We're staying late at the Mills this Spring to bring you the Overtime Art Club sessions! Come along for relaxed evenings of drawing, printing, illustration and more - all facilitated by local emerging artists.

You're welcome to bring your own drinks to the session, we'll provide all the materials you'll need.

This season's sessions are a series of Ones to Watch specials, getting to know some of our exhibiting emerging artists and learning new skills in a relaxed setting! We are keen to help our Ones to Watch artists develop other areas of their careers outside of Gallery walls, and find many artists and makers diversify their practice through teaching workshops.

This introduction to oil pastels will cover a variety of techniques Miles uses in his daily practice as a freelance illustrator. This will cover oil pastel monoprinting, layering with coloured pencils, comparing different types of oil pastels, and embracing the messiness of the material.

"All of this will be centred around character design, so you can see hands on how develop my characters and you can start developing yours too. The characters you create in this workshop will be scratchy and textured and I will show you how these techniques can emotionally affect the narrative your characters are from."

About the artist

Miles Dyson is a freelance illustrator with two very distinct styles. His work is centred around character design, often inspired by personal experiences to communicate authentic narratives within his children’s books.

The more commercial side focuses on bold linework and bright colours to communicate a clear message, this is popular for his mural work and window displays. Miles often jumps between his bold and scratchy styles depending on the theme. The scratchiness is most effective for personal and meaningful work because of the oil pastels’ unapologetic nature whereas the bold style appeals for slicker and clearer messages but no matter the theme, animals are centred to his practice because of his interest in their innate innocence.

You can view Miles' work within the Gallery until 27th April. Read more about Ones to Watch 2025 here.

Please note - these sessions are suitable for anyone aged 18+

About the venue

Sunny Bank Mills is an inspirational cultural destination in the heart of the local community of Farsley, Leeds. Founded in 1829, these glorious Mills are being regenerated by the sixth generation of the family owners, creating a wonderful blend of work, leisure and culture.

Workshop terms and booking conditions

Workshop and course bookings can be cancelled and refunded up until 7 days before the scheduled start date. As materials and equipment are ordered in advance, we regret that refunds cannot be offered less than 7 days before the workshop date. Please note that Eventbrite’s booking fee is non-refundable.

If we need to cancel the course for any reason your ticket will be fully refunded.

Accessibility

The venue of this workshop is the Finishing Room, which has flat access
(with a small lip in the doorway) via the rear entrance to the Gallery.

There are accessible toilets along the same corridor as the workshop space.