Young Artists’ Club

Ages 9+, with Sophie Newnham

Booking page

Autumn Term 2025 Course Dates

Saturdays 10am-12noon

13, 20, 27 September

4, 11, 18 October

(Half term 25 October and 1 November)

8, 15, 22, 29 November

6, 13 December

It is so exciting when artistic talent appears at an early age.

We are keen to encourage young artists. These classes are for older children (9+ years) who are showing a more serious approach to art.

The classes focus on traditional drawing, painting and collage techniques, in an encouraging and non-competitive environment. The work produced can be used to build a portfolio.

Course Details

A step-by-step approach to cover a range of traditional skills such as drawing, painting and collage and students will use a range of materials including pencils, charcoal, oil pastels, water colours and acrylics.

Each week we work on unique projects covering different themes. Students are encouraged to create beautiful artworks working from a variety of reference material, relating their practice to art history as they progress.

Undecided? Book a taster

For the taster session, all materials are included. For regular students, we recommend the purchase of an Art Pack - we can advise you on where to obtain this when you book.

Booking page

Autumn Term Programme

Week 1: Jan van Kessel

Observe and draw detailed insects, butterflies and shells arranged in a grid or decorative layout. Emphasis on observational drawing and natural colour palettes.

Week 2: Frida Kahlo

Symbolic self-portrait including animals, plants, and emotional elements that represent the student.

Week 3: Claude Monet

Garden or lily pond painting using short dabbing strokes to mimic Impressionist brushwork. Mixing colour through impasto application

Week 4: Jean-Michel Basquiat

Create a mixed-media drawing full of expressive symbols, energetic lines, and text. Collage, cut outs, pens.

Week 5: Hilma af Klint

Design an abstract painting with symbolic shapes and symmetrical forms, inspired by natural and botanical elements plus look at colour theory.

Week 6: Portrait Features Study- self-portrait

Use mirrors to closely observe and draw eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Explore facial proportions in self-portraiture. Learn about skin tones and palette mixing.

Week 7: Yayoi Kusama

Make fantasy objects or landscapes using repetitive dot patterns and bold colours.

Week 8: Henri Rousseau

Create a layered jungle scene with hidden animals and detailed foliage, inspired by Rousseau’s dreamlike worlds.

Week 9: Hokusai

Design a flowing wave drawing inspired by ‘The Great Wave’ using stylised lines and minimal colours.

Week 10: Gustav Klimt

Draw a portrait with decorative gold patterning in the clothing and background. Add symbols and decorative elements of their choice.

Week 11: Faith Ringgold

Create a personal narrative illustration with a quilt-style border, telling a story through images.

Week 12: David Hockney

Use simple perspective to create a colourful pool or room scene in flat planes and patterns.

All materials are provided for a taster session. For subsequent lessons, you will find links to recommended materials below. You may already have some of these materials at home, in which case they will be fine to bring.

For regular students, we recommend purchasing a small collection of materials to keep in a bag so you can bring it with you each week.

 A range of H and B pencils
 A small box of acrylic paints (including, as minimum the three primaries- red yellow and blue plus white)
 A washable palette or tear off palette
 A small assortment of brushes
 A4 sketchbook + tear off pad of A3 cartridge paper if you prefer to work on a larger scale.