Here are a selection of our most recent meetings:
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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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THURSDAY DECEMBER 6 USING ALCOHOL INKS WORKSHOP LED BY AURORA SPAIN Aurora showed us how she uses alcohol inks to layer pure colour drop by drop to make vibrant abstract images, then we all had a go with the inks she provided and Yupo paper, creating some fabulous patterns. Next she showed us step by step how to use the inks in specific ways to create an image on a ceramic tile. Great fun to do something totally different! |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 25 STILL LIFE WITH COLLAGE WORKSHOP LED BY ANNE HIGNELL Anne gave an informative presentation on some of the artists who inspire her and showed how she uses collage and mixed media techniques in her own work. Then members used some of the methods to create more unusual still life paintings. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 18 LIFE DRAWING SESSION LED BY KEITH HIGHAM Good practice drawing a number of short 5, 10, and 15 minute poses, using a variety of media. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 11 WORKSHOP ON LANDSCAPES IN WATERCOLOUR WITH PASTEL LED BY DEBBIE PROTHERO Debbie showed a full room how to combine watercolour and soft pastels to create a scene with autumnal colours. |
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 4 DEMONSTRATION ON LANDSCAPES IN OILS BY RORY BROWNE Rory gave a fun and enlightening demonstration on the techniques he uses to paint landscapes in quick drying alkyd oil paints. |
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