Basking in Doreen's Glow

Doreen, last drawing, 30 mins, pastel on paper 16 x 16cm

I was in Jane's seat today.  The table is a little small for my stuff but the light is good and the view was great today. I love drawing Doreen. I had prepared lots of pretty pieces of paper for pastel and watercolour last night. I had looked at Birdget Moore and Sargy Mann over the weekend so I was thinking in blocks of colour.  I felt more like myself.

Sue, before Doreen arrived, 5 mins, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

 Doreen was a little late so Sue sat for us briefly.  I could have carried on drawing Sue.  Her hair made a nice shape and her colours were delicious! 

a few mins, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

It was a bit ambitious to use watercolour in these quick poses but it made me work quickly and insisted that I really look for what was significant.

a few mins 2, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

a few mins 3, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

15 mins, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

I stuck to the same basic palette all morning but mostly avoided line unless it was absolutely necessary.

15 mins 2, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

Doreen moving slowly, pastel on altered book page

This was the first drawing of the day and rather than do lots of shapes as Doreen walked around the room I stuck to my initial first minute pose and tried to see the room around her in comparison to the colour of her skin. I think that set me up for my final drawing and was why the room came alive.

Watercolour another way

I spent yesterday in a light-filled studio at Heatherley's Art School exploring the properties of watercolour, mark making, collage and 'breaking the page' with Jane Lewis. 

http://www.janelewisart.co.uk/JaneLewis/Jane_Lewis_Art.html

Jane's paintings have a 'je ne sais quoi' that those of us who know her work find irresistible. As an associate member of the RWS, Jane agreed to teach a workshop to coincide with the members' annual exhibition at Bankside. 

I am not a watercolour artist, so it was fabulous to have a day to  think differently, to get inside Jane Lewis' head… And Jane was very generous, explaining her process and giving us license to test her approach. 

Like Neil Pittaway, Jane added colour in different ways, allowing layers to show through and demonstrated how the paper towel is like the eraser to charcoal, removing, some of what you have just done, leaving a trace. 

With Neil I spent my whole time removing and had nothing but a ghost of an idea at the end.  This time I was determined to celebrate the colour of my St Petersburg (White Nights) colours. I also brought and used Gouache, something Jane never mixes with her watercolours.

I was particularly interested in what happens when you paint onto a non, or not very absorbent surface.  Jane showed us how a piece of Pink Pig paper doesn't absorb  the same way 'proper' watercolour paper does, encouraging us to test this ourselves.  I had brought paper I had painted with oil paint and gessoed book pages to experiment on. 

 As I began trying out the watercolours I realised how similar the process felt to my fused plastic.  Although usually not involving paint until the end, I felt I wanted to cut up what I had made, to reassemble it even stitch it together. At the end of the session I had time to do that with what I had made and what I had brought.

Three days of workshops

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.

Trying to tame new ink

So inspiring to visit six stunning gardens yesterday.  Today it rained so was indoors more than usual and found time to think about some of the motifs from the day.  The sunhat was a recurring theme.

These new Akua Kolor inks just aren't behaving the way they did in England, so I am having to work back into prints.

These are postcard size but perhaps I can take some of the ideas and scale them up or translate them into a different material.