This five-week acrylic painting workshop is designed for beginners and intermediate artists who want to develop their skills, confidence and personal approach to painting. Each week we’ll explore key elements of successful acrylic painting, including composition, value, colour mixing, light, brushwork and creating depth. Through demonstrations, exercises and guided painting projects, we’ll look at ways to simplify and strengthen your paintings while making confident decisions about colour and design. Beginners will gain a solid foundation, while more experienced painters will have opportunities to refine their techniques and push their work further. We’ll work from reference photos and explore a variety of approaches to acrylic painting.

Students should bring:

• Supports: A paper pad made for acrylic paint with a canvas texture, this is great for some of our exercises, a few canvas boards or stretched canvases for actual paintings. Bigger is not better in a workshop setting, but use a size you feel comfortable with, 8″x10″ or 9″x12″ are good. One per class is enough.
• Brushes: I generally use a 1-inch flat synthetic or bristle brush for just about everything, but also have a small rigger brush for thin lines and signing the painting. If you are using high-flow or liquid paint, then soft brushes are good, with heavy body acrylic stiffer brushes work well. Bring what you have.
• Pigment Choices: I mostly paint with Golden Liquid and/or High Flow acrylics. I also use Heavy Body Acrylic Paint, you will need a thinning medium if you are using heavy body paint. Suggested palette: Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Titanium White, and Carbon Black. Feel free to bring any other paint colour if you have them.
• Liquid and High Flow acrylic paints are easier to use over Heavy Body or tubed paint, but bring whatever you have. Buy the best quality you can afford. Golden is my brand of choice.
• Mediums: Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Satin) or GAC 100 – used for thinning heavy body paint and glazing.
• White Gesso. Gesso your canvases prior to the class, it will give you a better result over just using the canvas straight out of the package. (the LSA has some on hand.)
• Other Stuff: water bucket, paper towels, gloves, palette, pencil, sketchbook/notebook, tape.
• Photos: Please bring in some reference photos that inspire you. Your images, no magazine shots. Print out your photos, or ones on your phone or ipad.

Bookings

Sharon Fox Cranston

Sharon Fox Cranston’s art captures more than landscapes—it tells a story shaped by her journey from the UK to Nova Scotia.

Her early professional years in graphic design gave way to her true calling as a full-time artist over the past eighteen years. Sharon’s work spans acrylics, oils, pastels, and gouache, with a focus on light, shadow, and mood in landscapes.

An award winning artist, Sharon’s is a member of the Society of Canadian Artists, Pastel Artists Canada and the Pastel Society of America. She also mentors artists online as a Master Artist with Mastrius.

Sharon’s creative process is both meticulous and intuitive, beginning with thumbnails and evolving through colour stories and layers—indicative of her commitment to exploring the interplay of light and shadow, texture, and emotion in her compositions. Her distinctive brushstrokes and mark-making instills her paintings with her signature style.

Sharon’s work resonates with collectors and audiences alike. Beyond painting, she enjoys videography, and writing, embracing storytelling across media. For Sharon Fox Cranston, art is an ongoing exploration—a means to interpret the world, foster community, and inspire connection. 

Bookings

Tickets

Price$425.00

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