using different types of tools.
Pens/Pencils
- Derwent fine–liner pens – a set with a range of sizes from 0.05 to 0.8
- Any rollerball pens
- Coloured pencils – I like Derwent watercolour pencils and Derwent Coloursoft pencils but any that you have will be fine. Don’t splash out. You can buy cheap sets in the £ shops
- Felt tip pens – from kid’s sets – £1 from Wilko/Poundland to a set of coloured Sharpies
- Fluorescent markers are fun to use but not essential
- Biros in a range of colours – green, red, blue, black or any other colours
- Fountain pen – I use one with black ink cartridges of soluble ink
- I like using a dip pen too, with Indian ink, which is water resistant – but this isn’t essential
- A range of pencils and pencil sharpener, if you have one
Sketchbook/Notebook/Journal
Jo uses a range of sketchbooks in a range of sizes, including a Drawing Diary which is an actual diary, with one day per page and lined paper. But for the workshop, we recommend bringing a simple, cheap workbook, preferably A4 in size (8.5 x 11”, 210 x 300cm) with blank pages.
Price Options
£255 Earlybird Non-Residential
£314 Earlybird Residential Shared
£357 Earlybird Residential Single
£300 Non-Residential
£370 Residential Shared
£420 Residential Single
Please use the form below to register your interest in the course or event
Practical Information
Arrival and registration with tea 4.00 pm; course starts with supper at 6.30 pm. The course ends on Sunday with afternoon tea at 4.00 pm.
Please bring materials on the list.
Bring outdoor clothing and footwear to enjoy the beautiful gardens and woodlands.
Jo Beal
Jo is a Wiltshire based artist working from her loft studio or out in the countryside. In 2015 she purposefully reconnected with her own creative interests, primarily through drawing. She loves to draw from observation and to reflect on and capture her daily life through her Drawing Diaries. She runs workshops in a range of settings, helping others to draw through building confidence, teaching new skills and techniques and encouraging a personal exploration and enjoyment of drawing. In contrast she makes carefully observed botanical studies, seeking to capture and emphasise colour, texture and shape. Jo trained at Chelsea School of Art achieving a BA (Hons) Public Art/Art for Architecture.
Visit Tutor's WebsiteTestimonials
"Really enjoyable sessions. I like the warm-up activities and flow of the course content."
" I never thought I could draw so that has been an amazing experience. Very good, careful, slow explanations of things. Lots of ideas to follow up. Lots of encouragement. Thank you."
"It encouraged me to start a sketchbook."
"Even though I was anxious about the drawing I have really liked this and hope to develop this – just wish we had more time!"
"Lots of really interesting activities – I have so much more confidence and will take it further…..!!"
Upcoming Courses & Events
Hawkwood is an educational charity providing courses, facilitating training and offering venue hire, set in a stunning location in the Cotswolds.
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