2026 WORKSHOPS & COURSES
Start date: Thursday 27th August 2026
Subjects: Crow, horse & Chimp
Medium: White pencil on black card
Course length: 3 x 1.5-hour lessons (4.5 hours total)
Included in the workshop: All tuition, reference photo (emailed), feedback and an edited recording of the course.
A workshop kit containing everything you need is available to purchase for £7.99
Suitable for: Beginners and advanced artists.
Location: Live via Zoom – invitation emailed after booking.
Time: 7.00pm-8:30pm GMT (Please be ready with your materials by 6.45pm)
Price: £50
COURSE STARTED
The combination of white pencil and black card not only creates an atmospheric, even dramatic image, but is also a great medium for sketching both white and black subjects.
For those who enjoyed my previous white pencil classes, this short course is a chance to refresh your skills. If you haven’t tried this medium before, then I think you’ll be in for an arty treat, sketching three very different subjects.
Lesson 1 - Thursday 27th August - Crow
The course begins with one of the most intelligent and visually striking birds – the crow.
The strong shiny beak and glossy black plumage of this handsome bird are perfect for us to begin practising the varied tones and textures achievable with just a white pencil.
The final impact highlights will almost make this dramatic corvid portrait fly off the card.
Lesson 2 - Thursday 3rd September - Horse
Unlike our first subject, the anatomy of this white horse is created by using more subtle tonal shading with the white pencil, rather than strong highlights.
Basic shapes, lines and angles will be used to achieve correct proportions before we start adding and refining details, bone structure and muscle forms.
The result will be a softer, more atmospheric portrait, with hints of punchier highlights to give the sketch visual impact.
Lesson 3 - Thursday 10th September - Chimp
Throughout the ages, portrait silhouettes have been a popular way of capturing a likeness in a relatively simple manner.
I think that perhaps the idea of creating a portrait in white pencil originated from this form of art.
Our version is an up-close portrait study of a chimpanzee, whose arrangement of features is so similar to our own.
Much of the focus this week will be on the chimp’s face, highlighting stronger forms and features, whilst keeping less prominent areas, such as fur and skin textures more subdued, tonally. What a great way to finish this short course!
There is a kit available to accompany this course, which includes:
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3 x sheets of A4 300gsm black card
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White Pencil
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kneadable eraser
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Reference photos (3)
** Kits are posted out approx. 1 week before the course starts **
WHITE PENCIL SKETCHING - 3 WEEK ZOOM COURSE
Order White Pencil Sketching Course Kit
Book White Pencil Sketching
Start date: Thursday 24th September 2026
Subjects: Harvest Mouse, Holly Blue Butterfly, Stoat
Medium: Graphite & Watercolour on natural-toned card
Course length: 6 x 1.5-hour lessons (9 hours total)
Included in the workshop: All tuition, reference photo (emailed), feedback and an edited recording of the course.
A workshop kit containing everything you need is available to purchase for £9.99
Suitable for: Beginners and advanced artists.
Location: Live via Zoom – invitation emailed after booking.
Time: 7.00pm-8:30pm GMT (Please be ready with your materials by 6.45pm)
Price: £99
5 PLACES REMAINING
The soft tone of pale brown paper gives a warm, old-fashioned look to the watercolours in this series of wildlife paintings.
Each painting will be completed over two lessons. In the first lesson, we will sketch the subject in graphite pencil, using basic shapes to achieve correct proportions, whilst getting familiar with that particular animal, its environment and other interesting facts – all useful information in helping to create compositions.
The second lesson uses a limited palette of watercolours to create a subtle, appealing image.
One particular advantage of using watercolours on toned paper, is that we can add highlights, both subtle and strong, with opaque white paint, rather than having to pre-plan and use masking fluid or leave white paper unpainted.
HARVEST MOUSE
Lesson 1 - Thursday 24th September - Harvest Mouse - Drawing
Lesson 2 - Thursday 1st October - Harvest Mouse - Painting
Our first subject is the tiny rodent that makes its home in long grasses, farmland and woodlands.
This first painting will represent the mouse climbing stalks of wheat grass before the harvest.
HOLLY BLUE BUTTERFLY
Lesson 1 - Thursday 8th October - Butterfly - Drawing
Lesson 2 - Thursday 15th October - Butterfly - Painting
Our second painting is of a holly blue butterfly, a beautiful small visitor to our gardens in early spring and again in late summer.
The soft pastel blue colour will stand out nicely against the warm brown paper.
STOAT
Lesson 1 - Thursday 22nd October - Stoat - Drawing
Lesson 2 - Thursday 29th October - Stoat - Painting
Our final painting is of a handsome stoat, relative of the otter and the much smaller weasel.
The stoat, with its distinctive bounding gait, brown and white fur and long black tipped tail, can be seen throughout the year in grassland, heaths and woodlands.
This painting sees the stoat glancing back before disappearing into the tall grass.
There is a kit available to accompany this course, which includes:
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Clairefontaine ‘PaintOn’ Naturel paper (3 sheets)
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2B Graphite Pencil
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kneadable eraser
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Watercolour Paint: French ultramarine, cadmium yellow, burnt umber, Payne’s grey (blue tint), titanium white.
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Reference photos (3)
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I recommend using a #6 round watercolour brush (**not included in the kit**)
** Kits are posted out approx. 1 week before the course starts **
WILDLIFE IN WATERCOLOUR ON TONED PAPER - 6 WEEK COURSE
Order Wildlife in Watercolour on Toned Paper Course Kit
Wildlife in Watercolour on Toned Paper Course
MORE WORKSHOPS AND COURSES COMING SOON...
Saturday 25th April 2020
Subject: Lion
Medium: Pastel on Velour
Length: 1-day
Included in the workshop: All materials, light refreshments, all tuition.
Suitable for: Beginners & Advanced Artists.
Location: Big Cat Sanctuary, Headcorn Road, Smarden, Ashford, Kent. TN27 8PJ
Times: 10am-4pm (arrive 9.30am)
Price: £120
2 PLACES REMAINING
Something new for me and hopefully for you, for the first of my Big Cat Sanctuary workshops in 2020; a full colour lion portrait in pastels on black velour.
The subject of this workshop is the handsome African lion, Kasanga, who you will get to meet and take your own reference photos, like this one, on the morning of the workshop.
The use of black velour gives much more depth of tone than other colours, such as the sand-coloured velour, as well as allowing you to create dramatic highlights that can give an otherwise ‘standard’ portrait much more atmosphere.
Whether you are an experienced artist or a beginner, Vic will guide you step by step through the process of painting with pastels on velour; how to create fur texture, realistic eyes, all important highlights and, of course, the special techniques required when using black velour.
As always, the big cat/art experience begins with a guided photography tour, starting at around 10am. This is a unique opportunity to gather your own reference photos of wide variety of big and wild cats at very close quarters for future use in your artworks.
The tour finishes at lunchtime, during which you are free to visit the on-site shop for souvenirs and enjoy your lunch under the watchful gaze of mountain lions and the famous ‘Maya’, whose enclosure is next to where we will be working.
The workshop itself begins after lunch and ends at around 4pm, after which you are free to admire and take more photographs of the beautiful Maya in the late afternoon light before leaving for home.
All materials and light refreshments provided. Please bring your lunch, an easel (table or standing) if you need one, and sensible shoes for walking around the enclosures (no sandals or flip flops please). And don't forget your camera!
The day will begin at 10am promptly, so please try to arrive around 9:30am.
For every booking, we donate £50 to the Big Cat Sanctuary. These funds help the sanctuary with upkeep and conservation projects.
LIVE ZOOM COURSE - PORTRAIT IN OILS
BIG CAT SANCTUARY LION WORKSHOP
Stating date: Thursday 7th January 2021
Subject: Portrait
Medium: Oils on canvas
Course length: 4 x 1 1/2 hour classes
Included in the workshop: All Tuition, Reference Photo (emailed), Recording of the Workshop.
Other Info: The portrait course kit is available to order in advance for this workshop
Suitable for: Beginners & Advanced Artists.
Location: Live via Zoom - Instructions sent after booking
Time: 7pm-8.30pm (Please be ready with your materials by 6.45pm)
Price: £60
COURSE STARTED
‘Portrait in oils’ is a complete course aimed at artists who want to learn or improve their oil painting skills.
Each lesson will focus on a particular stage in the oil painting process, using the techniques that I have used myself for many years.
Lesson 1 – Underpainting part 1
(7th January 2021)
We begin the course with probably the most important stage in any painting, a burnt umber underpainting, using the dry brush technique.
Once completed, the underpainting acts as a tonal foundation for subsequent layers, giving both basic details and all important tones to create form.
Lesson 2 – Underpainting part 2
(14th January 2021)
Once the burnt umber underpainting is dry, which will be just a few days, we can begin to create more subtle mid tones and key highlights.
This will be achieved by using varied mixes of burnt umber and titanium white, thinned slightly with linseed oil for easier control and flow.
Note: There will be a two week gap before the next lesson to ensure that the whole underpainting is completely dry before lesson three
Lesson 3 – Glazing
(28th January 2021)
Once the underpainting is completely dry, we can begin to add colour in the form of transparent glazes, a traditional oil painting technique.
Using the additional colours of cadmium red, yellow ochre and French ultramarine, thinned with linseed oil, we will ‘tint’ the underpainting with various colour mixes to create skin tones, and background.
Lesson 4 – Final details
(4th February 2021)
Using the rigger brush and thinned mixes of burnt umber, French ultramarine and titanium white, we will refine the portrait with finer details in the hair, eyes, nose and mouth, adding a few finishing highlights here and there.
Please note, the course is £60 per person, however, if more than one person is using the same Zoom connection, then the fee covers all participants from the same household.
MATERIALS
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290gm oil painting paper (14x10 inches)
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#6 oil/acrylic round brush
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Watercolour rigger brush
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Oil paints: Burnt umber, titanium white, cadmium red, yellow ochre, French ultramarine
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Linseed oil.
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Reference photo (emailed upon booking)
A kit is available for this course, which contains all the materials you'll need to complete the oil painting. Please take into account delivery times when ordering the kit. This kit is posted in a large postal tube.
The great things about Vic's Zoom classes is that you also receive a recording after each class/workshop. So, if you cannot attend one of the lessons, or would just like to re-watch the tutorial, you have the recording to watch as often as you like.
UK WORKSHOPS
Vic offers a variety of teaching workshops in different mediums throughout the UK. Subjects vary from wildlife paintings and portraits, to seascapes, people, children and pets. With mediums in pastel, pencil, oil, acrylic and watercolour, there's something to suit everyone.
At this point in time, most of Vic's workshops and courses are run online via Zoom, This means people all over the world can attend from the safety and comfort of their own home.
Vic's workshops are suitable for complete beginners and advanced artists, and you will learn a great deal about the subject and medium you're working in.
The numbers attending his workshops are kept fairly small. This ensures everyone gets individual tuition and guidance throughout the day so they can learn a lot about the medium they're working in and achieve great results.