Expressive Loose Impressions – 3-Day Workshop with Rod Moore

Moore Art Gallery, Cooroy

One of the biggest challenges artists face is learning to let go.

Many painters become trapped in the pursuit of detail, constantly refining, correcting, and adding more information to the canvas. The result is often paintings that lose their freshness, energy, and emotional impact.

In this immersive three-day workshop, Rod Moore will show you how to develop a more expressive, painterly approach inspired by the great Impressionist tradition. You'll learn how to simplify what you see into strong shapes, make bold, confident marks, and create paintings filled with atmosphere, light, and life.

Rather than chasing detail, you'll discover how to suggest it.

Rather than copying every element of a scene, you'll learn to communicate its essence.

Throughout the workshop, Rod will demonstrate his complete approach to creating expressive Impressionist landscapes, explaining not only how to make broader, more confident marks, but why they create paintings with greater impact. You'll see how colour, value, edge control, and confident brushwork work together to create paintings that feel alive.

Working from carefully selected reference material, demonstrations, and practical exercises, you'll progressively build your confidence while learning to trust your instincts and enjoy the painting process again.

This workshop is ideal for artists who feel their paintings have become too tight or overworked, as well as those wanting to inject more atmosphere, movement, and emotion into their work. Whether you work in oils or acrylics, you'll leave with practical techniques that will transform the way you approach every future painting.

With numbers limited to just ten participants, Rod is able to provide individual guidance and feedback throughout the workshop, ensuring every student receives personal attention and support.

During the workshop we'll explore:

* Understanding what makes an Impressionist painting feel expressive rather than simply unfinished

* Seeing and simplifying the subject into strong shapes and value patterns

* Creating confident, economical brushstrokes that describe rather than copy

* Developing bold, expressive mark making that gives paintings energy and movement

* Using warm light and cool shadows to create atmosphere and depth

* Painting with thicker paint and learning when to stop before freshness is lost

* Mastering soft, hard, lost, and found edges to control the viewer's eye

* Using colour temperature and harmony to create mood and emotional impact

* Building paintings with confidence from large shapes to smaller accents

* Learning to edit, simplify, and leave out unnecessary detail

* Creating paintings that feel fresh, painterly, and full of life

* Developing your own expressive voice rather than relying on formulas

By the end of the workshop you will:

* Paint with greater confidence and freedom

* Understand how to create expressive, painterly Impressionist landscapes

* Learn techniques that immediately improve atmosphere and visual impact

* Stop overworking your paintings and preserve their freshness

* Develop stronger composition, colour harmony, and brushwork

* Take home several completed paintings along with a clear process you can continue developing long after the workshop has finished.

This is a studio-based 3-day workshop held at Moore Art Gallery in Cooroy.

Rod will also share insights into his newest body of work and how palette knife technique is being used in contemporary impressionist practice today.