27th August 2020

To Burston this week.  We met at the Crown, to which most of us returned later for coffee.  I had not been here before, and was interested to see the Strike School, with its display of pupils at the window (see Avril's drawing).  The museum is currently closed, unfortunately.  Once again the weather was dry, and the churchyard is quite picturesque.

STOP PRESS:
Added 28th August.

And here is Sally T's rather wonderful pen and ink rendering of the building.

The stone blocks on the school facade name the organisations and individuals that backed the strike, which started in 1914, and helped to build the school.

Here are pages from Avril's sketchbook showing first, the cutout pupils at the windows of the Strike School, and second, an atmospheric sketch of two gravestones in the churchyard.

Studies of cows from Jackie, some from Burston, and she gave me a peep (not yet for display) at something else she is working on... watch this space!

Carolyn has been knitting during lockdown, 'In lockdown, I started knitting again to keep the grey matter and fingers agile, using inhouse leftover wool. The red did not last, hence the 2-tone model! The waistcoat is still unfinished, but will I ever wear it?'
Like me, she had chosen a cable pattern and, like me, kept going wrong.  This picture was done in watercolour and watercolour pencils, and I don't think this has gone wrong at all.

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Jane is in Dorset, and sent  a sketch of the view from her hotel window...









Sally L. has begun a study of a boat in a sea of grass using oil pastel, she says she has been suffering a bit of catering fatigue, due to several long ‘garden lunches ‘, and hopes to get it finished by next week though.

Diana stayed with her idea from last week, of using predominantly one colour, but found that 'Last weeks green is merging into yellow inspired by all the goodies coming in from the garden'  I must say I am wondering about the goodness of the soil in Eye, that can grow sardines among everything else!

Lesley is in Thorpeness, and has sent us a drawing of the back garden, and trees on Thorpeness Common, viewed from the front window of the house.

Harriet sent a picture of a rose from home, as she could not make it to Burston.

From Frances, 'Here is a quick sketch I did from the stern of the ferry yesterday. It became an exercise in geometry and in fact the lines look straighter in my sketch book than in the photo!

'Am now in quarantine but happily this will be over when you are meeting at Felixstowe Ferry.'

First a very evocative sky from Les Bragg, and then another atmospheric view of Burston churchyard, from Sally P.

My sketch at Burston was unfinished, as I was amazed at how the time flew. I will do some more to it and add it next week.  Instead, I thought I would share the process of the picture below.  I first drew some of the plums I had harvested, and then thought I would add colour (the colour was the main attraction they had for me), using a method China DeBurnay used to recommend, first photocopy or scan the original, and then print it out to use as a base.  In this case when I did this, I found that I could more clearly see that the bowl was too narrow, so I made it wider in the computer, as well as making it paler, to draw over, then printed it on grey paper to colour.

So the next outing is to Felixstowe, on 10th September.  An all-day session, details on the Summer Programme page.

Keep sending me your output - it's really great to see what everyone is finding to to draw and paint.