For the 2023 Visual Arts Education Week, held 30 May-2 June, I prepared four one-hour lunchtime workshops for students in all year levels to participate in. In each workshop, I talked for 10 minutes about the medium, techniques and processes to be used, showing examples or my own artwork when necessary. The students experimented themselves on specific worksheets and they had terrific results.
Gouache workshop
Gouache is a unique opaque watercolour paint. It's the basis of my Year 12 Folio and this was an opportunity for me to help gouache become more known and popular. I introduced the students to the work of online artist Ruth Wilshaw, who runs free workshops and courses on gouache, for their future learning.
Acrylic still life workshop
Students painted still lifes, applying what they had learned about tones. They learned the most interesting still lifes are often stylised, rather than realistic.
Art therapy workshop
Students had the opportunity to use gouache again (due to the massive turnout of the gouache workshop). I spoke about why art therapy is underrated and the types of therapy available. The purpose was to set students up with the tools and knowledge to continue their own art therapy at home. I picked the best art therapy exercises from a book written by an art therapist and students got to pick from 20 different independent exercises, with individual and very different goals.
Colour pencil workshop
Students experimented with new materials for blending and layering using colour pencils, including using copic markers for bold layering and rubbing alcohol to blend.
