This three-day workshop provides the students with an introduction and method into in capturing the energy and atmosphere of the urban landscape using photographic references. Participants will learn how to translate two-dimensional images into dynamic paintings, focusing on composition, perspective, and colour to bring cityscapes to life. Painting an urban landscape from photos allows artists to capture the energy and changing nature of city life, reinterpreting everyday scenes to evoke emotion and beauty through bold lines, light and shadow, and colour.

The urban landscape is a subject that often is overshadowed by more traditional rural or coastal subjects in painting, but urban settings offer a rich contrast of light and shadow, the energy of human activity.  Urban scenes also present unique artistic opportunities through a combination of concrete, steel, and glass, along with the dynamic interplay of light and shadow on buildings and streets.  Urban subjects present unique artistic opportunities through a combination of concrete, steel, and glass, along with the dynamic interplay of light and shadow on buildings and streets.

Students will learn also what to look for when taking reference photographs for paintings to maximize the chances of creating inspiring and satisfying compositions.

This workshop is geared towards painting in oils, but can also be suitable for participants who chose to use acrylics. This workshop is open to artists of all level of skill, and will be of most benefit to painters who already have some general understanding and at least little experience of drawing/painting.