Movement in People 4th October

Caroline started her talk by showing some examples of people in motion. Artist Sergei Chepik used strong exaggerated poses to bring energy to his paintings such as the bullfighter.   While Mary Cassatt used the strokes of her pastels to convey movement. She painted babies and toddlers who were “caught in the moment ” as … Read more

Mediums Demo 20th September

Today Caroline presented a selection of mediums: Pencils, both lead and coloured, charcoal, watercolours, acrylics and pastels, along with her personal recommendations as to brands. Pencils Caroline favours 8B for drawing, as it is possible to get a really dark tone with it. HB she finds too hard and light, but these can be used … Read more

Painting with Oils 6th September

Painting with Oils  6th September Many materials can be used to paint on: canvas, canvas board, hardboard or paper, but all must be sealed before starting. Those bought ready made from art suppliers are “ready to go” but if you use hardboard or paper, you will need to apply a coat of size or, as … Read more

Glazing on Black and White 16th August

  The use of  glazes over a black and white portrait painting  gives a different glowing result. Caroline had a photograph of a young person and had painted it in black, white and greys to start with.  She pointed out that it is vital to get tonal values set first. Working from light to dark, … Read more

Preparing Work for an Exhibition

Thanks go to Lesley McBride, who recorded Caroline’s talk, and to Judy Alexander for the images. Caroline Marsland’s talk today was especially helpful, with the Club’s upcoming exhibition in August now only weeks away. Some valuable advice about choice of frames and examples of different effects will be valuable to those who are putting work … Read more

Plein Air Painting 19th July

Caroline began her demonstration with some points to consider before starting an open air painting session. Reconnoitre before choosing a site. Are there a lot of possibly intrusive people around? Consider the weight of your equipment. A half-size easel will ease the load, as you may have to climb for a better vantage point Do … Read more

Lino Cutting Demo

Caroline Marsland, our tutor gave a demonstration of lino cutting at our July wednesday class. I have taken the liberty of copying the description of lino cutting from ‘Gradually Greener in Print making’ from the web site. Carolines comments and instructions are added at the end. “What is a Linocut?: Linocuts are very similar to … Read more

Bauhaus Furniture 21st June

The Bauhaus (trans. School of Building) was founded in Weimar in 1919 by Walter Gropius, who was very interested in manufacturing combined with art. It was created as a centre for all arts.  The Arts & Crafts movement was a big influence, as, under William Morris, it espoused the idea of functionality and beauty. After … Read more

Composition Demo 7th June

We were treated to a very comprehensive and helpful talk and demonstration on composition by Caroline, in which she outlined how to plan a picture, illustrated by examples by well-known artists from different schools. There followed two examples of assembling a painting, during which the choices and various techniques that can be used were demonstrated. … Read more

POP Art

On the 24th May Caroline gave us a talk and demonstration on “Pop Art”. She started by telling us that although we associate pop art with the 50’s and 60’s, it emerged as early as the 1920’s. Artists were reacting against traditional movements typical of the Victorian era as well as the upheaval of WW1. … Read more