So I've been in London again for most of the week, taking workshops with NEAC artists in the Mall Galleries learning centre, but we've mostly been outdoors doing things I never do. It's been hard and I like a struggle, even when the results aren't to my liking, but it's been hard.
Julie Jackson's plein air 'painting the summer light' was set in St James' Park. Most of the day was overcast but the sun did peek through around lunch time and it was that light that I tried to capture. People came and went, benches were moved and because I arrived late (someone jumped in front of a train) I didn't have my distance glasses or my reading glasses, I had my 'occupational' lenses which are middle distance.
Julie was brilliant at planting seeds of advice that helped me through my stuck periods. I liked painting at my smaller plein air easel but found the palette a bit small and I didn't really have the best brushes for the job. This was my first oil painting outdoors from observation, ever and I think working bigger would be better for me.
I had about a 1/2 hour to begin something else, the intention was to paint morning and afternoon light on two canvases, and this was the start of another view from my easel. I enjoyed working looser and the blue ground was probably an easier base for painting. I didn't clean my palette and my turps was pretty grimy, but the scene inspired me more.
Neil Pittaway showed us the properties of watercolour in the morning in the learning centre. We experimented on sheets of paper, blending, mixing, trying new techniques. In the afternoon we went out to St James' Park. Neil demonstrated how he works and we went off and found something nearby to paint. I enjoyed looking with a brush but I never got beyond watery nebulousness. Neil's work had so much variety and energy and hopefully I will apply some of his approach in the future. This day mine was dreamily dull. Above is a detail.
Yesterday was painting the figure with James Bland. James did a wonderful demo of approximating colour by comparing light, value and saturation. His painting was full of colour. I found bending behind to mix my colour on a chair with the glare of the lights difficult, and my palette became a muddy mess. Stella was far from me and silouetted by a window behind. I ismply ran out of time to pull it together and looking at it there are many problems.For one, Stella is much, much prettier than this. Although this 16 x 20" painting feels disappointing and I will paint over it at the first opportunity, I feel I learned a lot from James.
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