Collection: Short Courses

Are you eager to move from being an arts enthusiast to a practising, exhibiting and sustainable artist? Learn what it takes to become a professional artist; how to research and understand the investment of time, money, planning, energy and creativity it requires to survive in the arts.

Image courtesy of the Geoff Raby Opening, National Art School

Are you time-poor yet want to learn how to take great photos? In this two-day intensive photography workshop, you’ll let go of relying on the camera’s automatic settings and be taught the fundamentals of manual exposure, empowering your creative shooting capabilities.

This hands-on, practical workshop will cover the basics of ceramic glaze composition, surface development, application techniques, and firing over a range of temperatures. Learn how to test, apply, and fire glazes to suit your own practice. 

Have you always wanted to paint but haven’t known where to start? Designed for complete beginners, this course will give you a solid and practical foundation in painting using acrylics and oil paints. Learn simple processes for colour mixing, composition, and perspective, to produce a suite of finished paintings.

Learn to see beyond the bewildering details of your subject to gather the colour information you need to get your painting off to a great start! 

Discover how to think of colour in a way that enables you to mix the exact colour that you want confidently and directly, every time. The course assumes no prior knowledge and has given great results with students from beginner to advanced levels.

Ignite your understanding and enjoyment of watercolour drawing and painting by learning traditional methods and contemporary mark-making techniques. Learn to paint the colours of changing light and to capture its beauty with transparent watercolour painting methods, both in the studio and at outdoor locations.

Become inspired by the art of Rene Magritte, whose illusionary paintings connect the poetic expression of ordinary subjects into mythical realms. Complete a series of studies in different mediums and develop at least one sustained painting informed by Magritte’s work, exploring your own imaginative expressions. 

Photo credit: Art Gallery of NSW, www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/magritte/ 

Printing with coloured inks from multiple plates is an exciting way to advance and develop your etching practice. Progress from simple monochromatic prints and learn to confidently add colour to your etchings using more challenging techniques. 

Curious about what it’s really like to be a working artist? Step behind the scenes of the art world and visit real artists’ studios, going beyond the white walls of galleries and museums, to the places where creativity and experimentation come to life. 

A dynamic 2-day ceramics workshop which explores slab building and a variety of surface embellishment techniques using terracotta clay. Develop experimental hand-built slab forms with vessel-like structures. 

Discover the ancient tradition of clay figure-making to hand build intimate, ceramic sculptures in the image of your loved ones, as a totem of remembrance. Learn foundational ceramics skills combined with artistic outcomes. 

Explore the art of collage and learn the practices of cutting and composition with award-winning artist Deborah Kelly. Learn to play purposefully with pictures and develop a range of technical skills to create original artworks, developing new imagery from historical materials.

Discover how to draw from the figure, from initial sketches of life models to detailed portraits and sustained studies. Learn to see and draw anatomical structures, bring out the personality of the subject and breathe life into your drawings.

Discover new approaches to handbuilding in clay with a focus on making colourful ceramic vessels and objects using experimental techniques to push the boundaries of the form. Learn to work with a range of techniques including pinching, stacking, joining, coiling and slab constructions.

Learn how to throw pots with a strong architectural form to create objects of simplicity and beauty. Explore the basic structures, movements and techniques of wheelforming in this hands-on course and become proficient on the potter’s wheel.

A comprehensive introduction to the world of printmaking techniques such as lino and woodcut, dry point etching and Monoprinting. Explore layering processes, multiple plates, and sensory drawing exercises to create a series of prints.