IMPRESSIONIST TECHNIQUES | SINEAD LAWLESS

Taking Bookings

6 Jun

Dates: Sat 14th Nov - Sun 15th Nov 2026
Times: 10am-4pm
Location: Studio 21, Enniskerry
skill Level: Not suitable for Beginners

Please see detailed workshop information below

If this course is fully booked or not currently scheduled, go ahead add your name to the waiting list HERE

Payment plans available contact us directly

aBOUT THE WORKSHOP

In the mid 1800’s advances in paint, brushes, and the advent of photography brought about a new movement in art which became known as Impressionism. Known for being ‘loose’ and ‘painterly’ this is a much loved era in art with post-Impressionism hot on its heels taking colour to the next level.

In this 2 day course Sinéad will guide you through creating an oil painting in the styles of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.

If you love Impressionism and wish to pay homage, or if you simply want to loosen up your current painting approach this course may suit you.

Not suitable for beginners. Some knowledge of oil paint required.

What you’ll learn:
- Choosing and using materials
- Understanding colour theory
- Optical mixing and the science of colour perception
- Expressive brushwork
- Alla Prima (wet-on-wet) techniques
You will need:
- Bring a printed reference of the image you wish to paint. This can be of anything but best to work from print-out, not screen.
- A canvas or multiple surfaces to chose from.
- Oil pad (sheets of paper that have been primed for oils. We will use these to make studies. A4 is fine)
- Odourless Solvent (Gamsol, sansodor etc.)
- A pen or pencil for notes
- Rag or kitchen roll
- Palette
- Palette knife
OIL PAINT: With oil paint you don’t have to go out and buy a whole new range of colours! Sinead would rather you came with what you have and go from there.
If oils are new for you or you fancy shopping please consider getting the following:
Cad yellow pale
Cad yellow
Cad red
Alizarin crimson
Ultramarine
Phthalo blue
Other options that I personally like to have are Phthalo green, dioxazine violet and quinacridone magenta. If you are buying paints for the first time Sinead recommends you buy the Winton brand by Winsor & Newton as these are the most cost-effective and good quality for that price range.
I recommend having two whites, zinc and titanium.
BRUSHES: With brushes what’s important is that we recognise theres a difference between synthetic and bristle brushes and bristle is more effective for alla prima so below is the link to my Rosemary&Co. (affiliate link) but they are not essential. It might serve as a guide for what to look for though.

-I would ask everyone to have some ‘flats’ in a bristle and in some small sizes (maybe a 0, 2, 4).
-If you are working larger than a4 you will need some larger sizes.
-It’s good to have some softer brushes for blending also. See the second link for my fave blender.

But before you start buying loads of new brushes you can bring the brushes you have. Let’s have a discussion about them and get to know them better.
Similarly with oil paint you don’t have to go out and buy a whole new range of colours. We’ll work with what you have. If you are buying paints for the first time I would say just buy the Winton brand by Winsor & Newton as these are the most cost-effective and good quality for that price range. I would ask that people have two whites: titanium white, and one other white (flake, zinc or ‘soft mixing’)
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/oil-brushes/classic-oils/classic-long-flat?u=SineadArtist
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/oil-brushes/eclipse-oils/eclipse-combers?u=SineadArtist