Judy Alexander When tackling a complex subject like a vase of flowers, it’s a good idea to draw the outline of the entire thing using a dark colour. Start the outline by placing your main flowers ( the ones that are wholly visible ) first and then moving on to the partially visible ones, moving round and … Read more
Caroline used the Pre-Raphaelites to demonstrate very good use of rest areas in paintings. Rest areas are essential to allow the viewer to easily move their eyes around the space. Use of colour is also effective in leading the viewer around the painting. Cool colours will recede and as such will be a good choice … Read more
Caroline’s session today was a talk about how the use tonal values affect a painting, followed by a demonstration of how to build up tone in a pencil drawing. First Caroline showed us examples of the use of light and shade and colour in paintings by Norman Rockwell. He was an American artist who depicted … Read more
All colours are made up of combinations of different pigments. The resulting colour can be either cold or warm depending upon the exact proportions of each pigment used. When selecting your palette you should choose one of both cold and warm for each colour . For example a cool version of red would be Cadmium … Read more
Caroline gave a helpful talk on preparing your painting for the annual show. It’s a good idea to finish off the back of the painting using gum tape and parcel paper to cover up all the fixings and make your painting look more professional Please note that all pictures ( apart from canvasses) should … Read more
Using watercolour, this week Caroline presented a demonstration of a treescape. Firstly, putting a sky wash on she advised using a big brush, to avoid “picky” marks, she looked at the composition, noting the shafts of light and some nice dots of yellow. When looking at a watercolour landscape, look at the layers: sky, faded … Read more
Caroline began with a description of the various brands and associated thinning agents: Jacksons Aquaduo are very thick and expensive Cobra is like System 3 acrylic, that is with less pigment Lukas thinner is specifically for water based oils. Cleaner: White Spirit When using acrylics, it is often necessary to build with up to six … Read more
Caroline started the session by explaining some of the qualities of acrylic paints. Acrylic is different from other mediums as the pigments are mixed with polymer resin and this enables the paint to dry much faster than oils. On the tubes of paint you may see a number 1 to 4. This indicates the … Read more
Reflections Demo 30th May Today Caroline is using watercolours and working from light to dark. To mask the highlights on the ball, she would normally use masking fluid, but as that takes hours to dry, candle wax is preferred for speed. A yellow wash was put on the top half of the ball. Caroline stressed … Read more
Rest Areas: Caroline explained that in a busy painting, rest areas are needed for the eye to process the picture. Rest areas are often part of the background or could be a road or a lane in a landscape. Pets If painting from a photo it is essential to find a good picture with relevant … Read more