Our session this weekend coincided with celebrations for the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. This suggested theme was expanded to include hares and also to incorporate Pantone’s Viva Magenta somewhere in our pictures. Twenty members came along and it was a busy session as most drew or painted more than one picture.
Whilst everyone was very creative with this subject, particular mention goes to Susan as she used Chinese brushes for her rabbit paintings, along with Chinese ink, rice paper and learnt the Chinese symbol for rabbit. Steve also used Chinese brushes for his picture inspired by rabbit tattoos which he painted in magenta and Brenda used magenta for one of her rabbit pictures. Peter used acrylic paint very thickly to create a rabbit whose fur looked 3D, Chris W painted her rabbit in a Chinese style with great detail and Wendy created a linocut image which she took home to print, then sent a photo of the print so it appears here too. Well done everyone!
Here are pictures completed from the Pantone Viva Magenta session on the last Wednesday and a sketch started for a monthly challenge of one sketch a day.
The next session will be on Wednesday 8th February 7-9pm.
Steve enjoys creating portraits using oil pastels on pastel paper. His latest subject is Tai-Shan Shierenberg, one of the judges on the Landscape and Portrait Artist of the Year programmes.
Steve prefers oil pastels over soft pastels as he likes the way the colours lay down and can be mixed on the paper. The first photo is the work in progress and the second photo the finished portrait. Well, done, it’s another super portrait and we can see exactly who it is!
Kay continues to be creative, this time using pyrography to burn a wooden heart with the image of her friend’s dog. It’s a very effective use of pyrography, Kay, and the lettering is very neat, well done!
Our first session of 2023, a week earlier than usual, had 10 members attending. Unfortunately, several artists were unable to come along as they are poorly at the moment. Get well asap and we hope to see you very soon!
Viva Magenta was the suggested subject, with Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2023 featuring in flowers, beetroots and abstract pictures.
If you want to attend a session and draw or paint your own subject then that’s absolutely fine. It’s always fascinating to see what members are interested in at home, on holiday or at art classes. This evening there were colourful Funchal ferns, a robin and portraits of identical twin granddaughters and Artist of the Year judge Tai-Shan Shierenberg.
A super, colourful start to the year, well done everyone!
Our next session is also a week earlier than usual and will be on Saturday 21st January from 10am to 3pm.
Here are ideas of what to paint at the sessions in January, but you are always very welcome to come along and paint whatever you want to.
Wednesday 4th 7-9pm – Viva Magenta!
Worldwide colour company Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2023 is Viva Magenta. It’s a rich, deep, red colour similar to Alizarin Crimson, Perylene Red and Cadmium Red Deep in a watercolour palette. Use any medium to paint or draw any subject using this colour alone, or make it the most used colour in a picture. Draw or paint a flower, animal, landscape, an abstract, a person wearing magenta clothing, a car, absolutely anything at all!
Remember this colour, Viva Magenta, and try and use it in paintings through 2023.
Saturday 21st 10am – 3pm – Chinese New Year of the Rabbit
Sunday 22nd January is the official first day of the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit.
Draw or paint a wild or pet rabbit in the style of Chinese art using inks or another medium.
Expanding the rabbit family, called leporidae, to include hares gives us more choice of subjects. Draw or paint brown hares or arctic hares on their own or in their natural landscape in any season. Use any medium but why not try one you haven’t used for a while, such as collage or printing? Or if you received art supplies for Christmas bring them along to try.
If you can’t join us today to paint, please do pop in to say hello and pay your subs if you haven’t already done so online.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and THANK YOU to everyone for your continued support for M&C during 2022, attending sessions or painting along at home.
Membership
We will finance M&C the same way as last year, with an annual subscription of £75 to cover the hall hire fee for 2023. Alternatively, equal payments of £25 will be due 3 times a year in January, May and September. If you choose to pay in instalments you are committing to pay for the whole year. Without this support we will sadly not be able to raise enough funds to hire the hall. Steve has already emailed everyone with details of how to pay by bank transfer, cheque or cash. Please pay promptly as this saves members being emailed and phoned to be reminded to pay.
If you no longer wish to be a member any more then please email Steve asap so you don’t continue to receive emails from us.
If you have any friends or family members who would like to join us then please show them this blog so they can see what we draw and paint at the sessions. If they want to join then please pass their details on to Steve.
Please pay your membership fee by the end of January to continue to be a member of the art group. Thank you! :o)
Sessions
Our sessions will continue to be on the second Wednesday and the fourth Saturday of the month, except for the January sessions being a week earlier than usual because of the hall already being booked. Session ideas will be posted monthly at the beginning of that month.
You don’t have to paint the suggested ideas, you’re welcome to come along and paint anything you want to!
Free tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided at all sessions, so if you just want to come and chat with your art friends then that’s fine too.
Workshops
Workshops will have the usual ‘first come, first served’ policy of putting your name down, with an additional amount to pay to cover the tutor’s fee. If more artists wish to attend the session than the tutor has room for, we’ll have a waiting list and you have a chance of getting a place as members sometimes pull out at the last minute.
Even if you don’t want to attend a workshop you will have already paid for the hall hire in your subs. You are therefore welcome to sit and paint quietly at the kitchen end of the hall, whilst the workshop session takes place at the window end of the hall.
Here are the session dates for 2023.
Please print them out or write them in your diary or calendar. Some months have 5 Saturdays but we meet on the 4th one.
Please note that our Open Day is on Saturday 25th November.
Medway & Chalk Art Group 