14 August 2024

We had such a wonderful time in Diane’s garden again (third time we have been fortunate enough to come and visit this beautiful garden). The weather was perfect, how lucky are we?! (Raining today, only one day later). 

Everybody that came really did have a fantastic time. There was so much to draw and paint (two hours wasn’t enough!): we have a marvellous, textured drystone wall with dancing flowers and plants done in water soluble coloured pencils, plus the beginnings of a magnificent orange wheelbarrow. 

We also have a graphite pencil drawing of an arching apple tree, portraying good depth and composition, plus a small wooden table: the drawing shows its wonderful character. 

A large scale acrylic painting, using a slightly abstract style, and on a pre-prepared green blue background, is alive with reds and whites from the flower bed. 

A complex scene, delicately drawn, and with great depth of a shed, cold frames, and raised beds, drawn with a mechanical pencil (0.5); lots of different marks express the differing textures.

And as if that isn’t enough, we have a drawing of a pear tree yet to come (wasn’t quite finished). 

A huge thank you to Diane for her generosity in allowing us to visit her incredible garden again. And also to Linda and Alison for their welcoming and friendly hospitality (including the warm scones - so delicious!!). And thank you to yourselves, the best students ever, for coming along and participating with all your bravery, and making art! A perfect afternoon, thank you everyone. 

**UPDATE: I have added Linda B’s pro photos from the afternoon. Thank you Linda!

7 August 2024

Today we carried on with our own projects. Some of us took on the challenge of the word for the month, “Hidden”, and produced artwork in response to it, including hidden parts of pea-pods and rose-hips, as well as hidden doors. We have a hidden face and possibly a hidden book. There are tree roots that were once hidden after a forest fire but that are now sprouting into new, fresh green life.

A wide range of media was used during the session including collage, watercolour, ink pens, gouache, coloured pencil and graphite pencil.

A very creative and imaginative session, thank you everyone

24 July 2024

17 July 2024

It was a beautiful day today at the Robert Ashton Memorial park in Meltham. We drew and painted the scenery around us, using pen, graphite pencil, inktense pencils, pastel pencils and watercolour. 

It was absolutely lovely to be outside as a group, generating a special and supportive energy whilst drawing and painting the life around us. I didn’t get photos of everyone’s work, so apologies for that. 

Thank you, everyone, and thank you to the weather!

3 July 2024

We did have one brave soul who went out and drew around the hall today, well done! And then we have a mix of work from all our ‘Own Projects’. Collage, watercolour, watercolour and pen, mixed media, coloured pencil, and pastel. And a range of subject matter from sampling to abstraction, to still life, portraiture, landscape, mark making, and composition making. A really enjoyable afternoon, thank you, everyone! 

26 June 2024

It was a perfect day for drawing and painting outside. One person worked on a table enabling them to fully spread out with their materials and work on a decent sized watercolour, filled with fields and trees. Another person worked smaller and in graphite pencil making links to our themed word: “connection”, looking at distant skylines as well as close ups of dry stone walls.

Another person experimented with new artist’s quality chalk pastels, deep into the bank of the lane, creating life, energy and movement with their colour and mark-making. Another used various mixed media to work in a creative and abstracted way (and watch this space as the work will be excitingly further developed!).

There is a beautiful graphite drawing of a series of rounded trees, all overlapping and contributing to the perspective depths of the drawing. We also have a gouache flower meadow, as well as a collage hilly landscape and a collaged close up of what looks like undergrowth with very interesting creatures living there!

Thank you everyone for joining in with our ‘En Plein Air’ session today, it was absolutely wonderful. As one person said, just what my soul needed, thank you!

19 June 2024

Today we started our own projects for the summer. Again, two people drew outside, but I only managed to get a photo of one; they used graphite pencil and charcoal to depict the landscape and features outside and around the hall, sitting within the hall grounds and also at the entrance of the field by the hall (where the pumpkins were). Some people painted the poppies that I brought in using traditional watercolour, and some used watercolour pens and ink pen. Some people continued from the briefs over the last few months: one person made a collage from the last abstract brief, and one person decided to pursue their interest in the portrait and the figure. Another person was inspired by a painting they had seen at the Hepworth’s exhibition, “Still Lives” to create their own artwork using coloured pencil. Wonderful work, well done everyone! 

29 May 2024

22 May 2024

Today we looked at zooming in closely to an object in order to abstract it. We also looked at simplifying our subject matter. This opens up gateways to much unique and original creativity that could be never ending, a life time’s work!

And there are some really fabulous studies and artworks here. From using sepia pen to create abstractions from fossil shells, to watercolour and mixed media seed-heads. From pen and wash abstractions of large, natural formations to oil paint dynamic swirls. From part of a sheep’s jaw bone to a mixed media unique skyline with buildings.

Strong colours, shapes and angles are used to simplify and abstract someone’s back garden in watercolour. Vibrant closeup and simplification of a tulip in watercolour pens, then further abstracted another step into an explosion of multi colour and shape. Simplified flowers in their pot, the whole image elegant in it’s rendering of simple beauty. A carefully observed abstraction of solid metal measuring spoons in graphite pencil creating a rhythmic pice full of energy and movement. Using flowers to conduct an experiment in coloured pencil looking at dark and light in different parts of the composition and the effects it achieves.

Some of you are still having fun with portraits and the figure (I don’t blame you, also a life time’s work!!). Three sensitive drawings of women, capturing what it is to be a human, while a very expressive watercolour portrait really brings to life the person on the page.

Well done, everyone!

15 May 2024

8 May 2024

We began our abstract project by experimenting with blacks, whites, greys and other monotone colours. We worked on white and black paper and used collage, pen, pencil, water soluble graphite, pastel, and charcoal to experiment with shape and space to with make evocative compositions.

The artworks that were produced are all so original and unique, really well done, everyone! 

24 April 2024

Today was Toilet Drama Day at The Hall. However, art was still made and enjoyment was still had. We practised copying from an image of a skull drawn by British contemporary artist, Sarah Simblet. Some were drawn by looking at the artist’s work, and then drawn again from memory without looking at the image. This is a great exercise to do for building up and increasing our drawing skills - it gets easier the more times it is attempted! 

We also have a series of three skulls drawn in pencil on grey paper, red pen on white, and black pens of various widths on white paper. It is interesting to note how each of these skulls has a different ‘character’ based on just a few line changes here and there. 

We also have pencil drawings of a young child from photographs, and a charcoal drawing done at home based on a live model that kept moving! 

Despite everything it was a really lovely session, thank you everyone. 

17 April 2024

In today’s session we did some more drawing from a live model, well done everyone, it is one of the hardest things to do, and you all did really great, including one person who did theirs in, one of the many, drawing styles of Picasso, well done. 

We also have some more self portraits, using continuous line, pen, and charcoal, whilst some people copied from the provided images to see what they could learn about how Kokoschka used his lines. 

One person made an imaginative piece with a self portrait amongst flowers using coloured pencil. Another person used inspiration from an image from the experimental watercolour book that we worked last summer (how time flies!), creating interesting shapes from the highlights and shadows in a face and showing how using only monotone to achieve depth can be really affective. 

Someone has started a tonal face exploring flesh tones in acrylic paint, and we have an abstracted collage piece based on a person’s love of nature, and a beautiful line drawing from a Holmfirth view. 

Well done everyone, next week we will conclude our explorations into the portrait and figure. 

10 April 2024

Today we focused on portraits of other people. To begin with I sat for two sets of 15 minute sessions. People drew in graphite pencil, water-soluble graphite pencil, ink, charcoal, and pastel. Some drew the face, and some drew the face and body. 

We also have portraits of other people, including fellow students in graphite pencil. And we have a Matisse inspired watercolour and gouache portrait also. 

You all did great work today, well done. It is a brave thing to draw and paint portraits and figures, so a big clap everyone. 

3 April 2024

Today we looked at the self-portrait. We have been slowly building up to this moment over the weeks, and today we had fun drawing our own self-portrait using a combination of mirrors and photographs whilst experimenting with different techniques, methods and media.

We learned about the average measurements of a face and looked to see how those measurements played out on our own faces. We decided that we could potentially use these measurements as a rough guide to help us start our self-portraits and also to check our proportions when we were struggling. We also decided that we did not have to use these measurements and that they are only one way to go about drawing a self-portrait.

We also did blind and non-blind continuous line drawings. Some of us drew the images from the brief for extra portrait practice. Well done, everyone, on your great work today, you did really well every one of you.

20 March 2024

Today we drew and painted noses and mouths. As before, we made blind continuous line drawings to help us see more accurately. When we make these drawings, we are looking at our subject one hundred percent of the time. We are seeing what is really there, rather than a preconception that we might have in the mind. 

Some people pulled and pushed their noses into differing positions resulting in some really interesting and expressive drawings. I think in particular all the continuous-line noses that were drawn today are wonderful, they are so full of life, but we do also have some really characterful mouths. Well done everyone. 

We then went on to study other artists’ work, looking to see how they had portrayed noses and mouths and we copied from these works to learn for ourselves. We then drew our own noses and mouths. Media used was pencil, charcoal, pen, and watercolour.  

There are two landscape watercolours at the end, one is a Holmfirth townscape, and the other is a Spanish view (I’ve forgotten which part of Spain!), as well as a Matisse inspired watercolour interior, watercolour Zen mountains with figure, and watercolour and gouache flowers and jug. 

A great session, thank you all! 

13 March 2024

Today we looked at eyes. We did blind continuous drawings of one of our eyes with our non dominant hand. Then we did regular continuous line drawings. 

After that, we studied and copied how other artists have drawn and painted eyes, and we drew our own eye/s in a similar style to see what we would learn in the process. 

One person drew their own features onto a Van Gogh face. Some people experimented with mixing media: pen, pencil and charcoal. Some practised memory eye and portrait drawings. 

Well done, everyone, you all did some great work today! 

6 March 2024

28 February 2024

Today was our last catch-up / own-projects session. Some people continued with the observational drawing topic, with a detailed and layered ‘chrysanthemum’ fir cone in Inktense water-soluble coloured pencil, and an ethereal hyacinth created with a mix of Caran D’Ache  Neocolour pastels.

Some had a play with the tinted and black watercolour paper. We’ve got a large charcoal nature scene with arching trees and an inviting, curved pathway. There is a coloured pencil rendering of the pathway just outside the hall, again, another enticing path and view. Also, a homely corner view of a room, which was sketched before coming and then painted in watercolour during the session in vibrant green, red and yellow.

Two richly textured pieces in an evocative amber colour. A pen and watercolour Holmfirth view, capturing the character of the town. A shining jewel like piece, inspired by stained glass, in watercolour and pen. And last but not least, pegs and a washing line, having been blown down, and falling amongst the grass, in coloured pencil with just a touch of water used.

Well done everyone, you did great today!