Two Days $450

Monday 21 & Tuesday 22 September 2026, 9am to 4pm

Register here

Includes Morning Tea, BYO lunch

Two Days $450

Thursday 24 September, 9am to 4pm & Friday 25 September, 9am to 3pm

Register here

Includes Morning Tea, BYO lunc

 

Registration $50

Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Fishtrap Theatre

Saturday 26 September, 2.30 – 5pm

Note: Fully Registered Artists – DO NOT REGISTER as this is already included in your Access All Areas Pass.

LEON HOLMES MASTERCLASS

In this two day Masterclass, Leon will share his knowledge of oil painting, focusing on helping you better understand what you are seeing and why some artists use unexpected colours in areas that just seem to work. He will demonstrate tips and tricks for manipulating paint to create luscious, rich, clean colour and avoid muddy results. This workshop will be the ultimate warm-up bootcamp to prepare you for a week of painting at PADU and open possibilities for any future outdoor painting adventures. Students will practice the techniques hands-on. Depending on the individual and the time available, there will be time for painting their own scene as Leon walks around, giving one on one advice and assistance.

Students struggling with muddy colours or those looking to understand more about colour and light will get the most out of this workshop. But if you have bee painting for years and feel your work needs a new direction, Leon always has something new he has discovered and is willing to share!

Two Days $360 plus Hire options.

Please note, the standard ticket does not include any equipment. If you are new to Plein Air Oil Painting or would like to try our equipment please contact Leon Holmes directly for Hire Option 1 or 2.

Hire Option 1:   Easel and Tripod –  $30 for both days

(incl. 9×12” Pochade Box & Tripod only – no other materials included)

Hire Option 2:  All inclusive –  $60 for both days

(incl. 9×12″ Pochade Box, Tripod, Swag Apron, MH Oil Paint, Neef Brushes, Italian Palette Knife, Dipper Pot, Medium (MH refined Gum turpentine or AO Odourless solvent), MH OLeo Gel, primed panels and gloves.

Monday 21 & Tuesday 22 September, 9am to 4pm

Monday 21 & Tuesday 22 September, 9am to 4pm

Register here

Includes Morning Tea, BYO lunch

Material List

If you do not already have any of the following please refrain from purchasing prior to the workshop. Part of my teaching is about equipment and in many cases having quality tools and materials can be the difference between struggle and success in your art practice. Cheap quality paints are a false economy, you end up using more and will struggle with muddy paintings.

I’ve seen too many classes where students buy paint etc that they never use again so please bring only equipment you already have. This way you can make more educated purchases for your personal needs after my teachings. To make your life simple, we will be able to supply you directly with any art supplies Leon will be teaching with. These will be available for purchase before and during the workshop. Please reach out if you like to pre-purchase.

Easel

A lightweight outdoor easel, Pochade Box or French Box Easel with a wooden or other neutral toned mixing palette. We have kits available for hire and sale (Hire equipment only available in WA)

(I will bring a few of our Pochade boxes and tripods. To avoid missing out you will find them available with Express post landing at the door within 5-7 day – leonholmesart.com.au)

Boards (Primed or gessoed)

• 2 per day approximate size 20 x 30 cm/ 8”x12” or 20 x 40cm / 8”x16”
• Something to transport your wet painting in, eg. pizza box works if you don’t have a panel carrier

Paints

For the sake of the workshop I will be teaching a limited outdoors palette and will further explain other colours and their uses. As a minimum please bring simply a tube of:

• BLUE• RED• YELLOW• WHITE

Feel free to bring any extra colours you might already have.

Brushes & Knives

• 5 or 6 of your best brushes in a variety of sizes up to 1” wide • A softer hair brush will also be handy – not essential • palette knife/s- I carry two different sizes 1 inch and 2 inch long

Other materials needed:

• Small sketchpad and pencil
• Artist quality Pure Gum Turpentine Do NOT bring odourless Turpentine!

(If you have trouble with the solvents for oils, we can also provide you with an odourless alternative)

• small dipper pot or jar (for Gum turps/medium)
• 2 x clips/clamps, big enough for clipping your boards to your easel
• 3 x rags per day or a roll of paper towel (old tea towels or something of this size is best)
• Painting clothes or apron
• Gloves (Kitchen style – latex or similar style)
• Wide brimmed hat, sunscreen & bug spray
• Plastic bag (for rubbish)
• Foldable chair• snacks, BYO lunch, water

But what if I need it? The less you have the more you will make do and use creative ways to achieve some amazing results.

Andy will demonstrate his bold watercolour technique with emphasis on simplifying the scene using tone and composition to create a successful painting on location. Dependent on weather conditions, students will either follow along with Andy or watch then choose their own scene and paint with Andy’s guidance. We will look at how Andy built a lightweight watercolour easel from an inexpensive retail box easel and look at his minimal setup of tools and limited palette of watercolours.

Oil painters who have shied away from watercolour may find this workshop especially useful as Andy was very much an oil painter, for more than 20 years, before adopting watercolour in 2022. As such, he is in a great position to speak of the differences in behaviour and approach.

This workshop is ideal for those with some watercolour experience looking to take their practice outdoors but also to artists comfortable with other media and looking to add watercolours to their repertoire.

Two Days $350

Wednesday 23 & Thursday 24 September 9am to 4pm 

Register here

Includes Morning Tea, BYO lunch

Do you have Procreate on your iPad but wonder how you might use it in your traditional-media art practice? So many people download it, play with it for a few weeks then give up, unsure why or how to use it.

In this workshop, Andy will take you through his process of using Procreate and Apple Pencil on the iPad to reassess plein air sketches and paintings that “missed the mark”. Introducing students to the incredible power hidden beneath Procreate’s deceptively simple interface, Andy will show how to use the selection and adjustments tools to match and alter colour and tone over the original painting and how to best work with layers while playing with possible adjustments to composition and cropping. Sometimes, a few minutes in Procreate is all it takes to get a painting headed in the right direction before repainting it in the studio.

Tuesday 29 September 2026 9am to 4pm

Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Dance Studio

$175

Morning tea provided, BYO lunch

 

Adding figures to landscapes brings storytelling, movement and atmosphere to your paintings. Join acclaimed artist Leanne Pearson for this one-day studio workshop exploring expressive ways to confidently include people in your work.

Working primarily in oils (acrylics welcome), Leanne will demonstrate her bold, painterly approach and guide you to loosen up, use vibrant colour and create depth and light. With personalised instruction in a supportive environment, this workshop suits both emerging and experienced artists looking to expand their creative expression.

The class will cover:

• How to compose your story
• Drawing tips and techniques
• How to break figures down into basic shapes and understand perspective in figures
• How to create drama with colour and contrast
• Create looseness and impressionistic outcomes

One Day $170

Friday 25 September 9am to 3pm

Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Dance Studio

Register here

Includes Morning Tea, BYO lunch

Fun Outside with Watercolour with Gordon Alexander

Materials List

• Watercolour paper- (I prefer at least 300gm weight and Rough texture- don’t skimp on paper! I use Saunders/Arches/Baohong etc)
• 1 board (to attach your paper to)
• 1″ masking tape to secure paper to board etc
• Brushes! At least 1 midsize round (with a good point), 1 rigger, Wash brush (I favour mops with good points but a hake would do fine)
• Pencil (I use 2B or 4B) + eraser (kneadable is better)
• 1 palette (with at least 4 decent spaces for mixing)
• My typical colour palette: French Ultramarine, Cerulean blue, Cobalt Blue, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Quinacridone burnt orange/Burnt Sienna, Nickel Azo Yellow, Hansa yellow deep, Organic Vermillion/Mayan Orange, Cadmium Orange, Cobalt Turquoise/cobalt teal.
• (Paints Must be at least student quality eg W&N Cotman but buying single pigment paints is usually best in my opinion- ‘Art Spectrum’ are cheapish and fine). Bring whatever pigments you have or prefer- it’s definitely more important to be familiar with the few pigments you have than to have every colour under the sun- I tend to use no more than half a dozen pigments in any given painting.
• Optional easel (I find it infinitely beneficial being able to stand up and paint and have a lightweight camera tripod with an attachment to secure a board to- it’s important for watercolour to be able to adjust the angle of the board- some prefer to sit with their stuff on their lap or a bench/table- all viable depending on preference.)
• Water container
• hat/sunscreen/snacks/money for coffee etc!

Explore the magic of painting with gouache on black paper.

This technique is perfect for capturing quick, high contrast paintings that really pop.

Learn how painting the light values only, whilst reserving the black of the surface, allows you to quickly capture fleeting light.

We will start with a number of small step-by-step exercises that focus on learning technique and then progress to capturing the scenes around us.  The aim is to build the skills necessary to capture a scene.

For the purposes of this workshop, we will be painting on black paper although other surfaces are suitable.

Gouache is the ideal medium for painting while travelling as it dries fast to a beautiful matt finish and washes up with water.  It’s extremely forgiving and requires minimal equipment.

We will cover:

• Different brands and types of gouache.
• Recommended substrates and surface preparation for gouache.
• Gouache painting techniques including blending, wet on wet, tonal layering and dry brushing.
• Simplifying values and creating the illusion of detail.
• Methods to seal and protect your gouache painting.

This workshop is suitable for painters of all levels and participants will go home with a number of small paintings and workshop notes.

Take a tour of Linda’s gouache on black sketchbook on her YouTube channel to see more of her work or visit her FB and IG @Lindamacaulayartist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDsevO70nvI

Friday 25 September 9am – 3pm 

Plein Air, Mandurah

One Day $170

Register here