Indigoagogo
A peek into the botanical adventure that awaits you...
Welcome to the third instalment of my Indigo a gogo courses.
My Deconstructed Florals theme will offer you lots of food for thought as we continue our exploration into fluid mixed media and the creative process.
This expressive drawing and painting course has been designed to give you the opportunity to develop expressive semi-abstract paintings and collages using our botanical subject as its jumping off point, all the while leading the way, naturally and methodically, from initial drawings to fully realised paintings.
It has been structured as a self-paced online workshop and I suggest that you give yourself a full week to work through the content, maybe even lingering over your favourite sections...
From first studies created with dry media we will layer up the materials and approaches in a way that will guide you gently through your ongoing investigative process. You will build up a series of studies, paintings and collages that will culminate in large scale paintings and collages, while also providing you with stacks of work and inspiration from which you can further develop a body of work.
Deconstructed Florals introduces the indigo in its watercolour form this time alongside a new trio of drawing stones and plant inks. We will be working through a new series of guided exercises, layering on the materials with an increasing awareness of the ongoing conversation that is arising out of the process.
I will encourage you to become more attuned to what is evolving as you progress through the course while continuing to encourage play and curiosity at each stage.
From charcoal, graphite and chalk through to a new selection of natural inks and watercolour, this mixed media approach, when combined with an insight into my personal creative process, will gently encourage you to dig a little deeper and increase your awareness of the possibilities just waiting to be discovered.
You will also be able to tap into my wealth of painting and teaching experience, which is revealed in the full-length demonstration painting films and ongoing reviews. Having worked through the entire course myself, filming every stage and thought process as I go along, this experience has actually given me a group of studies and ideas for developing my own body of work beyond this course.
Working from your own lovingly selected group of plants and flowers, my ‘reaction to abstraction’ approach will lead you to fully explore the art of composition through an investigative and collaged approach.
Select, observe, sense, act, react, create and reflect… repeat...
So, join me on this magical alchemical mystery tour and commit to a creative floral leafy journey with an awareness of subject, materials and yourself.
Let the conversation begin...
Janette Phillips 2024
How to respond to florals using the 'Indigo kit'
To work both expressively and with intention
To work freely with dry media
To work expressively with wet media
To experiment with both wet and dry media
To explore the unique properties of the indigo pastel in combination with inks and watercolours
To play and respond to prompts as you extend your mark making
To tune into your own creativity
To review your work to help develop it further
How to generate a body of work from a single starting point
To use collage as a compositional tool
In this section I will drop in any live zoom recordings and you will have access for 30 days
... and welcome to the third instalment of my Indigoagogo series.
It is time to embrace all things floral and leafy......but do not assume its going to be light and pretty!
I am going to be encouraging the creation of impactful and pertinent responses to the inherent strength and beauty of this most wonderful subject with its wealth of visual and sensory information.
Using plants and flowers as our jumping off point we will be exploring mixed media drawing, painting and collage using a heady combination of watercolours, inks and pastels/drawing stones ( you can order some from Wallace Seymour too if you want !)
I really hope that you enjoy this course and I look forward to you posting your work on Instagram using the hashtag indigoagogo Do tag me too so I can get to see it!
You can join the Indigo a gogo private facebook group here...
I have decided to put all the course handouts here for you at the start of the course so that you don't miss any as you go.
It is time to limber up with a series of exercises that will move us between wet and dry, linear and tonal, black and white and full colour.
Now its time to get our hands dirty as we really get into the mix !
It is time to tune into the compositional potential of our subject now as we begin the process of assembling and dissembling.
Collage can really help us to understand and create strong compositions and by starting with simple bold ink drawings, as you are about to see in the next exercise, we can learn to enjoy making confident marks and bold graphic shapes from the start.
It is now time to develop our mixed media floral inspired paintings...
It is now time to push our enquiry and develop our process as we create larger mixed media pieces using beautiful sheets of heavy-weight watercolour paper.
For our final project I invite you to bring together the various materials and approaches we have covered throughout the course; from initial meandering line drawings through to observational drawings and paintings, mixed media abstractions, collage and of course the floral tapes.
A place to gather and share...
Enjoy this bonus film of a floral painting coming to life.
Once you've enrolled and paid, you'll have access to the lessons for the lifetime of the course so please feel free to devour it over a day or to take your time. It's your choice!
I recommend that you do as that course demonstrates what you can achieve with it on its own terms. This course then builds on that with a mixed media approach.
Indigo and other drawing stones / Charcoal - various thicknesses /
White chalk /
Rubbers - putty and/or plastic /
Ink and watercolour paint / white gouache
Pencil / pencil crayons /
Paint brushes - various eg ; from rigger to 4” decorators /
Mark Making tools - dip pen, bamboo pen, sticks, feathers etc /
Glue stick / masking tape / scissors
Cartridge Paper plus any other surfaces and papers you would like to try out. /
A Water Spray is useful /
OPTIONAL Gesso or textured acrylic mediums to prime and prepare paper surfaces.
This course is suitable for all artists who are open to working with curiosity and a willingness to play and explore this versatile new material in combination with other materials.
I usually have stock available for you to purchase direct from me.
Please email me at janette@janettephillips.com to make an enquiry or to place an order.
You can also buy it from www.artreq.co.uk in Glasgow and online and in various worldwide stockists.
As it has taken a lot of time to prepare this online course I would appreciate it if you did not share any of the content with others. All the information is for the sole use of the individual subscriber and not to be used in any form without written agreement from Janette Phillips. I am happy for you to share your work on social media but please tag me or give me a mention and do use the hashtag indigoagogo to spread the word!
I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. Send me an email at janette@janettephillips.com
Yes there is a private FB group for both the indigo courses. The link is on the welcome page.
Yes, do post your work in the facebook group for general comments. If you would like to book a 1-2-1 session then do get in touch with me directly.