Creative Pattern Design

Use the amazing backdrop of the Victoria gallery and museum to inspire your own original patterns for print design.

Programme:

Creative pattern design workshop inspired by the amazing interior treasures of the Victoria Gallery and Museum.The beautiful interior of Liverpools Victoria Gallery and Museum is a rich aladdins cave of decorative treasures and bold architectural features.

In this 1 day workshop we will use the amazing backdrop of the gallery as the starting point for creating original patterns that capture the imagination! This workshop is Ideal for anyone who loves print and pattern and who would love to learn how to make their own designs. Creating patterns in an analogue way helps us to understand how repeatable patterns work and you only need a good imagination to create something unique!

I will provide paper and a range of materials for people to try out but it would be great if everyone can bring their preferred mediums, and a sketch book.

I can offer to have the patterns printed onto fabric for an additional cost, which would take 2-3 weeks and can be posted out to anyone who is interested.

I will introduce myself to the group and share examples of my own pattern designs developed for brands in the fashion industry. I will show inspirational images from traditional Victorian tiles and decorative designs to Della Robbia ceramics and William Morris prints- all of which fit the aesthetic of the Victoria Gallery and Museum.

Then we will take a walk and explore the rich interiors of the gallery and museum, making sketches along the way and taking photos to inspire our own original designs.

We will use our photos, sketches and inspiration images to develop our own original artworks. We will try out various mediums / motifs from our inspiration before deciding on a design to develop further.

—Lunch Break—

After lunch, we will develop our artworks into a seamless repeat tile by cutting our design horizontally, flipping the design and filling in the gaps. Repeating this on the vertical until we have a design which wraps around. At the end of the session we will end up with a handmade repeat pattern. This design could be then developed into a pattern to be printed on fabrics, wallpaper etc.

To end, we will share our completed designs with the group, in a mini exhibition.

This workshop is designed to give confidence in designing patterns from scratch, to use your imagination and the beautiful surroundings of the Victoria Gallery and Museum to create an original design of your own.

Tutor: Katie Tyson

Katie is a Wirral based illustrator and fabric print designer. She creates hand-painted watercolour illustrations, which adorn printed textiles, cards and personalised goods. Katie has designed prints for many established brands in the fashion industry such as Zara, River Island and Anthropologie to create clothing worn and loved by many!

Dates:

Saturday 15th February, 10am-4pm

Cost:

£75

*For University of Liverpool Staff and Students the course is £35 with proof of University ID (There are a limit of 5 tickets available at this special price)

Materials to bring:

Sketchbook or paper

– Selection of pencils

– Masking tape

– Rubber and pencil sharpener

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Notes:

There are a maximum of 16 places available on the course, so early booking is essential.To avoid a booking fee and pay by card, cheque or cash, please contact dot-art Services directly on 0345 017 6660.

Portrait Drawing

Learn the fundamentals of drawing characterful portraits capturing a true likeness, in this 6 week course led by tutor Katherine Dereli.

Programme

Starting from the basics, your tutor will provide exercises and tuition to help you improve your portrait drawing or help get you started. Suitable for beginners, or for more experienced portrait sketchers.

Tutor: Kathy Dereli

Kathy is trained in traditional techniques in drawing and sculpture which she uses to create well-crafted artworks with a modern sensibility. She has lead classes and demonstrations in both disciplines for several years.

Dates

6th, 13th, 20th, 27th February, 6th, 13th March

Cost

£95 for 6 week course

Materials you must bring:

The essential materials will include pencils (H, HB, B as a starting point), A3 paper pad (cartridge paper or rag paper is best) a rubber and sharpener.

Notes

There are a maximum of 16 places available on the course, so early booking is essential. To avoid a booking fee and pay by card, cheque or cash, please contact dot-art Services directly on 0345 017 6660.

We have introduced a range of safety measures to keep everyone as safe and comfortable as possible. We ask everyone to please respect social distancing guidelines, all staff will be keeping their distance too.

Accessible toilets are available.

Drawing Essentials

An evening course for beginners to explore drawing techniques and skills from tone and shade to 3D objects and faces across 6 weeks.

Programme:

Week 1: Still life objects – practice of drawing strokes and sketching a basic still-life set up. We will explore the skills of capturing object’s shape, light, textures and stroke works.

Week 2: Space and perspective – Drawing indoor space or a landscape reference photo. Introducing perspective and how to create spacing in the composition.

Week 3: Focus on tools – Use fine liner pens to draw and add colour. We will go over skills of creating outlines. We will cover how to add colour, texture and depth.

Week 4: Lines and Composition – Quick sketching of still lifes set up and items around the venue. There will be a range of excercise such as quick sketching and then play around with constructing a composition.

Week 5: Drawing animals and plants – With the skills developed in the previous weeks we will turn our focus to creating a subject based drawing. Examine the basic structure of plants, animals and humans from reference photos. Your tutor will give you some excercise to analyse and capture complex structure. Understanding the features of animals and human in an approachable way.

Week 6: Final drawing – With what you have learnt you will then choose to focus on completing a final drawing from life or reference photo.

Dates:
Monday evenings 6pm – 8pm
3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th February, 3rd, 10th March

Cost:
£95

Materials you must bring:

  • Sketchbook/sketching papers at least A5 size and 120gsm weight
  • Pencils at least HB, 2B, 5B one for each
  • Rubber and Kneadable Erarser
  • Fine Liner Pens (Black colour and thickness between 0.2 to 0.5 are recommended)
  • Simple Colouring tools, watercolour set or colour pencils set, 10 colours at least.

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Notes:

This course is for ages 16+

There are a maximum of 12 places available on each session, so early booking is essential. To avoid a booking fee and pay by card, cheque or cash, please contact dot-art Services directly on 0345 017 6660.

 

Get Creative

This is for young people aged 11 (if they are in year 7) up to and including 18, who live in St Helens.

The event is held at the YMCA St Helens Youth Hub at the end of college street near the town centre.

The event lasts 2 hours.

Family Weekend

Kick off the new year with a weekend full of family fun!

Travel back in time with games, storytelling and creative activities inspired by children’s parties of the past.

Suitable for all ages.

Sat 18 & Sun 19 Jan, 1-4pm
Free, drop in

Collage Your Intentions

Set your intentions for the year ahead by creating a collage-based vision board before the New Moon on 29th January. The New Moon marks the start of the lunar cycle and is often associated with new beginnings, renewal, growth, and transformation. It’s considered the best time to reflect, plan, and focus on your intentions.

They’ll provide second-hand materials such as magazines, newspapers, strips of fabric, string, and ribbon. To make your vision board unique to you, please bring inspirational imagery suited to your intentions for 2025. This could be in the form of photographs, tickets, or postcards.

Come solo or with friends. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others and pin down your hopes and dreams for the future.

Please note, the building will be closed to the public from 5pm. Please ring the doorbell on the right-hand side of the main entrance, and a member of staff will welcome you in.

Thurs 16 Jan, 6pm
Free, booking required

Learn Spanish with BilinguaSing: Chris...

Give your little ones a magical, holiday-themed introduction to Spanish!

Thu 19 Dec, 1.30-2.15pm

This lively session is designed for children aged 0–4, with older siblings up to age 7 also welcome. They’ll sing, play, and enjoy festive activities, all while learning Spanish in a fun and interactive way. Join them for an afternoon filled with joy and learning!

Tickets:
£5 per child
£3 per sibling (applies to siblings over 12 months)
Free for siblings under 12 months or over 5 years.

Assault on the Leviathan: A Web Wide W...

Join artist John Powell Jones for a free creative gaming workshop inspired by tabletop role playing games for 13-17 year olds at Tate Liverpool.

Visitors will have the chance to play Assault on the Leviathan: A Web Wide World Story – a storytelling and puzzle-solving adventure game created by John. Through the game, players are encouraged to think creatively and work together to shape the story and you’ll use your characters’ unique skills, personalities and knowledge to explore the world and find solutions to the tasks at hand. While there will be hints and clues to guide you through the game, there are no strictly ‘right’ answers and how the challenges are overcome depends on the choices the players make.

You’ll also hear more about John’s artwork, which takes inspiration from gaming, comics, horror and science fiction.

December Writing Advice Desk

The Windows Project Writing Advice Desk

WEDNESDAY 4th DECEMBER
at Liverpool Central Library
William Brown Street L3 8EW

Drop in between 5.30pm and 7.00pm for one-to-one appraisal of scripts, stories, poems and details of publishing opportunities, performance venues, workshops and courses

With:

ELEANOR REES
Poet
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Liverpool Hope University
Shortlisted for Forward Prize

DAVE WARD
Author and poet
Editor ‘Smoke’ magazine
Nominated for Carnegie Medal

Please book in on arrival.
Each individual session usually lasts 20 minutes.

Introduction to Photopolymer Etching

You will use pre prepared solar plates and film positives to produce your own photopolymer prints. After a short introduction, you will get to learn hands on how to exposing a test plate, before making two plates of your own in A5 to ink and print on the beautiful traditional etching press.

This course is best suited for intermediate learners to explore and even try some experimental inking methods. All materials are provided, and correspondence with the tutor Bev Hayes will take place before the course start to prepare making the digital film in advance. By the end of the day you will cover all aspects of this alternative technique and create a small edition of prints.

Bev Hayes is an artist and printmaker from UK, and now based and working from a print studio in Gothenburg, Sweden. She has been working with the method of Photopolymer Gravure for over 5 years and regularly runs short courses in this method and exhibits her work at Art Fairs and Exhibitions in Galleries local and Internationally.

*IMPORTANT COURSE INFORMATION*

After booking, you must send a photo of the image/images you wish to use for the workshop to Bev by November 25th so she can pre-prepare your positives ahead of the workshop.

Images should be as high resolution as possible, and no bigger than A4.
Please send images to: bevhayes52@icloud.com with the email subject ‘Photopolymer workshop image’

Sun 8 Dec, 11am-5pm
Tickets: £85 (booking required)