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Acrylics · Workshops

Paint In The Style Of: a July of acrylics, and a studio quietly taking shape

· 4 min read

Paint In The Style Of — acrylic seascape in the style of Glyn Macey

Draft — pending sign-off. The personal framing near the end is true to what I said on the video, but it's my story to own, so it's held for review before it goes public.

Hi — I'm Damian Sémonin. If you've been up to the Cornish Craft Barn over the last couple of years, chances are we've already spent a morning together with a brush in hand. I wanted to share what's coming this July — and, honestly, to start doing a bit more of this: showing the work, opening the studio door, talking to you directly rather than quietly getting on with it behind the scenes.

  • Acrylics
  • Workshops
Watch: a July of acrylics, from the studio
Press play — five minutes from the studio on what's coming this July.

The idea behind Paint In The Style Of

Each session, we borrow a great painter's eyes for the day. We look at what actually makes an artist tick — their colour, their marks, how they handle light and composition — and then you paint your own piece in their language. Copying the masters is the oldest art education there is, and it still works: you come away with a technique, a palette, or just a bit of nerve that wasn't in your painting before.

This July, it's acrylics

Bold, fast and forgiving — which makes them a brilliant place to be brave. We're looking at four very different artists:

  • The Impressionists, led by Monet — light, atmosphere and broken colour, painted before the moment changes.
  • Charlie Easton — confident, expressive landscapes. We use his approach to tackle something we're spoilt for in Cornwall: woodland. It looks complicated, and the real skill is distilling it down to something pleasing — we'll talk about exactly how.
  • Glyn Macey — bold, energetic acrylic seascapes, straight off the coast we can see from the door. A really popular one.
  • Paul Kenton — dramatic urban landscapes, full of perspective and atmosphere. He works on a grand scale; we have a proper crack at it in A3.

New to acrylics? Start with a £6 taster

I've added some 90-minute taster sessions — a friendly, hands-on way to get genuinely comfortable with acrylics and mark-making before you tackle a full Paint In The Style Of day. And here's the nice part: come to a taster and you can book any of the acrylic sessions at a discount that more than pays your £6 back. You turn up confident, equipped, and ready to have a proper go.

A quiet bit of news from home

I'm also building out a new studio. It's early days — but it's part of something I've been turning over for a while: moving from making work largely in my own world towards sharing more of it, more openly. This video, this post, these sessions — it's all a bit of that. Nothing ventured, as they say.

Come and have some fun

Carve out a bit of you-time, meet a few like-minded people, and take home something you'll be quietly proud of. Get to grips with acrylics this July — I'd love to see you there.

Book a £6 Acrylics Taster   See the Paint In The Style Of acrylic sessions

Watercolour painters — your Paint In The Style Of sessions are coming later in the month; I'll share those soon.