with Andrew Kinmont
April 2026
What makes some paintings impossible to ignore — while others feel flat, noisy, or unfinished?
The answer isn’t the subject matter. It’s the composition.
In this one-day workshop, you’ll learn how artists create magnetic, high-impact designs that guide the viewer’s eye, hold their attention, and make a painting feel alive. Whether you paint landscapes, portraits, abstracts or still life, the same visual language applies — and once you understand it, everything changes.
We’ll explore the tools that masters have used for centuries to create compelling focal points: contrast, placement, isolation and detail.
You’ll see how a single decision can shift the entire balance of a painting — and how you can use these tools deliberately rather than by chance.
You’ll also discover the hidden pathways the eye naturally follows through an image — from bold diagonals and elegant S-curves to spirals and the classic “Z-path” found everywhere from Da Vinci to Delacroix. Once you begin to design these pathways, you’ll stop hoping for impact and start creating it on purpose.
To build strong foundations, we’ll work with practical frameworks like the Golden Ratio and the Rule of Thirds, helping you understand how space can be divided to create harmony, tension and balance.
You’ll learn how to improve weak references, simplify complex scenes, and design compositions that feel both bold and effortless.
This is a fun, hands-on, studio-based workshop. You’ll leave with a new way of seeing — and a set of tools you can apply immediately to your own paintings.
If you’ve ever wondered why some artworks feel powerful and unforgettable, this day reveals the answer.
Join us and learn to design paintings that capture attention and hold it.
Andrew Kinmont 