Wednesday 12 May 2021: Online Workshop (Colour & Tone)

Gary Mills - Wednesday 12 May 2021 - 7.00pm to 8.30pm (BST)

Online Interactive Workshop: Creative Sketchbook - COLOUR & TONE

We're absolutely delighted to unveil our new Creative Sketchbook Series of workshops & classes, safe in the hands of multi-talented designer/artist, crafter and tutor extra-ordinaire: Gary Mills! Gary has tailored a block of THREE Creative Sketchbook classes which students can embrace as a set of one class during each of May, June & July 2021 (for this we have a reduced rate for a block-booking of all three classes - see our Pay Online section for that special deal!).

Alternatively people can choose to attend just one or two of the classes as they prefer - no pressure from us, but once you've read all about what Gary is delivering across his Colour & Tone, Collage Doodles and Making Marks workshops, we're pretty convinced you'll not want to miss out on ANY of what's on offer!...

Introduction by Gary:-

Have you always wanted to feel more confident in creating a sketch book or exploring mark making ideas on paper? We are not all given the natural ability to draw and yet we love to get creative, but that blank sheet of paper or a drawing in a sketch book can seem so daunting.

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Let me introduce my creative sketch book workshops designed by me, Gary Mills, that can help develop creative ability in anyone. You do not even have to consider yourself the next Picasso, as all the activities are about making a response rather than an accurate representation of what you see or want to communicate.

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The exercises (chapters) are on “How I create a sketch book”, or more accurately how I carry out a series of engaging and fun activities which I then later curate into a 'book',sketchbook, journal or portfolio.

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This is not your conventional art drawing lesson, far from it; but rather a textiles-based sketch book to inform and work alongside your practice but that a quilter, a textile artist, or someone who just enjoys all aspects of textiles and sewing. This workshop helps you to make a response to moments in time or from observations that you can use to apply to textiles. Be that colour, texture, form, and line; but also details and little scenes captured in time.

This first workshop concentrates on colour and tone, which is one of the fundamental foundations of good design and creative outcomes. Each chapter has a series of fun and accessible exercises that inform and open-up the mind with bite size knowledge to later build upon if you wish. Each chapter ends with a mini conclusion or project outcome, in Colour & Tone you finish with an on-trend snippets roll.

Note: You do not have to do all three as each chapter / workshop runs independently so you could do just colour or you could do all three. Please see also Gary's Footnote towards the end of the briefing!​

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What You Will Learn in this COLOUR & TONE Online Interactive Workshop:-

COLOUR & TONE: Starts with a downloadable “Colour Wheel” which will help with understanding, primary, secondary colours, and how complementary colours work. In this section students will mix colour from primary colours, as well as using ready mixed colours from a paint palette. You will play with mixing tones of the same colour and then look at monochrome which will be investigated in “scribble designs” and simple repeated shapes to play, doodle, and explore. Finally coloured and worked papers are torn and cut into strips and joined with machine stitches to create a paper “snippets roll”, which easily translates into later fabric versions.

Skill Level for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

Gary has many years’ experience as a professional practitioner and teacher of art and textiles; his workshops are so enjoyable, fun, and very well organised with his clear and patient guidance. This workshop is suitable for all; if you are a beginner this is a great way to learn and explore the rudiments of art based design processes and for those with some confidence and experienced you could further diversify your approaches to sketch booking through your artistic ability.

Material requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

All the materials are easily accessible. Such as found and recycled papers and inks and paints can be sourced from local shops or online and most other materials can be found around your sewing box or in your desk draw.

For your Art box start with the basics and build upon as you go…even things found around the home can be used.

You will need for this workshop:

• Something to make black ink permanent marks with, such as a gel pen, ball point pen, fountain pen ink pen.
• Craft knife
• A Glue stick such as a Pritt Stick or similar (but not runny glue such as PVA)
• To get started a reasonable priced water colour paint box. (you will need red, blue, and yellow colours)
• To start with just one good quality flat paint brush not too small, approximately ¼” – ½” wide is recommended (do not go too small or it will microscope and can make your work tight)
• A container such as a jam jar to hold some clean water.
• Some paper kitchen towel to dab and clean your brush.
• Black ink or black paint (from your paint palette above)
• Black wax crayon or oil pastel
• Coloured wax crayons or oil pastels
• Papers: 6x sheets of A5 reasonable quality 150 -180 gsm cartridge or water colour paper. You will also use found and recycled papers, size ranging for A5 – A4 such as old envelopes and varying weights of paper. Thread, machine, linen, button, and embroidery thread (any colour but I have used in my examples black and brown)
• Sellotape or scotch tape and masking tape
• Bradawl for making holes or a compass point will work.
• Bone paper folder or a very blunt dinner or butter knife
• Large needle or Chenille needle
• Paper and embroidery scissors
• Sharp blade such as a craft knife or Scalpel
• Ruler or quilting / crafting square
• Pencil and rubber
• 1-2 old empty cotton reels 1 ½ - 2” wide
• Fine line black pen
• Something to cut on such as a cutting mat.
• Optional: Cheap acrylic paints red, yellow, blue, black, and white
• Optional: Coloured Inks

Equipment requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

As we will be machine stitching together our paper snippets roils you will need a straight stitch sewing machine with a large size needle size 14-16 or a denim needle if its reasonably strong to stitch through a couple of layers of paper.

If you don not have a sewing machine you can use sticky tape and hand stitch to achieve the finish…it will just take a little longer to complete.

Additional Information relevant to this Online Interactive Workshop:-

Those attending the workshop will receive Gary’s guidance notes and link to download a colour wheel prior to the session.

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Gary's Footnote!:-

I used to struggle with using a sketch book or even producing one of worth which could support my creative work….

The PHOBIA:-

I had to find a solution that worked for me and my way of working through the creative process. To me, a brand-new sketch book can be daunting! They always look so beautiful in ‘Paperchase’ (or any other well-known quality stationers!) all shapes and sizes, with different covers, looking very chic and each knowing they are destined for the most articulate of written words or the finest line of a drawn sketch. Of course, you cannot make a mistake in it, that is the law… the law of the new sketch book… especially on the first couple of pages which always seem to warrant your absolute best concentration and your most trained and honed artistic skills. That pressure to produce perfect pages, it always got to me. That is why I have had in the past so many empty sketch books sitting on my shelf unused and still in pristine condition, just because I was too frightened to use them, in case I made a mess of them.

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The solution to this phobia for me I found was to work on loose sheets of papers, completely mixed papers of varying weights and textures. I even make up my own papers by painting white emulsion paint onto magazine papers and brown wrapping papers. I make up my own pages from all sorts of papers, I even use wallpaper lining paper to make fold out books!

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A blank page; a white sheet of paper…. it is so new, so clean - so minimal. If you are going to make a mark on it; it had better be good! Oh no, flippin' heck…. here I go again! Aaaaarrrrgh!!!!

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The SOLUTION:-

I quite often pre-mark my papers and pages. I may take just one swipe of colour across the page; the colour may relate to the environment I am in or it may not; sometimes I just stick to a neutral colour; a dash of grey or a smudge of beigey brown.

Or if the day is bright and sunny, I may go for more pops of vivid colours on may pages. Apart from colour I may layer my page through collage, adding torn pages from old textbooks stuck down or even newspaper tears stuck down. You can always add a thin coat of white emulsion over the top to dumb down any vibrant text coming through…although sometimes I do not mind that as it adds another dimension to my pages. One of my most favourite journals was a sawn in half telephone directory which I thoroughly enjoyed using to record as a pictorial diary, the 3 months in Holland studying at the Royal Academy.

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Apart from pages and papers, I use anything I can find at hand to either make a mark on or stitch into, wrap or stick.

Large luggage/parcel tags are great, bits of cloth like calico and canvas which have been primed with gesso or emulsion paint. Cardboard and some packings are great alternatives to papers for making marks on or even give a texture to.

The MEDIA:-

Leave the graphite pencil and rubber at home!!!

I much prefer to make a spontaneous mark that is a permanent mark, be that ink, paint, ball point pen, or crayon. Back to those old phobias, would have me doubting that mark I had just made and rubbing it out and starting again; only to miss that opportunity of making an error which turned out to be something quite inspirational and beautiful! I like to use brushes with wet media, in foam, bristle and even from found material wrapped around a stick dipped into ink. Felt tip markers thick and thin work well, as just drawing directly from the pipette of the ink bottle.

So, the rule is… BREAK ALL RULES ON YOUR SKETCH BOOK PAGES!!! Work spontaneously, be impulsive, be intuitive and just relax, play and ‘not give a damn’ to what  might transpire on YOUR pages!!!

I very much hope you'll feel inspired to join me & "give it a go!"...

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Tickets for this Online Interactive Workshop (via the Zoom platform) will be limited and allocated on a first-come/first-served basis! Any free pattern and other information, relevant to this course will be forwarded to you after booking and approximately 5 days before the course date. The ticket price of £15.00 is based on ONE person attending this crafting class.

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This CraftyMonkies online interactive workshop is being broadcast from the United Kingdom and the class time given is based on British Summer Time (BST). We advise you check via Google Search (or similar) to see corresponding start-time in YOUR location!

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Ordering MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT Online For Any Class/Workshop!

In light of current uncertainties regarding potential lockdowns in some/all parts of the UK due to Covid-19, please ensure you book your place & order any materials/equipment online in plenty of time ahead of any course dates.

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Enjoy This Class/Workshop Again on YouTube!

A recording of this workshop will be sent to all who buy a live ticket for the Zoom broadcast approximately 5 working days after the event; the video will be available to view for 30 days from the video release date.

Are you not able to attend this class due to living in a different time-zone? Are you otherwise engaged on the date of this workshop? Well, we have excellent news!

This class will be available to view via Pay-On-Demand via our Online Shop for 30 days following the video release date (approximately 5 working days after broadcast on Zoom).