Chasing the Light

Tony Allain is a landscape painter, tutor and author who was brought up in Guernsey and now lives in Scotland, though he spent many years in New Zealand and still travels often. He is an absolute master of the art of soft pastel painting. Tony is a wonderful tutor with a great sense of humour - always encouraging and inspiring.

Tony is a member of the Pastel Society United Kingdom, a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, a member of the Master Circle of the International Association of Pastel Societies, and a Master of the Pastel Artists of New Zealand. These memberships are granted following juried selection according to professional standards and competitions within the world of pastel, and Tony has exhibited widely with them all. His works are in many private and corporate collections, and he has gained prestigious awards worldwide. A regular contributor to ‘The Pastel Journal’ and ‘The Artist’ magazine, he is also a juror for international exhibitions.

Tony says: ‘Have you ever wanted to bring a looser and more painterly feel to your work, loaded with juicy colour and flooded with light? On this course I will share some of my working methods concentrating on painting landscapes, seascapes, figures and still life subjects that delight you and excite the viewer. Each day will start with a demonstration with heaps of challenges and loads of individual help at the easel. I will include discussions on pastel painting materials, surfaces, developing your painting styles and working methods unique to pastels. The workshop will be studio-based, but will include some ’en plein air’ work and sketching when weather permits. Using our sketches and thumbnails along with our reference material we can bring some fresh colour and a more painterly feel to our work. We will learn how to simplify our approach to achieve exciting impressionistic paintings that have a strong design with bold colour and expressive marks that use direct strokes on a textured surface to emphasize 'brushwork'.

visit Tony’s website