The Cluster
31st May until 12th July
Sketchbook Journal Workshops
with Lorraine Berkshire-Roe
Price: £22 per session
WHAT
A sketchbook journal is a place to explore creativity and record the world around you. They have the personality of their creators and can be a therapeutic place where you can do whatever you chose and make your own rules.
During the sessions you will be introduced to the basics of keeping a sketchbook journal:
What is the best sort of book? Which materials can I use? What can I put in my book?
Over the course of the 4 workshops you will make a visual record of an event, experiment with an art technique, draw in situ to record an environment, create a map and learn a variety of techniques and media that you can use to record information and make the pages interesting and memorable.
WHO
Lorraine Berkshire-Roe is an Oxford-based illustrator and ceramic artist who works mainly in pen and ink, creating playful, characterful pieces that bring a bit of joy to the everyday. After years of developing her style through sketchbooks and creative challenges like Inktober, she returned to self-employment in 2024 and now produces prints, cards, and hand-crafted ceramics, all with her signature touch of humour and warmth.
She’s spent the past decade juggling creative projects with teaching, most recently running after-school art clubs and workshops for kids. These days you’ll find her at markets around Oxford, sharing her latest work, taking commissions, and building a practice rooted in community and curiosity.
WHEN, HOW MUCH & HOW TO BOOK
There are 8 places available at each session on a first come first served basis.
4 fortnightly sessions, 10am-12pm
£22 per session
BOOKING CLOSED: Saturday 31st May
Record an event at a specific setting
Book Session 2: Saturday 14th June
Drawing in situ
Book Session 3: Saturday 28th June
Explore an art technique
Book Session 4: Saturday 12th July
Record historical information
Want to book all remaining sessions? Why wouldn’t you!
Book all remaining sessions here
WHERE
The Cluster, 3-5 Middle Way, Ox2 7LH (the best co-working space in the universe, says us!)
It will take place indoors at The Cluster co-working space, 3-5 Middle Way, Summertown, Oxford. There are regular buses from Oxford city centre to Summertown. There are some 3 hour parking spaces along Middle Way but these are subject to availability. There is Summertown car park opposite Oakthorpe Road.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION
Please note that sessions will take place inside The Cluster building, which is a characterful older property. The outdoor area has uneven block paving, which may be difficult for those with limited mobility.
Toilets are available for use; however, they are not fully accessible. Most sessions will be held on the first floor, accessible only via a dog-leg staircase (similar to a spiral staircase, but angular rather than curved).
Unfortunately, the building is not wheelchair accessible.
If you have specific accessibility needs or questions, please feel free to contact us in advance so we can support you as best we can.
OTHER USEFUL STUFF
The following materials will be provided for use during the sessions:
drawing pencils, coloured pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, scissors, glue sticks, tape, water colour paint sets, paintbrushes, a variety of pens such as brush markers, fine liners, paint markers, highlighters and any materials needed for the session experimenting with an art technique.
You are welcome to bring your own sketchbook to the workshops, but something with thicker paper than standard printer paper is recommended because you will be drawing on both sides.
There will be sketchbooks available to purchase at the start of the first session for £6. They are A5 in size with pages of thick cartridge paper and some materials can be purchased if you wish to continue sketching at home. Details of this will be provided in the first workshop.
REFUND & CANCELLATION POLICY
We want you to book with confidence. If, for any reason, the workshop isn’t right for you, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee up to 3 days before the date of the workshop – no questions asked.
If you need to cancel within 3 days of the workshop, please contact us. While we can’t guarantee a full refund at this stage, we’re happy to discuss options, including transferring your place to another date (if available) or to someone else.
If the workshop is cancelled by the tutor or venue, you will receive a full refund.
“It was such a good workshop, I loved it and can’t wait for the next one!”
“Jolly well done Kevin for running such a marvellous venue. Lorraine, your first journaling class was absolutely top-hole! Looking forward to the next class in a fortnight.”
This is the second in a series of four sessions. The first session has now happened but don’t worry, you can still book the remaining three sessions.
Book session 2 here
Saturday 14th June / 10am to 12pm
£22
Drawing in situ
This is the second in this series of four sessions.
You will be exploring the art of drawing in-situ in this session. It is something that does take practice, but it is a really wonderful way of achieving some mindfulness. When you are drawing an environment it takes all your concentration: getting lost in capturing a view really does make the rest of the world disappear for a short while.
You will be making a series of drawings around the Cluster building, starting off with a one minute sketch using a coloured pencil. The you will progress to a 5 minute sketch, 15 and then 45 minutes, using a variety of media, some including people, some without.
You can add a title and date to the drawings afterwards and there will be the chance to take a small instant photo of the view and stick that in somewhere if you wish.
Book session 3 here
Saturday 28th June / 10am to 12pm
£22
Explore an art technique
This is the third in this series of four sessions.
Sketchbook journals are many things and one of those is that they are a good place to try things out and experiment with an art technique. I have used many different media in my sketchbooks, and still do, even though I mainly draw with pen and ink in my illustration practice. It is always good to keep trying out new ways of working.
Talking of pen and ink, this it the art technique we will be exploring in this session. You will get the chance to do some initial practice using a dip pen with Indian ink, drawing basic lines, hatching and getting the feel of the nib.
You will then proceed to copying a simple design, then have a go at some shading techniques and eventually you can have a go at drawing something of your own design, first drawing in pencil then having a go at inking. There will also be the chance to try out some different nibs and different types of paper.
I will be suggesting ways to make your experiments look interesting and be a source of reference if you want to look back on what you explored another time.
Book session 4 here
Saturday 12th July / 10am to 12pm
£22
Record historical information about a setting pictorially
This is the last in this series of four sessions.
Sometimes when you are on holiday, or go for a day out or make an interesting journey, there are many things that you can discover that can be recorded. It could be the history of a place or area, some information that you want to record so you remember it, or the geography of the land or contents of a garden. It might be literary or cultural things you discover on a journey, or some family history.
There are many ways to do this. You can make a historical timeline, make a map of an area and add details of things you discovered while you were there. This is the part of sketchbook journaling that can be really creative, finding different types of information graphics to document something you want to remember.
In this session we are going to make a map of somewhere you have found interesting and add things of interest, with pictoral elements, notes and headings.. I will have examples to show you for inspiration. It would be good if you could think of an area beforehand. It could be as small as a garden or as large as a county or bigger!
Booking for Session 1 closed
Session 1
Saturday 31st May / 10am to 12pm
£22
Record an event at a specific setting
This is the first in this series of four sessions.
You will make a record of your first sketch book journal session at The Cluster. The session will start with an introduction to sketchbook journalling with some examples to have a look at and some information about materials.
We will then record information about the day: about the building, its use and its inhabitants and the wildlife and plants that are part of the environment. It is a chance to record these things using a selection of media including: drawing using reference pictures provided. using a variety of pens, collage using ephemera (tickets, business cards, postcards, maps, stickers etc) an instant camera to generate a photo to stick in and there will be a thermal printer available to generate black and white images if needed.
You will be shown examples and learn techniques such as using a simple pop up, flaps etc. . This will introduce you to ways to record things and use collected ephemera such as a visit to a museum, a journey, a day out or a visit to see friends or family for example, in a visually interesting way.