Leeds Art Group

Art classes in Leeds and beyond!© Est.2013


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New courses starting May 2026!

Hi everyone
I will be running the Beginners Drawing from Nature Course from Monday 11th May 2026.  Please note the closing date is Friday 1st May 2026 (places are limited and may fill up before this time).  Scroll down for further information. 

Beginners Drawing from Nature Course

Headingley Parish Hall, St Michael’s Road, Headingley, LS6 3AW.

Mondays 10am – 12pm – morning course (Ref: NATMORN)

Mondays 6.30pm – 8.30pm – evening course (Ref: NATEVE)

Start date: Monday 11th May 2026 – this course will run for 7 lessons over 8 weeks (no lesson on 25th May).

Price: £70

In this course we will use nature as our inspiration for creating drawings and paintings.  You will work from both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional sources using subjects such as plants, fruit and flowers.  Each week we will explore different materials and techniques and use a series of simple steps to build up a picture.

This course is designed for beginners and is ideal for anyone with a love of nature or who would like to improve their drawing/painting skills whilst experimenting with a variety of materials.

This course will run twice on Mondays, please state which time slot you would like when booking.

All materials will be provided during the lessons.

All classes will be taught by myself, Wendy Atton BA (Hons).   If you would like to view my work please visit my website at http://www.wendyatton.co.uk or my Instagram page @wendyatton_artist.  Please note that places cannot be reserved without full payment and all fees are non-refundable in part or in full.  These classes are open to anyone aged 18 or over.

If you have any questions or would like to book a place please get in touch by either email:leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or telephone: 07788 871286.  Payment can be made by bank transfer or cheque.  If you already have my online payment details please use the correct reference when booking and please drop me an email when you have paid so that I can confirm receipt and book you on the correct class.

Online tutorials

Online tutorials can be found on my Patreon page and individual lessons can now be purchased for £3 each without subscribing.

If you don’t yet subscribe to my Patreon page and would like to join for free please click on the following link and select  “See membership options” then “Start 7 day free trial”;  Art by Wendy Atton on Patreon.  This will give you free access to over 120 videos.  If you wish to keep your subscription after the free trial, the cost is £6 +VAT (=£7.20) per month and you can cancel at any time.

If you have any questions please get in touch and I hope to see you soon.

Wendy x


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Beginners Watercolour Course – Lesson 7: objects.

For this lesson it was up to you to set up your own mini composition of different objects and create your own still life painting. This week you had to utilise everything we’ve learned in the past 7 weeks and bring it all together.
You all did an amazing job – what a finale to the course!👏

Yes, this is sadly the last lesson of this course and I’ve had so much fun teaching you all this term. I hope you’ve enjoyed it too.😁

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.

Time for a short break now but courses will resume in May so watch this space for further details!

Cheerio for now.

Wendy x


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Beginners Watercolour Course – Lesson 6: flowers.

Wow! What bloomin beautiful paintings this week! We painted flowers and plants this week. Enlarging the images in our paintings gave us the space to really work on those washes and practise changes in tone and colours. You all did such a great job this week. Well done everyone!👏

Next week is the last lesson of the course and don’t forget to bring in an object to paint!

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.


See you all soon.

Wendy x


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Beginners Watercolour Course – Lesson 5: White.

This week was a real tough one I think. How do we paint white things on white paper? We paint the shadows of course!
This lesson gave us the chance to really observe subtleties in tone and colour and to experiment with how to create those tones/colours. The more you look, the more you see.

Well done everyone for rising to the challenge yet again.👏

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.


See you all next week.

Wendy x


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Beginners Watercolour Course – Lesson 4: Landscapes.


This week we did a series of smaller paintings of landscapes. We focused on creating lots of different greens and mixing colours that you maybe wouldn’t expect to find in green.

Great work everyone. Next week, another challenge!😁

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.


See you all soon

Wendy x


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Beginners Watercolour Course – Lesson 3: Colour mixing & layering.

This week we put together everything from the past 2 lessons to combine in one painting. This image gave us plenty of scope for practising colour mixing, brush control and creating different washes to show tone. We packed a lot in to just one lesson, so well done for getting as much done as we did. Next week – more challenges! Looking forward to it.

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.

See you all soon

Wendy x


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Beginners Watercolour Course – Lesson 1: Colour mixing & brush control, Lesson 2: Tone & layering.

It’s been a great start to the course so far! We’ve practised lots of different techniques and are getting to grips with the basics of watercolour. Next week we’ll be bringing together everything we’ve learned into one painting. Looking forward to it! Well done everyone.👏

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.

See you all soon

Wendy x


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Beginners Birds Drawing Course 2 – Lesson 7: Puffin.

Our final lesson of this course was Puffin perfection! We used watercolour to create this colony of lovely paintings. Watercolour can be a really tricky medium to master and you all did brilliantly in the short amount of time we had on this. Watch this space for a new watercolour course coming in the new year.

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.

Thank you for all your hard work over the past 7 weeks. Hope you’ve all enjoyed it.

Hope to see you all in 2026!

Cheerio for now.

Wendy x


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Beginners Birds Drawing Course 2 – Lesson 6: Blackbird.

So how do we paint a blackbird on black paper? We fill the rest of the paper with colour of course! We used watercolour paint to create the patterns in the background and added white gouache paint to each colour to make it more opaque so that it stands out against the black. We all chilled out and got a bit zen painting these patterns. Sometimes it’s nice to just go with the flow and paint whatever comes to you.😁

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.

One more week to go in this course.

See you all soon

Wendy x


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Beginners Birds Drawing Course 2 – Lesson 5: Owl

Well, what a hoot we had this week painting these owls!🦉😁We first prepared the background using acrylic paint then worked over the top with black and white Derwent Inktense blocks and using gouache paint for the eyes. I think you all did a great job. Well done!

Next week, something different.

Below are some of this week’s pictures and you can see more on our Instagram page at: @leedsartgroup.

See you all next week.

Wendy x