Room With a View with Kate Nielson / 2 Day Workshop

Suitable for all levels

A Two-Day Painting Workshop Exploring Interior & Exterior Space

This two-day workshop explores the dynamic relationship between interior and exterior space in painting. Participants will create paintings that look outward from an interior setting — incorporating windows, doorways, mirrors, and glimpses of the outside world.

Drawing inspiration from artists such as Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, and Édouard Vuillard, the workshop examines how painters blur the boundary between interior space and landscape. Participants will explore how light, colour, pattern, and perspective can connect inside and outside environments within a single composition.

A strong emphasis will be placed on drawing and compositional development as a way of constructing complex interior spaces before beginning a final painting. Through observational studies and exploratory sketches, participants will investigate spatial relationships, unusual viewpoints, and the interaction between decorative interiors and the landscape beyond.

Participants will explore:

• Framing the outside world through windows, doorways, and openings
• Balancing interior space with exterior views
• Using drawing to develop composition and structure
• Pattern, decorative surfaces, and spatial rhythm within interiors
• Colour relationships between interior and landscape
• Flattened space, shifting perspectives, and unconventional viewpoints
• Translating drawing studies into a resolved painting

Day 1 — Drawing & Constructing the Composition

Introduction & Artist Context

• Looking at paintings by Matisse, Bonnard, and Vuillard
• Discussion of interiors with windows and layered space
• Exploring how artists connect interior pattern with exterior landscape
• Examining perspective, flattened space, and compositional balance

Observational Drawing Studies

Participants complete a series of quick and extended drawings exploring:

• Window views and framing devices
• Interior objects interacting with outside space
• Cropping and unusual viewpoints
• Spatial relationships and balance
• Simplifying shapes and tonal structure

Special focus will be placed on how drawing can be used to organise complex compositions.

Compositional Development

Participants develop a series of more resolved preparatory drawings exploring:

• Placement of interior and exterior elements
• Pattern and repetition
• Tonal contrast and light
• Movement through the composition
• Spatial flattening and layered viewpoints

Individual guidance will help participants refine their ideas into a strong painting composition.

Planning the Painting

• Translating drawings onto canvas
• Establishing compositional structure
• Blocking in tonal areas and colour relationships
• Beginning the painting process

Day 2 — Developing the Final Painting

Painting Development

Participants continue developing their paintings with individual guidance focusing on:

• Building spatial relationships
• Integrating pattern and surface detail
• Connecting interior and exterior colour harmonies
• Using light to move the eye through the composition
• Maintaining freshness and energy from the preparatory drawings

Refining the Painting

Further development and refinement:

• Editing and simplifying compositions
• Resolving focal points
• Balancing detail with flattened areas of space
• Creating cohesion between interior and landscape

Final Reflection & Critique

• Group discussion of compositional approaches
• Reflection on drawing as a planning tool
• Discussion of colour, space, and perspective strategies

Materials

Participants may work in either oil or acrylic paint.

Still life objects and interior setups will be provided.

Participants are required to bring:

• Acrylic or oil paints
• Brushes
• Large canvas between 60 x 60cm and 120 x 120cm
• Sketch pad
• Pencil and/or charcoal
• Ruler (optional)
• Rags/apron

Terms and conditions

Please choose carefully as fees are non-refundable. Refunds of course fees will only be given if the course is cancelled or a place is not available in the course. Payment of course fees implies that you have read and agree to the WAC Terms & Conditions which are available online.