As at today’s date we are still able to meet in Chalk Parish Hall in multiple groups of 6, so our two sessions this month are going ahead. If the guidelines change during the month we will let you know.

Portrait Artist of the Month (PAOTM) – Dame Judi Dench or Yinka Shonibare

Dame Judi Dench is quite simply a national treasure who has delighted audiences in the theatre, cinemas and in their own homes for decades. Draw or paint Dame Judi at any time of her long life, young or old, or perhaps create a painting with her dressed as one of her many characters. If you have a favourite film starring Dame Judi, use that as a starting point for your work.

Yinka Shonibare, CBE, RA, is a British-Nigerian artist who creates paintings and sculptures in bright colours, using Ankara fabrics as his inspiration. He became better known to the public when his art installation, ‘Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’, with Ankara fabric used for sails of the Victory, was commissioned and stood on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar square in 2010. That sculpture now resides behind the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, so you may have seen it if you’ve walked through Greenwich Park near the museum. He became a Royal Academician in 2013 and his work is highly regarded worldwide. Four postboxes in the UK have been painted black and gold to celebrate Black History Month and the one painted in Brixton is in honour of Yinka.

You can draw or paint Dame Judi or Yinka at a session or at home but send all your pictures to me by the end of the month.

Pachyderms in Pencil

For Wednesday 14th October or at home. From the original Greek, pachys = thick and derma = skin.

Draw in graphite pencils or coloured pencils any pachyderm i.e elephants, rhinoceroses or hippopotamuses. If you want to go further back in history then you could draw mammoths or gomphotheres.

Analogous Autumn

For Saturday 24th October or at home.

Analogous colours are next to each other on the colour wheel. For autumn those colours would be yellow, orange and red, thus conjuring up visions of trees in autumn as their leaves change colour, studies of the leaves themselves or children gambolling through leaves and puddles dressed in Autumn-coloured coats. Pumpkins in their various types can be painted or crunchy red apples in a wicker basket. Whilst we’re in October let’s also think of Hallowe’en, Samhain, witches, ghosts and ghouls. A multitude of ideas so please get painting!