DRAWING ITHELL COLQHOUN: SURREAL LANDSCAPES

DRAWING ITHELL COLQHOUN: SURREAL LANDSCAPES

With Tutor Theo Dunne!

Live Class Wednesday 8th October

+14 Recording access included in your ticket

Led by Theo Dunne and hosted by Luisa-Maria Maccormack, this class will be a deep dive into the surreal world of Ithell Colquhoun, a visionary British artist associated with the Surrealist movement. Colquhoun’s approach to landscapes transformed everyday occurrences—such as the view from a window or even legs in a bathtub—into extraordinary, otherworldly visions. By using the technique of decalcomania, she created organic, flowing shapes that suggested ambiguous figures and dreamlike formations in earthy, fleshy tones.

Her works blur the boundary between reality and imagination: we are never entirely sure if we are looking at a mountain or a man, a deep forest or an underwater reef, a hand or a branch of coral. These subtle distortions make Colquhoun’s landscapes both unsettling and enchanting, inviting us to question the very nature of what we see.

A dedicated occultist as well as an artist, Colquhoun believed deeply in the magical qualities of landscape, especially the wild coastlines and ancient sites of Cornwall, where she lived for much of her life. For her, the land itself was alive, imbued with myth, ritual, and spiritual energy—an approach that continues to inspire artists drawn to the mystical power of place.

In this guided session, students will be encouraged to reimagine a landscape—either from a photograph or from real life—through playful and experimental techniques. Using a combination of decalcomania, collage, ink blotting, and pencil drawing, participants will explore chance, transformation, and surreal ambiguity. Each artist will come away with their own unique landscape: part dream, part memory, and part invention.

You will need:

• Sheets of paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Some type of liquid paint (acrylic, gouache, or poster paint, whatever you've got handy!)
• Water
• Paint brushes
• Coloured pencils

About Our tutor:

Theo Dunne is a freelance artist based in London. Their practice of Trans World Building is encountered through multiple disciplines including painting, writing, performance, installation, drawing and workshop facilitating.

Theo’s research interests focus on the queer (specifically trans and gender non-conforming) identity in tandem with themes of death and grief. They ask how these topics present a non-linear approach to time and how that poses a threat to the status quo through various modes of storytelling such as folklore, myth and horror.

Other notable places Theo has shared work include the Tate Exchange and Tate Lates at the Tate Modern, Montez Press Radio, APT Gallery, Harts Lane, Good Rice, Art Hub, Gasleak Mountain and O! Peste Destroyed.

FAQs - Please read these thoroughly so you can be fully prepared for the class:

WHO IS THIS FOR:

This class is suitable for ALL LEVELS.

TICKETS:

We suggest an amount of £20. However, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we may continue to offer our sessions on this basis whilst also giving our tutors a sustainable wage.

There is also a ticket option to "Pay It Forward" to support us and our students! We offer classes for free to those who can't afford the minimum amount (If this is you please email us to join for free). This continues to ensure our classes are available to everyone!

ONCE BOOKED:

You will receive a confirmation email and be able to access information on how to join the event via your eventbrite "Online Event Page" You can access this by signing into eventbrite or creating an account using the email address that you booked with.

IN THE CLASS:

You can't be seen or heard in our classes, your audio and video are automatically turned off and there's no way these can be turned on. You can talk to us and others in the class in the chat box!

AFTER CLASS:

We love to see your drawings or anything else our classes inspire! You can share them with us by tagging us on instagram (@londondrawinggroup) or emailing us if you don't have socials.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BOOK VIA THE EVENTBRITE PHONE APP?!

We have been in touch with Eventbrite, and they have informed us that currently you cannot book tickets to online events in their app. It's very frustrating and we have been assured they are working on a solution. In the meantime, we recommend that you book tickets to our events outside of the iOS app - either via a web browser or a desktop. If you book our classes regularly we recommend deleting the eventbrite App.

RECORDING ACCESS

W e will email the recording link to everyone who has booked approx 2 hours after the live class finishes. This will be available to watch anytime within 1 month.

IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS PLEASE EMAIL:

hello@londondrawinggroup.com

And that's it!

We're really looking forward to you joining us.

Love,

LDG