Wednesdays 12:30-2:00
Starting Wednesday 16th September 2026
12 week term with a break for half term
Taught by Carol Bartlett
Daily Drawing: Sketchbook Stories
Join artist and urban sketcher Carol Bartlett for a relaxed and inspiring sketchbook course that celebrates the art of noticing. Through drawing, watercolour, coloured pencil and mixed-media techniques, you’ll learn how to capture the people, places, objects and moments that make up everyday life.
Working both indoors and outdoors, this course takes full advantage of the beautiful surroundings of Insole Court. From the character of the mansion house and its gardens to the small details often overlooked in daily life, you’ll learn how to observe more closely, sketch with confidence and tell visual stories through your sketchbook pages. Please note that many sessions will involve walking around the grounds, although in bad weather alternative indoor workshops will always take over.
A particular focus of the course will be creating illustrated journals and concertina sketchbooks, where drawings, notes, colours and observations flow naturally from one page to the next. Students will explore how a collection of simple sketches can come together to document a day, a place or an experience, creating sketchbooks that become personal records of life as it happens.
Carol will share practical approaches to drawing on location, helping you develop confidence in sketching from observation, simplifying complex scenes and recording what you see quickly and effectively. Along the way, you’ll experiment with a range of materials and discover techniques used by urban sketchers around the world.
Whether you’re interested in architecture, gardens, café culture, people-watching, treasured objects or simply learning to draw what is in front of you, this course will encourage you to slow down, look carefully and find inspiration in the everyday.
Suitable for all abilities, including complete beginners. No previous drawing experience is required - just curiosity, a willingness to experiment and you’ll be provided with a sketchbook ready to be filled with stories.
Drawing teaches us to see. Sketchbooks help us remember. This course is about both.
Wednesdays 12:30-2:00
Starting Wednesday 16th September 2026
12 week term with a break for half term
Taught by Carol Bartlett
Daily Drawing: Sketchbook Stories
Join artist and urban sketcher Carol Bartlett for a relaxed and inspiring sketchbook course that celebrates the art of noticing. Through drawing, watercolour, coloured pencil and mixed-media techniques, you’ll learn how to capture the people, places, objects and moments that make up everyday life.
Working both indoors and outdoors, this course takes full advantage of the beautiful surroundings of Insole Court. From the character of the mansion house and its gardens to the small details often overlooked in daily life, you’ll learn how to observe more closely, sketch with confidence and tell visual stories through your sketchbook pages. Please note that many sessions will involve walking around the grounds, although in bad weather alternative indoor workshops will always take over.
A particular focus of the course will be creating illustrated journals and concertina sketchbooks, where drawings, notes, colours and observations flow naturally from one page to the next. Students will explore how a collection of simple sketches can come together to document a day, a place or an experience, creating sketchbooks that become personal records of life as it happens.
Carol will share practical approaches to drawing on location, helping you develop confidence in sketching from observation, simplifying complex scenes and recording what you see quickly and effectively. Along the way, you’ll experiment with a range of materials and discover techniques used by urban sketchers around the world.
Whether you’re interested in architecture, gardens, café culture, people-watching, treasured objects or simply learning to draw what is in front of you, this course will encourage you to slow down, look carefully and find inspiration in the everyday.
Suitable for all abilities, including complete beginners. No previous drawing experience is required - just curiosity, a willingness to experiment and you’ll be provided with a sketchbook ready to be filled with stories.
Drawing teaches us to see. Sketchbooks help us remember. This course is about both.
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