Classes & Residentials

Devon Life drawing classes, workshops and talks

All skill levels welcome.

I start with quick sketches to warm up and then introduce several drawing exercises for fun and to relax which you can partake in or not — as you feel. The poses will vary in length beginning with 1 minute and up to 30 mins. If we have a day course I am happy to extend pose times.

My models are different every week, and I have both male and female models who all give a great variety of poses and attitudes.

It’s important to not become stuck in one way of working and for this I supply lots of different mediums to work with. I believe this helps with improvement of hand / eye coordination, observational skills, control of the hand and the particular mediums chosen. It’s a joy to encourage people when they discover what works for them, and many tools help with self-expression and the freedom to play.

I’m very relaxed and there is no judgement, just the joy of creating.

I have a box of materials which I ask a donation towards, and paper at 10p a sheet of A2 and 20p for A1 plus free ‘fish and chip’ paper.

Its at Dartington Shippon studios.

Directions:

Dartington Hall – if you are coming UP hill from Totnes, go past entrance to main Dartington Hall courtyard on left (parking opposite) and immediately after, on your left (opposite the new Green table cafe) , there is a ‘lane’- which also leads to the Zen garden, with a gate (usually closed) leading to a courtyard with stone buildings in.  This is where the Shippon studios are and where the old Art block of Dartington College used to be.  We are in the building on your right, the door being halfway along the building and up a ramp.   This will change in April 2020 to Studio 20 at SPACE Dartington Hall.

I run classes on Tuesday mornings -10am til 1pm

Thursday evenings, 6.30pm — 8.30pm,

both include tea/coffee and biscuits.

BOOK HERE

LIFE DRAWING SCHEDULE January, February, March 2020

Jan 2020 Feb 18^th & 20^th Half term

Feb 2020

March 2020

Easter March 31^st & 2^nd April

Tuesday Morning class, 3 hours:

£20 drop in

£18 Student

 Thursday Evening class, 2 hours:

BOOKING ONLY 5 classes £60 Student £50

To book, please pay fully in advance

Coop Bank

A/C no 05088001

Sort code 089300

Cheque to

Isabel Coulton

The Old Hall,

Church Street,

South Brent,

Devon

TQ10 9AQ

Prices:

Morning class, 3 hours:

£20      £18 Student

Evening class, 2 hours:

BOOK Set of 5  =  £60    £50 Student

I also run Portrait drawing classes twice a month and am available for talks and workshops on Life drawing, Portrait drawing and the making of Our Lady of Buckfast sculpture in stone. See the video here.

BOOK HERE

Friday 8^th Nov  – PORTRAIT DRAWING 10AM TIL 4PM    Completed

These portrait classes will only run if they are booked with a minimum of 6. Maximum 10 people. £50 for the day, all materials included.

Student discount £45

Testimonials from classes, workshops and talks

“I wanted to email you to thank you for an excellent workshop – the best I have attended.  The immediate feedback I have received from people is all positive; if I do hear any suggestions I will let you know but it’s difficult to improve on brilliance!  Indeed, we wondered whether you might be free for a repeat performance? “
Devon Art Society

“Just a quick email to thank you for an excellent talk yesterday.  Your nerves were quickly replaced with your enthusiasm and I was really impressed by what must have been hours of preparation.”
Devon Art Society

“ Dear Isabel,  I am putting together the workshop programme for 2019 and  as  your life drawing workshop was so popular last time, I wondered if you could be persuaded to run another one for us next year?”
Totnes Art Society

“I have been enjoying Isabel’s life drawing classes for 18 months. I appreciate her friendly, informal approach and her encouragement to experiment with different materials and techniques, different ways of looking at and perceiving the life model, yet underpinned with a thorough knowledge of anatomy. The experience has encouraged me to experiment more with other work that I do at home.”
Jenny

“It’s great to work with Isabel, she’s unassuming and honest and will explore all avenues of drawing. It’s a learning process and we learn together. And they’re fun! I would definitely recommend them.”
Jo

“A really fulfilling day with thoughtful and encouraging guidance from Isabel. Working in a group was enormously helpful in giving me the confidence to try out new ways of presenting a portrait. It was a lovely and varied group of people and we had lots of fun and laughs. In the beautiful setting of Dartington Hall the day was a fantastic treat and tonic. Many thanks Isabel”
Jane

“As a total beginner at life drawing I’ve been very lucky to find Isabel. My confidence and drawing skills continue to develop under her tutelage. Each week comes with new ways to draw, using many different mediums; encompassed in a fun and focused class!”
Roma

“I joined a life drawing group in London but there was no tuition and I really missed that.  Isabel is full of ideas on how to loosen up, try out different mediums and generally explore new ways of depicting the models.  Isabel works alongside us but help and advice is available if asked for and we share and learn from each other as well.  There is a very relaxed atmosphere  and I am thoroughly enjoying the Tuesday classes at Dartington.”
Mary

“I have been attending Isabel’s drawing classes with my daughter and  we have both gained so much from them. The pieces my daughter produced where a valuable addition to her GCSE art, and Isabel’s gentle guidance really encouraged my daughters self expression to emerge.”

“I love attending Isabel’s classes, they are so relaxed and I never feel that my work is being judged, lots of lovely support and encouragement, so therapeutic. Thank you.”
Leigh Smith

“I have found the classes excellent value for money, relaxed and very informative. I love the way you get the balance right between giving feedback where it is wanted but not imposing it on people that don’t want it. The length of poses and the models are excellent, along with your guidance.”

“I really enjoy Isabel’s group. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. We are all different levels and Isabel gives  fun exercises to help us explore texture  etc and encourages us to express ourselves freely. She gives helpful general suggestions of how to approach a subject  but also encourages you to find your own  way. But if you need more advice she gives concise pointers. Isobel provides all the materials and I have experimented with different mediums which I have enjoyed. I don’t feel pressured in her class so I am more relaxed and feel free to experiment. Recommended!”
Hilary

Residential Life-drawing holiday

in Provence, France with Isabel Coulton,

 9th – 17^th Sept 2020

8 Nights Full board, all materials included.
One evening wine tasting
Walk with picnic and drawing in the mountains

Prices £1500 

Rooms available:

3 Double bedrooms, 1 en suite

1 single room

3 twin rooms

BOOK HERE

Half my heart resides in Provence, home of my ancestors. Having taught life-drawing for around 7 years now in Devon, I have a burning desire to give classes in my French home town of Camaret-Sur-Aigues.

Situated on the Rhône valley plains near the historic town of Orange – about 30 mins north by car from Avignon, Camaret is an ancient, small, walled Provençal village as yet unspoilt by development.

La Bastide is a most beautiful chateau or ‘manoir’ – an elegant 18^th century country house with 2 hectares of gardens. It boasts a lovely pool, plane trees all around, a Ping-Pong room, and ample room to play pétanque and eat outside. We can draw inside and outside in perfect peace.

Drawing the human figure is really the cornerstone for all applied art practices. However it doesn’t have to be the painful and terrifying experience it used to be. We are all artistic, and express ourselves in a wonderful diversity of ways – as varied as there are human beings on this beautiful planet of ours.

My approach to teaching life-drawing is not to follow a dogged routine of laws, but to acquaint people with ways of looking and seeing to shed the shackles of fear that restrict our real enjoyment of making marks. Fear has never been a good instructor, whereas true enjoyment and interest in the process of sketching, coupled with lots of brain evading exercises and plenty of practice, is sure to bring increased understanding of the things we draw, which in turn brings ‘progress’. More information to follow on the structure and tuition of the week.

Drawing is a mindful/mindless exercise. It is something which can take me to deep pools of bliss, as well as those moments of struggle which actually produce the best results. This holiday will offer a daily yoga morning routine and a short end of the day stretch. Shiatsu massage, an ancient Japanese practice that encourages wellbeing, will be an added option.

I am offering a full board holiday. Breakfast, lunch and supper included with wine from the region, cooked by a Provençal chef, Marie Noele. We will have a trip out to Vaison-La-Romaine, and as the name suggests

it is famous for its rich Roman ruins, medieval town and cathedral. What makes Vaison-la-Romaine unique is the possibility to see the antique, medieval and modern towns within the same environment – 2000 years of history. With four theatres, numerous exhibitions and galleries, Vaison-la-Romaine is also renowned for its art scene.

Also planned is an early evening wine tasting in house before a for a sumptuous supper at La Bastide.

The Roman museum in Vaison has many beautiful sculptures and artefacts to see, and one can walk through the Roman streets, and see the plan of how they were laid out, some columns and sculptures still existing, municipal toilets and other interesting sights.

Vaison hosts one of the best restaurants in the old town that I have ever found anywhere and is very reasonably priced…we shall have to have an evening meal there, although I’m afraid that won’t be included in the package, and it is of course optional.

If the weather is clement, we can take a picnic and go into the Dentelles de Montmirail to draw the landscape. This is where the famous Côte du Rhône Gigondas wine comes from and the lace like mountains, covered in pines are a lovely place for a walk, offering extensive views of the vine-covered plains below. They form the foothills of Provence’s highest peak Le Mont Ventoux, 1909m, where cyclists the world over come to compete in the Tour de France.