EVOCATIVE LANDSCAPES - OIL AND COLD WAX PAINTING IN SCOTLAND WITH GILLIAN LEE SMITH
Inverness, Scotland
June 8-15, 2025
Join UK artist Gillian Lee Smith in Inverness, Scotland for an Evocative Landscapes workshop using oil and cold wax.
The atmosphere of place is always at the heart of Gillian’s landscape paintings – she seeks to go beyond pure representation or replication but to evoke somehow a sense of place, memory, and emotion. Through multiple layers of color, texture and value where almost as much paint is removed as is laid down, it’s a process that can render the most beautiful and unexpected results.
Breathe of Winter
Immersing ourselves in the landscape on our trips out, we will sketch the places we visit—the landscape, castles, and surrounding areas of Inverness – an evocative, soul-enriching place that will inspire the colors and atmosphere of our paintings.
Itinerary
Day One, Sunday June 8 – Everyone arrives and we will meet for our first group dinner at Hou Hou Mei.
Day Two, Monday June 9 - Have breakfast before meeting in the Millburn Room where Gillian will show examples of her oil and cold wax medium landscapes and castle paintings sharing how plein air and sketchbook watercolor sketches have been inspiring her recent explorations in oil and cold wax painting.
We will play with our small palette of watercolors before venturing out on our first sketching trip on Monday afternoon. We will board the Temptation Tour that takes us by bus to the legendary Loch Ness. Here we will cruise the Loch stopping at the Urquhart Castle where you will sketch for an hour before returning to Inverness. Lunch and Dinner (Jimmy Badgers) will be provided.
Day Three, Tuesday June 10 - Have breakfast before meeting in the Millburn Room at 9:30 a.m. Here we will play with mark-making, layering, and scraping back to build layers in our paintings. We will stop for lunch before we explore color mixing and continue building layers on several paintings simultaneously. Dinner will be at 27 Castle Street.
Day Four, Wednesday June 11 – Today is another day trip to absorb the beautiful landscape, collect sketches and inspiration, make color notes and additional drawing and writing to bring back to the studio to help us further develop our paintings. Have breakfast at the hotel then we will meet for an excursion to Dunrobin Castle, a 1-hour bus ride north of Inverness. Lunch will be at the castle. Dinner will be at The Mustard Seed.
Day Five, Thursday June 12 —Have breakfast before we meet in the Millburn Room at 9:30 a.m. We will continue to add layers to our paintings, building up textures, scraping back, and experimenting with solvent reductions. We will focus on beginning to further develop our paintings through shape, value, color, texture, and atmosphere. Lunch. Dinner will be at the River House.
Day Six, Friday June 13 —Have your breakfast before meeting in the Millburn Room for our final day of painting. We will refine our collection of small paintings to create compositions that speak of our experience of being in this wonderful landscape. Lunch will be provided. Dinner is on your own this evening.
Day Seven —- Saturday June 14 – A final day to explore the local area together. What better way to understand the Scottish Highlands then to visit the Culloden battlefield and museum. Located only 5 miles from Inverness, we will spend the morning here with lunch in the cafe. After returning to Inverness, you will have the afternoon free before we meet for our final dinner together this evening at Cafe 1.
Day 8 - Sunday June 15 — Everyone leaves or stays on to enjoy further exploring Scotland.
This Art Escape Includes
Five days instruction from Gillian
Seven nights accommodation at the Leonardo Hotel based on double occupancy
All meals except for one dinner
Visit to Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Dunrobin Castle and Gardens, Culloden Battlefield and Museum
Some supplies
New Art Tribe
The cost for this Escape is $4200, based on double occupancy. A single room supplement charge is $600. A $1,000 deposit is due upon registering. The remaining payment is due February 8, 2025.
Travel insurance is required.
Where we will be staying:
Millburn Road, IV2 3TR Inverness, +44 87 04100800
They have a spa and an indoor heated pool!
We will Provide
Paper Towels
Tissue Paper
Glassine Paper
Sheets of Palette Paper
Supply List
Camera or phone camera
A sketchbook
Drawing pencils, sharpener, eraser
A small portable palette of 4 – 6 watercolors with a mixing palette (Gillian will list some recommendations for colors)
A portable water container
Two or three watercolor brushes
A small spray bottle
Easy peel masking tape (blue or green tape)
A pad of Arches Oil (Huile paper) – 16 x 20 inches
A tin of Gamblin cold wax medium
A small bottle of Gamblin solvent
A small selection of oil paints (Gillian will share color recommendations)
A small glass jar
A pipette dropper
A couple of palette knives
A soft brayer
One or two small silicone squeegees (like bowl scrapers) (4 to 6 inches in size)
A one-inch bristle brush
A couple of other brushes (Gillian will recommend sizes)
Embossing tool
Optional Extras
● One or two oil bars
● Small gessoed boards – 8 x 10 inches max
This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.
Gillian Lee Smith is a Scottish artist living in the beautiful, historic North-East coast of England that daily influences her work. As a teacher, Gillian is inspired to bring her love of people and place to each workshop using a wealth of techniques to make new discoveries along with her students. She has several very successful online courses and a mentoring program.