Artists of the historic Newlyn School famously painted west Cornwall’s dramatic coastline ‘en plein air’. SHARON GOBLE took up an invitation to follow in their footsteps at The Newlyn School of Art – and offer you the chance to win a voucher for £1,000 worth of courses at the school!
There’s nothing quite like crouching on a beach observing the waves of an incoming tide to make you paint with fast and fluid brushstrokes. This was the challenge landscape artist Imogen Bone set me and my fellow painters during her four-day course, appropriately called Coast.
Having prepared long sheets of paper with a watery acrylic wash before leaving the studio, Imogen gives us eight minutes on the beach at Marazion to capture a loose impression of the seascape in thin paint and broad brushmarks. Then, a further eight minutes to add definition with denser paint and water soluble crayon, if we wish. We do this exercise twice – the second time with just a five-minute time allocation – before retreating from the rapidly-disappearing shore. The results, I have to say, are more pleasing than expected!
I’m an amateur painter, who dabbles with acrylics and watercolours once in a blue moon. Most of my ‘course colleagues’ paint regularly and several sell their work. What we all have in common is a desire to progress and paint in a more fluid style.
Imogen is the perfect artist to teach this. Her fabulously ‘fast and loose’ paintings made in the open air, often overlaid with energetic crayon marks, effortlessly capture the colours, movement and ‘sensations’ of the Cornish landscape.
She reveals: “Someone who once watched me work, said I painted in Morse Code, dot-dot-dash, which is a good way of describing how I like to vary my marks.” It’s as good a description of her unique style as any I could come up with.
We begin and end each day in one of the large, airy studios at The Newlyn School of Art, perched high above the town. I’m wholeheartedly embracing the coastal theme by walking to and fro along the seafront from my amazing B&B at Chapel House in neighbouring Penzance.
On Day One, six of us troop in with a sense of excitement and anticipation. Pre-course emails instructed us to bring old clothes to paint in, something padded to sit on, a packed lunch and suitable attire for short walks along the clifftop, whatever the weather. We arrive to find all manner of painting paraphernalia laid out for us in the studio to take with us to the coast.
The large table we gather around is covered in Imogen’s distinctive artwork – small sketches and paintings on paper and board. After introductions over a cuppa, Imogen outlines her plans for the next few days, depending on the vagaries of the Cornish climate. We bundle up in warm clothing, gather up our gear and hop on a mini bus bound for Cape Cornwall.
It’s a grey and blustery day but it’s a short walk to the coast path and the rocky outcrop above, where Cape Cornwall’s distinctive manmade feature – a brick stack from the former tin mine – stands tall on a headland. No paint is needed for our first exercise: capturing simple outlines of the sweeping ocean views with minimal pencil lines.
Back in the studio, we immerse ourselves in the absorbing exercise of colour mixing. There’s a certain alchemy to seeing colours subtly transform by adding the smallest amount of a different colour or a smidge of white. We also experiment with mixing paint to varying degrees of opacity, from thick to almost translucent. These experiments stand us in good stead over the days to come, and reveal my tendency towards shades of blue and grey. To round off our first day, we apply paint and crayon to some of the composition sketches we made that morning. Suddenly, they come to life.
On Day Two, the sun (mostly) shines on us. We head to Sennen Cove on Cornwall’s north coast and hunker down at the quiet end of the beach away from the hordes of surfers and body boarders. Imogen demonstrates how to observe the natural elements of sea, sky and shoreline without getting bogged down in detail. She makes it sound simple and playful when she advises: “Use confident broad strokes and let your brush dance across the page.” I’m not sure which dance my brush is doing but its tempo doesn’t match Imogen’s!
A full day painting in the fresh air is both exhilarating and exhausting. A brief shower interrupts our work and we hurry to cover up our still-wet paintings. One of mine gathers a fine sprinkling of sand, adding a touch of unplanned texture. That’s ‘en plein air’ for you.
The following day, we head to a stretch of coastline behind the village of Marazion. This is where Imogen sets us our timed challenges on long sheets of paper to achieve a panoramic effect. My take-away: having less time isn’t always detrimental to what you achieve.
On the final morning, under Imogen’s gentle guidance, we work in the studio on aspects of our paintings we are not happy with, or just fancy tinkering with. The plan for the afternoon is a clifftop hike, stopping along the way for short bursts of creativity. The weather has other plans. When the downpour finally peters out, we head to Carn Gloose to paint outdoors one last time – under blue sky.
Each armed with a large wooden board with multiple small sheets of paper taped to it, Imogen encourages us to embark on a series of quick sketches or paintings. One small painting I dash out is among my personal favourites of the week. In blues and greys, of course.
Back home, I prop it up on display on our kitchen dresser. A lovely reminder of my week of creativity with kindred spirits on the Cornish coast, and a prompt to get back out sketching and painting.
The Newlyn School – A Cornish colony of painters
The colony of artists who settled in and around Newlyn from the 1880s were attracted by the Cornish light and landscape. Their paintings show their fascination with the working life of the local fishing communities.
Penlee House Gallery and Museum in Penzance is a great place to discover the art of West Cornwall. It houses a collection of paintings by members of the Newlyn School, including its ‘founding father’ Stanley Forbes, along with Norman Garstin, Walter Langley and Lamorna Birch.
The present-day Newlyn School of Art was established with Arts Council funding. The roster of tutors reads like a roll call of some of the most exciting artists working in Cornwall today.
Goin’ to the Chapel
Sharon stayed at Chapel House, Penzance, a handsome townhouse in an elevated position looking out to sea and towards St. Mary’s Church. Perfectly blending Georgian architecture with modern style, comfort and artwork, Chapel House has six bright and airy double rooms in the main house and two contemporary suites in the courtyard.
Guests can relax, recharge and reset with a choice of wellness experiences including a sauna in the charming garden and a hot tub with harbour views. Indulge with a bespoke Wellness Retreat to make the most of the blue water health options including spa treatments, a guided sea swim or a dip at the nearby Jubilee Pool with a session in its Geothermal pool.
Definitely not your bog standard B&B, the bathrooms at Chapel House are something special. On the top floor, a contemporary glazed roof provides divine views of the church tower from the landing and one of the bedrooms. Fancy bathing ‘en plein air’? Slide back the glazing in Room Six and soak in the ecclesiastical views, as Sharon did.
The generous breakfasts also deserve special mention. Freshly prepared with quality ingredients, they provide the perfect start to a day exploring this part of Cornwall.
Competition time!
Win £1,000 in art school vouchers
We have teamed up with the Newlyn School of Art to offer a prize of a voucher for £1,000 worth of courses at the school to one lucky Coast reader. The winner can choose from any of the available courses at newlynartschool.co.uk.
To enter please answer this question by September 13, 2024.
Which famous British artist painted at the Newlyn School?
- Money
- Munnings
- Manet
KELSEY TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Prize is non-refundable and no cash alternative is available. The draw is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Entry is free. Open to residents of the UK aged over 18. Employees of Kelsey Media and the competition provider and their family members are not eligible to win. Only one entry permitted per household; no bulk entries will be accepted. The first correct entry drawn after the closing date will win. Our winner will be notified within 28 days. If our winner fails to respond after three attempts at contact, a new winner will be drawn. The prize is not transferable. If any prize or product is lost or damaged during the course of delivery to the recipient, Kelsey Media will provide reasonable assistance in seeking to resolve the problem. However, it will not always be possible to obtain replacements for lost or damaged goods and, in that event, no financial compensation would be payable by Kelsey Media or its affiliates. We reserve the right to cancel the competition if circumstances change which are beyond our control. Coast is a Kelsey Media brand. Here at Kelsey Media we take your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to provide the products and services you have requested from us. We will only contact you with news and special offers via the preferences you have indicated. We will never share your information with any third party without your consent. You can view our full Privacy Policy at kelsey.co.uk/privacy-notice/
NEWLYN ART SCHOOL TERMS & CONDITIONS: Prize is £1,000 vouchers towards a course/courses at The Newlyn School of Art. To be redeemed by November 31, 2025. Over 21s only.
