Here are a selection of our most recent meetings:
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THURSDAY DECEMBER 5 CHRISTMAS WORKSHOP AND SOCIAL As a continuation of last week's theme of looking at fundamental shapes, the evening started off with a workshop in which members drew or painted Christmas baubles and holly. This seemingly simple still life amused and challenged members when it came to the complex reflections seen in the baubles. In the second half of the meeting, members enjoyed a sociable time with wine and a wonderful selection of food. Happy Christmas! |
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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 28 WORKSHOP ON FUNDAMENTAL SHAPES - A BREAKFAST STILL LIFE, LED BY SARAH POPPLETON Sarah gave a brief reminder of some aspects of perspective, particularly relating to ellipses, and some tips about accurate measurement of proportions and angles. Then members drew or painted sections of the breakfast table still life arrangements set up with plenty of spherical, cylindrical and cuboid shapes to grapple with. |
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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21 WORKSHOP ON PORTRAITS IN MIXED MEDIA LED BY ANNE HIGNELL Anne gave a brief recap of last week's portrait demo and then discussed other potential ways of depicting portraits using a variety of mixed media methods including using collage, paint, pastels and inks. Members then enjoyed putting some of these ideas into practice. |
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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 14 DEMONSTRATION ON PORTRAIT PAINTING IN ACRYLICS LED BY TONY JACKSON Tony gave a very helpful demonstration in which he used ultramarine acrylic to create a tone portrait of his grandfather from an old photograph, which he then brought to life with thin washes of colour. He emphasised the need to keep working on all areas of the portrait at once rather than concentrating on just one area at a time, and to keep adjusting and changing it until it is right. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 31 WORKSHOP ON COLOURED PENCIL TECHNIQUES LED BY AMANDA XUEREB Amanda gave a very interesting talk on various aspects of using coloured pencils in artwork, including some useful techniques such as shading, burnishing and using Zest-it medium to improve blending. She was then very helpful with advice as members tried out these techniques. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 24 LIFE DRAWING LED BY KEITH HIGHAM The life drawing session began with a few quick five minute poses, and progressed to longer 10 - 15 minute poses. With many thanks to Andy the model, who held some strong positions with a variety of shapes, that members enjoyed drawing. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 17 WORKSHOP ON BOTANIC ART LED BY ROGER REYNOLDS Roger returned for a second week to lead a well planned workshop on botanical art. He brought along some materials and a selection of flowers for those that did not have these, and started the session by demonstrating an initial drawing to be transferred to the final paper for painting. After this, members had a go doing their own botanical painting, with help and encouragement from Roger. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 10 TALK AND DEMONSTRATION ON BOTANICAL ART LED BY ROGER REYNOLDS Roger gave an interesting talk about the difference between botanical art and other art forms, and outlined the guiding principles, such as not including backgrounds, and painting to natural size in great detail and accuracy. He then demonstrated these principles in depicting rose leaves in beautiful detail. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 3 DEMONSTRATION ON COLOUR BIAS THEORY LED BY DAVID LEWRY David gave a very informative demonstration about colour looking at how coloured lights combine and how this differs from how coloured pigments combine. Of particular interest was the demonstration of mixing vibrant secondary colours, that is the pro-bias colours, from the primary colours (warm or cool) nearest them on the colour wheel. He contrasted this with the anti-bias secondary colours mixed from colours further away on the colour wheel. |
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26 STUDIO PRACTICE ON IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING Members chose how to work in this untutored evening, with most continuing to practise impressionist style painting after the last couple of workshops on the theme. It was a relaxed and sociable evening, with quite a number of new members, all being creative and having fun. |
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19 WORKSHOP ON IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING IN ACRYLICS LED BY PETER KEEGAN Members had a good time putting into practice some of the techniques outlined in last week's painting demonstration by Peter Keegan on Impressionist Painting, with a further quick demo this week. |
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12 DEMONSTRATION BY PETER KEEGAN ON IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING IN ACRYLICS The new season of Thursday evening meetings got off to a great start with Peter Keegan's excellent demonstration. He emphasised, among other things, the use of quick unblended brushstrokes working from the distant landscape forwards, and bouncing colour around the painting. A very informative evening! |
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SUMMER SKETCHING DAYS A number of our members met on various occasions in June and July to sketch and paint outside at different venues. With the exception of one date which was rained off, the weather held, and we had a very enjoyable time. Many thanks to all the committee members who led and organised the sketch-outs. |
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THURSDAY MAY 16
PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOP ON PAINTING IN THE STYLE OF CLARICE CLIFF LED BY BEL BLUEMEL Bel gave a very informative presentation on the ceramic artist Clarice Cliff whose designs in the 1930s and 1940s were so bold and distinctive. Then members planned and painted their own eye-catching designs on pre-prepared circular boards kindly supplied by Bel. |
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THURSDAY MAY 9 STUDIO PRACTICE LED BY ROY BENTLEY As a follow on from last week's session, Roy initially talked about his own experiences as an illustrator and then helped and encouraged members to practice line and wash techniques in an illustrative style. |
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THURSDAY MAY 2 TALK AND DEMONSTRATION ON ILLUSTRATION BY PAULINE HAZELWOOD Pauline gave a very interesting talk about her approach to illustration for her set of children's books, and demonstrated a pen and wash illustration of a train engine character, and other drawings. |
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THURSDAY APRIL 11 FOLLOW UP WORKSHOP LED BY ANNE HIGNELL Anne led an excellent workshop as a follow up to last week's session by Ronnie Ireland. The purpose of this session was to explore ways of working quickly and energetically with graphite to produce a range of marks and tones, using a clothed model as inspiration. |
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THURSDAY APRIL 4 "I'VE ONLY GOT A PENCIL" WORKSHOP LED BY RONNIE IRELAND Ronnie gave a fascinating talk and demonstration about using different types of pencils to make different marks. In particular he suggested some good techniques for using graphite sticks, including the use of turps or liquid soap to give a more intense dark, and the use of a rubber to lift out highlights, as well as many other techniques. |
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THURSDAY MARCH 28
TIPS FOR PAINTING WATER AND REFLECTIONS WORKSHOP AND PRESENTATION BY SARAH POPPLETON Sarah gave an interesting and informative presentation on certain aspects of painting water in the landscape, including ideas on reflections, the sparkle of sun on water, and waves. Then it was the turn of members to paint an image featuring water. (The information from the presentation has been uploaded to the Hints and Tips section of this website as requested.) |
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THURSDAY MARCH 21 WORKSHOP ON OIL PAINTING LED BY PETER BROWN Peter led a very enjoyable workshop which for some was a chance to try out oil painting for the first time. He provided oil paper prepared with grey tinted gesso, oil paints, turps and some brushes, and explained some of the practicalities and techniques associated with oil painting. Then it was a chance for members to test and play around with the paint, while Peter answered individual questions around the room. |
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THURSDAY MARCH 7 TALK ON "THE ART OF SELLING YOUR ART" BY CHRIS CHRISTOFOROU An interesting talk in which various aspects of marketing and selling art were discussed. Chris gave us some tips and examples on how to present our work in the best manner for art fairs and exhibitions. He also talked about using online selling platforms such as Etsy and Ebay, and the use of your own art website or gallery page. |
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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 28 STUDIO PRACTICE LED BY KEITH HIGHAM This evening we brought in a picture of a painting by a favourite artist and attempted to recreate it in our choice of media. In doing so, it really helped us to understand a little about the compostion, colour and mark making in the original. An enjoyable and sociable evening. |
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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21 LIFE DRAWING - CLOTHED MODEL LED BY KEITH HIGHAM Our model this evening was the lovely Yollanda who brought some colourful clothes to brighten up our life drawing sketches. Keith suggested a warm up 5 minute pose and then a series of 20 minute standing and seated poses. Many thanks to Yollanda and Keith. |
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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14 STUDIO PRACTICE FOLLOW UP SESSION - COASTAL SCENE LED BY YVONNE BOLTON Yvonne started the session with a ten minute video tutorial on painting a coastal scene with boats. Members then used photos as inspiration to paint a watercolour using the techniques learned from last week's watercolour workshop with Jan Munro and the video tutorial. Some excellent results and a sociable evening. |
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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7 DEMONSTRATION AND WORKSHOP ON WATERCOLOUR LED BY JAN MUNRO Jan gave a very helpful demonstration on the techniques used to paint a watercolour scene of a river bank to a packed hall, using a step by step approach. A thoroughly enjoyable and interesting evening. |
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THURSDAY JANUARY 31 PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOP ON GLASS ART LED BY OPAL SEABROOK Fused glass artist Opal Seabrook gave a very interesting and well planned presentation on her work with glass, and then showed the members how to use the "sgraffito" style technique to make designs on glass specially treated with a thin layer of glass paint. These pieces were taken away to be fired by Opal before being returned some days later. |
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THURSDAY JANUARY 24, 2019 LIFE DRAWING LED BY KEITH HIGHAM |
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THURSDAY JANUARY 17, 2019 DEMONSTRATION OF PORTRAIT PAINTING BY STANLEY HURR Stanley gave a fascinating insight into the way he creates portraits, firstly with hard pastels, then with charcoal and finally he showed us a quick caricature portrait. Among the tips he gave were to practice hard at drawing regular shapes (sphere, cone, cube etc) and then view the face as a set of these shapes, and then just practice, practice, practice with real faces. Many thanks to Lynn, Roy and Monica for volunteering as models. |
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