23 August 2023

Today we spent the afternoon in ‘Diane’s Garden’, and here are photos of just some of the gorgeous artwork produced by everyone, from sketches, to drawings, to studies, to paintings. 

Students worked in differing media including graphite pencil, watercolour, liquid ink, ink pen, and pastel. It was a perfect afternoon in a beautiful and stunning garden, with so many options for drawing and painting from a whole host of trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, views, sheep, wheelbarrows, grass rollers, buildings -  we are very lucky artists! 

Thank you to everyone for attending this session, and for making your artwork, you are every one a hero. And a big thank you to Diane and her generosity, and to our  lovely hosts (yumm, ginger biscuits)

Until next time, maybe next year! 

16 August 2023

Today we looked at the work of artist Koen Lybaert and explored his methods of applying watercolour and gouache paint on portrait oriented paper, and with a low horizon. 

We used a sponge, water spray, or large wet brush to dampen our paper, and then we used ‘wet-in-wet’, layering, dry brush dragging, dripping and dropping. We used various materials to press into the damp paint to create textures, including clingfilm, plastic wrap, scrunched paper, fabric, masking tape, kitchen towels, and finger tips… 

We did a lot of experimenting! Some of the images here are not quite finished, so keep your eyes peeled for updates in the coming weeks. 

A really great session today, I enjoyed it very much and loved seeing everyone’s different, original and creative work, well done! 

2 August 2023

Even though it was wet and windy outside, we still had a great time in our art class this week.

We did all sorts for our ‘catch up’ session, including the watercolour ‘Botanical Leaves’ activity; flower painting; seed head (and more leaf) painting using differing watercolour approaches and techniques; toothbrush, salt and watercolour leaves (that still might be wet even as I type!); a fantastic acrylic pareidolia foxe in a shining orange garden with plants, flowers, and plan pots; and a beautifully patterned, mixed media, high horizon landscape in watercolour, salt, posca pen, & permanent pen.

Well done everyone!

26 July 2023

Today we have a mix of some people doing last week’s ink pareidolia activity, and some doing this week’s horizon line, salt and watercolour activity, and some doing both! 

Also, some leaves from the botanical leaf activity. 

The shapes, colours and textures from today are really beautiful. You have all done such fantastic work today, producing really unique and innovative artwork, a really big well done to you all. 

19 July 2023

Today we used “‘pareidolia’ - the tendency among humans to find something recognisable in indistinct forms (for example, seeing an animal or a face in the clouds)” as our inspiration to make free flowing, inky abstract backgrounds from which to pull out images that we might wish to develop further with the use of pattern and motifs, using pens and acrylic paint. 

I think we all might agree that the images that everyone produced are really fun!

Some of the work photographed is ‘work in progress’, so watch this space for an update on them, possibly after next week’s session! 

5 July 2023

Today we experimented with a Chinese ink stick to make our own water soluble ink to create beautiful, soft, and velvety sooty washes and effects to our watercolours. We also used ready made India / Chinese ink, both non waterproof and waterproof. 

We had great fun, and produced a ton of images!! 

Thank you everyone for another really lovely session. 

28 June 2023

We had good fun today using an artwork by Nadja Gabriela Plein, “Snow Forest 32”, as a starting point to begin to explore using secondary colours: purple, green, and orange (anything as an excuse to use purple!). We also looked at how shapes get smaller and fainter in colour tone as they recede. 

As part of the project, we looked a little at the different watercolour papers that are available, and realised there’s quite a lot. I will be repeating this information as we go along, and we will have chance to try different papers. 

We also have two beautiful window views, from Jennifer! The sensitive mark-making is really evocative on the pencil drawing, with different marks used for the various different elements in the picture. I love the pinks and lilacs that have been used for the interior of the painting (sneaking a bit of purple in there, joining in with the rest of us), and very good depth with the trees disappearing into dark undergrowth, and with loose marks here also to further the idea of something that is further away. 

Thank you everyone, for your hard work today, and your creations look really fantastic. 

Here is a link to Nadja’s website: https://www.nadjagabrielaplein.co.uk/

14 June 2023

Thank you everyone for a fantastic term of ‘Own Projects’. It has been really lovely to see everyone’s different ideas and absolutely wonderful artwork. You have all produced such unique, skilled, and moving artwork, really well done all of you.

Each week has been such a pleasure for me, thank you for coming to the classes and for your hard work, eagerness, courage, and good spirits, I very much appreciate it.

I will see you on 28 June for the next adventure! Take care x 

7 June 2023

Today, in our penultimate ‘Own Projects’ session, we had great fun exploring different effects with watercolour, using wet-into-wet, dragging a dry brush through wet paint, letting colours ‘bleed’ into one another, and imprinting, as well as experimenting with perspective.

We also played around with abstracted mark-making and composition. 

Some people looked at colour mixing, and colour opposites, and very successfully created their own mixed colours, as well as exploring picture construction with the ‘rule of thirds’, and the ‘horizon line’, and differing ways of indicating light and shadow.

We had some beautiful clematis flowers in the studio and some equally beautiful pastel drawings in a bright and joyful cerise pink on light green paper.

And finishing up with a mixed media acrylic based painting with posca pen, where experimentation took place using using various textured mediums, masking fluids, along with erasing and building back up techniques, and glazing. 

A really wonderful way to spend an afternoon, thank you everyone! 

24 May 2023

We have a wonderful array of artwork from this session - dogs, flowers, trees, abstract and semi abstract images, landscape, and window views.

People were exploring amongst other things, colour, texture, shape, line, and depth.

Media used included: water-soluble oil and pastel mixed media, watercolour, watercolour and mixed media, coloured ink /watercolour pens, black pen, and graphite pencil.

It was another really lovely session, thank you everyone for your participation and hard-work. 

17 May 2023

Today, we have a veritable feast of colour!! 

We have watercolour, slightly abstracted trees, using a limited, harmonic palette, with swirling movement. We have flowers and a landscape painted in gouache, with gorgeous colours. We have beautiful coloured pencil wildflowers in a pot. And a fabulous, loosely painted lilac in a jug, painted in water-based oils. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed today, it has been delightful, thank you everyone.  

10 May 2023

Today we drew and painted from a wonderful garden themed still life (complete with ‘ancient gnome’). 

We began with a classic warm up - Continuous Line Drawing - drawing a continuous line, with the non-dominant hand, not taking the drawing implement off the paper, and without looking at the paper. This is a great exercise for turning off the ‘knowing’ part of our brain (for example, the part that thinks it already knows what an ancient gnome looks like, meaning we don’t really see the unique gnome that is in front of us properly, and therefore cannot draw it accurately). 

Some people experimented with changing the size of the objects, as well as moving them around on the paper. Some left the background blank, in order to accentuate the still life, and some drew in a background (complete with horse through the window). One person started their own personal project also, with a semi abstracted, textured landscape.

Another fantastic session, thank you everyone! 

12 April 2023

Today was the last session of this project, and I feel we went out with a bang, and, with cake! What better way to end.

We have a range of work, from copies of artists’ work, to personal artwork inspired by the artists and their techniques. Media used included: watercolour and wax resist, mixed media, acrylic applied with various tools, dip-pen and ink, watercolour & pencil, and good ole’ regular graphite pencil.

I myself have learned so much from this project, I have thoroughly enjoyed the chance to look in depth at artists’ work, old masters and modern masters. Thank you also to you all, for another really lovely term, for your enthusiastic participation, and of course, fabulous artwork.

5 April 2023

For our penultimate session of this project, we had a great selection of artists work that we made copies from: old master’s, Renoir,  Turner, and Philip James de Loutherbourg, and modern day Jo Grundy. We used graphite pencil, watercolour, and acrylic. Some of us used the various measuring techniques we have been learning about also.

We learned a lot in the process. Well done on all your hard work yet again, and you can see the evidence in the fantastic work produced! 

22 March 2023

We have a variety of images today, all exploring many elements of picture making, including the use of: line, mark-making, shape, colour, light & shadow, and composition; as well as using observational looking skills and measuring methods; and application of media, such as how to obtain differing effects, and using mixed media on the same image. 

Media used included: charcoal, coloured pencil, watercolour pencil, watercolour, oil pastel and graphite pencil. 

Phew! What a full and amazing session it was! With a wonderful wide range of artwork produced, thank you everyone for your unerring handwork in these sessions. 

15 March

Today we continued with van Gogh as we were still finishing off from last week (where we had a snow day, and so worked from home).

We also looked at various cat artworks from differing artists, which are great fun, and a good contrast to the van Gogh’s.

And, I’m very sad as I have missed off someone’s artwork, I don’t know how that happened and I do apologise, but I will get photos next time, and add them to the magnificent array of van Gogh trees that we have here.

Thank you all, a wonderful session, I enjoyed it very much 

1 March 2023

Today we looked at the drawings of Vincent Van Gogh, and made copies of either a whole drawing, or parts of a drawing. Some of us drew freehand, and some used measurements to help with the placing of the lines and shapes. Some of us drew upside down, to better see the shapes (without getting derailed by ‘labels’) as well as the negative shapes. Some of the artwork isn’t finished, so we may see new versions next week!

We also have two updates on our colour project (where we are recording the colours we see around us each month) with February’s colours.

All of the artwork produced today is fantastic; it’s well observed, considered, and expressive. Really well done everyone!