Blots on the Landscape

Have you ever wondered exactly how (and at what point) a seemingly random mark on a piece of paper becomes something we recognise? How do the sublime brushstrokes of JMW Turner or John Singer Sargent, for example, change before our eyes from meaningless blobs of colour into clouds or trees; boats or even people? The humble blot was a source of inspiration to none less than Leonardo Da Vinci, to the writer, Victor Hugo and the psychologist, Hermann Rorschach, of course. But it was the artist, Alexander Cozens, ‘The Blotmaster-General to the Town,’ as he was known, who in 1785, codified a method for creating imaginative landscapes from blots. This practical, one day course explores Cozen’s method and seeks to encourage us all to be more alert to the magic that is happening under our very noses, whenever we put brush (or blot) to paper.

All-comers welcome.