Dot continued her workshop painting at home by strengthening the colours, now giving the painting a greater depth of field. The painting is now a colourful mix of pinks, blues and greens. Well done, it’s beautifully painted.

Tracy also deepened the colours on the workshop painting and added some pink and purple.

She tried the painting again but was very impatient and removed the clingfilm too early so has lost the interesting shapes.

The third picture was done with Brusho pigment powders which were sprinkled over wet paper and the colours allowed to mixed together randomly. The seed heads were masked and were left white intentionally for a more dramatic effect.

Artist and tutor Sue Bradley ran an interesting and very productive watercolour workshop with 22 members. Sue has visited us several times and we always appreciate her enthusiasm and patience with us.

The subject was seed heads, which we drew in pencil then covered in masking fluid. Once dry we added several colours to the whole sheet of paper such as cobalt and ultramarine blues, sap green and burnt sienna, then covered it with clingfilm, either flattish or scrunched up. When the paint underneath the clingfilm was dry we peeled it off to find patterns, which some emphasised to represent undergrowth and leaves. The masking fluid was removed and we painted the seed heads in browns, blues, yellows and purples. Some members then used white gouache and a sponge to paint the highlights on the seed heads.

Whilst everything was drying middway through the morning Sue gave us a demonstration of Brusho pigment powders. Only a few of us have Brusho so it was a great opportunity to see the powders in action.

At the end of the session we put all the paintings along the ledge to display them and it was fascinating to see that although everyone had started with the same reference picture we all ended up with totally different paintings in many colours. Thank you, Sue, for a great painting day!

www.suebradleyart.co.uk

If anyone finishes their painting at home please take a photo of it and send it to Tracy for inclusion in a later blog post.

Peta sat quietly all day and produced a very skilled drawing and an accomplished painting of a harbour. Fabulous work as usual, well done :o)

Our next session will be at the hall on Wednesday 12th April from 7-9pm.

What a dreadful day it was weather-wise, with snow, sleet, heavy rain and icy conditions causing crashes and delays in the evening on local roads. Several members were poorly too, so we hope you all feel better very soon.

Eight hardy members made it to the session and enjoyed painting pictures inspired by Pablo Picasso, whilst one member painted at home and sent in a photo of her painting. Most ideas were taken from Picasso’s cubist paintings and one from his rose period, using pinks and oranges. Some photos include the original picture that inspiration was taken from. Do you recognise the person in the last photo? A self portrait inspired by Picasso’s ‘Woman in a red armchair’ painting from 1929.

Two members finished paintings from previous sessions, of a full length portrait and a hare. Note the Pantone Colour of the Year, Viva Magenta, in the flowers to the left of the hare.

The next session is a watercolour workshop on Saturday 25th March. Email Tracy to see if there’s any spaces left, or you can come and paint quietly at the kitchen end of the hall.

Angela M has continued to practice sketching birds, with the most recent being blackbirds. She sketched the upper two using a B3 pencil, then used Faber Castell Polychromos coloured pencils for the the bottom one.

Good work, Angela, you are learning from all this sketching!

Here are the session idea for the Wednesday in March, to hopefully give you inspiration, and details of a workshop to be held on the Saturday.

Don’t forget to try and add the colour Viva Magenta to your paintings this year.

Wednesday 8th – 7-9pm – Pablo Picasso

Fifty years have passed since Pablo Picasso’s death and his artwork is still hugely popular worldwide. During his long life of 91 years he painted in many styles, but is best remembered for his abstract paintings. His early works during his monochromatic Blue Period and the subsequent colourful Rose Period are less well known.

Draw or paint a picture inspired by Picasso, or study a particular artwork and paint it. Use any medium.

Here’s a website with lots of info… www.pablopicasso.org

Saturday 25th – 10am-3pm – Watercolour workshop with Sue Bradley

Sue Bradley returns to run a watercolour workshop, having painted flamenco dancers, Venetian masks, sunflowers and cornflowers with us before.

This time we’ll be painting seed heads and Sue will be providing the photos. You’ll need a decent weight watercolour paper as we’ll be using a lots of water, watercolour paints, probably some clingfilm, and Brusho pigments if you have them. Don’t worry if you don’t have any Brusho, Sue will be bringing some to show how to add the colours to a painting and you can borrow them.

Sue’s website is here… www.suebradleyart.co.uk

If you’d like a place on the workshop please first check you are free that day, then email Tracy asap at her usual email address. Please don’t use the comments box below as sometimes messages take days to get through!

Once Tracy has confirmed your place you can pay by bank transfer (preferred) or by cash on the day. There are 25 spaces so hopefully that’s enough for everyone who wants to come.

The cost of the workshop will be £10.

If you don’t want to attend the workshop you can still come along to the session as your subs have already paid for the hall rental. The workshop will take place at the big window end of the hall but we’ll also have tables at the kitchen end if you want to come and paint quietly while the workshop is on.