CHARCOAL STUDIES WTH KIM PRAGNELL!

I recently went on another Silton Art Group workshop with Kim Pragnell. This time it was black and white studies, using charcoal.  He had brought in some of his brilliant work, including the boat artwork shown above (centre right).

He had put up two large still life sets, with a variety of objects, man-made and organic, for us to work on. We looked carefully at the shadows and emphasised the lights and darks.  The results were vey impressive with everyone having a go at each still life.  Kim can be seen above going through and commenting on everybody's artwork.  My contribution is seen above at the top of the bottom left photograph...

PERSONAL MEMORY COLLAGES WITH ZARA MCQUEEN!

Another great workshop with the Silton Art Group was tutored by Zara McQueen and was on mixed media and collage from memory and feelings. We brought in old artworks and personal papers that we didn't mind cutting up and recycling and made up a landscape from personal memories. There were some interesting results and the pics above show Zara discussing each one with the group...

Above is what I produced during the day.  Instead of keeping it as a picture, I recycled it, with a few additions, into a bookmark (see front and back above), and six cards (see below).

LIGHT ON WATER!

I recently enjoyed a class with the Silton Art Group, tutored by Lawrence Belbin - here he is, above left, with one of his beautiful pictures.  The subject for the day was light on water.  We all worked hard and produced some great work, which was critiqued by Lawrence - see above.

I used the photograph above, which was taken on a recent holiday in Sidmouth, as inspiration to produce the artwork shown above right.  It was done with acrylic paint on an offcut of card, which had been prepared with black gesso.  I have rarely tried to paint the sea, so I was pleased with the result I achieved with Lawrence's expert help...

POPPIES AT DUNGENESS!

After the recent day course with the Silton Art Group, I have completed a mixed media painting on board (30cms square) - see top pic.  The subject is Derek Jarman's cottage and garden at Dungeness.  A photocopy of a photograph of the site is shown above left.

On the day with Linda Appleby, I finished a painting on paper using acrylics, which is shown above right. Linda made the comment that the poppies should be larger and more prominent.  I took this to heart and used collage, to give extra emphasis on my finished mixed media artwork, which I did in my studio at home...

GARDENS IS THE SUBJECT FOR TUTOR LYNDA APPLEBY!

The latest tutor for the Silton Art Group was Artist and Illustrator, Lynda Appleby.  The subject matter was gardens, and some of the group had been out and about with Lynda to sketch.  I went to the next session which was back inside with acrylic paints.  As I hadn't done a sketch, I worked from a photograph of Derek Jarman's cottage at Dungeness.  It was enjoyable day in which we learnt a lot, had a constructive appraisal of our efforts, and saw examples of Lynda's beautiful work.

During the day I managed to complete a painting on paper (see top left pic - the one with the purple sky).  I would like to use this as a preparatory work for a mixed media and collage piece...

EXCELLENT SEASCAPE TUTITION!

Last Wednesday, the tutor at the Silton Art Group's workshop was Kim Pragnell, and the subject was seascapes.  He is an expert on the subject having painted them for over 40 years!  As he says -  'Painting seascapes is both challenging and rewarding, one of the most highly skilled genres of art. I have spent many years studying the sea, observing and experiencing the drama, recreating the energy on canvas and paper.'

We all started with underpainting in red, before being guided and helped to produce our own seascapes, and found it was not as easy as Kim made it look!  He demonstrated by producing a picture -see  above top right and bottom right below - which he has given to the group to auction.  I certainly wouldn't mind owning it!

Each of us produced two paintings during the workshop, and the results were impressive for a day's work. A selection are pictured above.  I was pleased with my efforts - see the two bottom paintings in the photograph above (middle right).  I found it exciting and now I have been giving some useful hints and shown how an expert tackles it, it is a subject to return to...

  

FRENCH FLOWER MARKETS!

I now belong to the Silton Art Group.  Every other week we learn something new from a different tutor.  I have mentioned the day we had with Soraya French in a previous post.  Another excellent tutor was Fiona J. Forbes. The subject was Flower Markets and the technique we used was manipulating the paint, acrylic or oils with painting knives.

I found it difficult to control the acrylic paint using painting knives and the impasto technique.  It was not something that I had done before.  The results of our talented painting group were impressive - see pics above.  The top centre and top right were paintings that Fiona had brought along and you can see her, with the painting she was demonstrating on, in the centre photograph.

Fiona recommended underpainting in a contrasting colour to unify and bring the painting to life.  My day's effort is shown here. I used a bright yellow for the underpainting to give a sunny, summary feel to the French flower market I was trying to create.  It now needs finishing...