On a frosty morning that cleared out to be bright blue sky's there were 16 members who appeared all ready and eager to get down to their art.

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Ian provided  an interesting table full of woodworking equipment 

He also sat  in a reading pose and one sitting on a bar stool with a bottle of bear and glasses but did not partake

Jenny, Barry, Maggie Anne, Lesley, Josie and Angela tackled their own projects

Barry thought he would use his mark making bits to incorporate with his flower painting, he intends to fade the background and then paste in butterflies. Maggie-Anne's acrylic painting of a dog was a good exercise and members thought it had attitude and it was endearing. 
Lesley's is the third one, top row an atmospheric rendering of Galloway.

Josie arrived late so did quick experiments, wet doodles and Angela also put down her thoughts in her sketchbook. Jenny left early so had just had time to layout the scene.

There were some wonderful still life drawings today, Harriet's charcoal was done after break and she said it was done quickly but it looks very detailed to me. Sally P's  is in the middle an excellent use of shading and she was pleased with the kitchen roll. Penny said her's was not dark enough and found it challenging but members thought the perspective was good and that it was delicate. 

Harriet's figure had good proportions and Gil'ls last two has her own individual style, she said it would be better to have an easel and view the subject further back.

Sent from Frances -   We have had some wet days in Brittany so I am sending three sketches done through windscreen wipers in the car! 2nd, 3rd and forth sketches

last one dry hydrangea sketched inside using the lovely Duke pen I bought following advice from Sally L.
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​The first painting is based on a lovely goldfinch we saw on a walk, nibbling seed heads

sally is the blogger next week

​Hi Sally I have some equipment details for you. I have given suggestions on where to purchase things if it helps.

Paper: 
Any dark grey, (but not black)
I found this good online company, they offer Dark grey or Anthracite grey ( both canson make)
12 sheets about £30 this included delivery  I think 2 sheets each would be OK, depends on whether people have bought their own to paint from their pictures, as you mentioned, if not 2 sheets each would be good even if we didn't use it all its handy to have! (BEING PROVIDED BY THE EAG)

greatart.co.uk

Board:
It's important to have a solid surface as this enables  better techniques . This company offers A2 board perfect for working with pastel.

cutmy.co.uk

594mm x 420mm @ 3mm thickness .These are between £3.70-£5.00 each, there may be offers on that reduce this price, a great board to have for future work!

Pastels:
Any pastels you have, I do recommend  this basic set too relatively  inexpensive  I often use a mixture of pastels/ multi media including this suggested set.

Inscribe 32 colours half stick can be found online between £7 - £10  (easiest option) The cheapest I found were from 
 Roys of Thetford £5.70 or so.
They sometimes run out as they are so popular so a visit to the store is worthwile.
Pen
Notepad 
Straight edge or ruler

I will provide 
Pics to work from
A charcoal white pencil
Tape to fix paper down
Blu tac

I will also give out sheets of info, A simple drawing frame and pen and plenty of fun!
I think if people did 1-2 pieces where we can learn techniques it would be good, this is only a suggestion  as you mentioned  some would like to do their own thing at some point of the day, which I am happy to incorporate. Apron is probably a good idea

Twenty of us at the Bowls Club this morning, a good turnout for a dull grey day.
Judith was our model in a cheerful and very intricate bright yellow jacket, fur hat/no hat, glasses/ no glasses, so you can see we were kept on our toes.
On the still life table a selection of objects and dried flower heads, and also several members working independently.

First the portraits, and some good likenesses.
​From Angela a pencil portrait,  Ian J worked in pencil and oil pastel.   And Elizabeth’s work in charcoal

​some of Avril’s portraits. -sorry Avril, I didn’t catch them all.    

​and from Sally P using a very thick pencil.              And from Jane three full figures and a portrait.   

​From Jackie   Four delicate pencil sketches     And from Jill a clearly defined full figure pencil drawing

​from Harriet two portraits he first in pencil and the second using pencil and chalk.

And to finish off, Jackie’s lovely watercolour portrait of Bea. Started a few weeks ago, she finished it over Christmas, perfectly capturing not only a good likeness, but her calm gentle demeanour 

on the still life table…
Barry “just drew what was I front of him” two quirky ducks using neo colour crayons.

Harriet’s composition in charcoal,                               And Jenny’s in pencil

Sally Tyley -L and i both attempted mixed media,Sally used pencil, for the glass and kettle and then pen and ink. I used charcoal for the large drawing, and pen with water soluble ink for the smaller piece

​jackie painted the seed heads in watercolour.          And penny the statuette of a fairy/nymph

working independently…
Ian C produced a very delicate chalk pastel drawing in preparation for the workshop
​on February 13th. The colours are typical of this time of year, lovely misty pastel shades…it maybe Wyken Fen

Josie worked on a dramatic picture of a sunflower head.

​Maggie Ann was inspired by the view from the window across the bowling green.

Diana is re-visiting some past ‘treasures’, ( just visible on the iPad screen) inspiring new work, and reworking others.

Lesley has finished her pointillist landscape from Frances’s workshop, but regretted  painting in the sky as a flat colour as it had taken the lively  contrast away from the leaves.

​Eileen is working on a vibrant acrylic landscape

​and Carolyn has sent in a pencil drawing of a newly refurbished pouffe. It looks almost edible!

Angela is trying out various compositions for a larger piece of work using cut out figures on a dark background. ( try to blot out the carpet pattern !) -a useful tip to aid composition.

 20 members were present at the Bowls club today, a good turnout on a dull  grey day.
Josie had organised a very stimulating session, as our model dressed in an interesting  combination of colour and pattern.
The still life table was also a challenge with an array of interesting objects and fruit including a ……..
( insert expletive ) writing box a lovely piece, but an enormous challenge. 

First from Carolyn following on at home from last week’s pointillism session using only the three primary colours. She was a bit disappointed not to see more green orange and violet emerging. As always when studying different techniques there is more to it than meets the eye. ( notice the cunning artistic punning reference there)

​Here are today’s life studies, in completely different styles, from Jane, R , and John , centre and L

From Sally P, top row, using watercolour over pencil, and Frances below, using ink, and effectively hatching in the background to add emphasis to the outline.
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​A selection from Avril’s sketch book, just the 9 images this week, I think it’s really useful to draw several versions of the same thing, you to become really familiar and more confident with the subject.

​next Harriet working in Charcoal, L, and Ian J,  Centre &R, a youthful  Josie a very carefully drawn scarf

​Gill, L, using a 4b pencil a lively drawing, and Sandra, channelling her inner Toulouse Lautrec, produced a striking colourful study. ( sorry about the portrait Sandra, I did turn it round, but the website knows best!)

Working on the still life table, Frances using Art Graf, chalks and wash to add movement to the peppers and again with the lamp using background colour to emphasise shape.
​Jenny’s delicately painted feather looses no detail, even rendered sideways! -sorry Jenny, and Maggie Ann’s lamp carefully observed in every detail, even those tricky reflections.

A carefully detailed painting from Judith - L,  finding as we all did the perspective difficult on such a complex subject.
​Angela, centre, again , apologies Angela, ‘computer knows best’ for your image on its side. Drawn first and then watercolour added and finally me, charcoal ‘refined’ i.e. re-drawn with ink. The second little sketch book image was much easier after I’d worked through the first.

​Fruit from Jackie-L, and Sally P-centre, almost exactly the same view rendered completely differently. Jackie’s firmly placed on the table with judicious use of shadow, and Sally’s similarly anchored by strong background colour.
Bea was pleased today with her picture of the beetle.
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and on the independent table Diana working on a still life composition again starting from scratch and adding the elements as she works, this time she had some magazine photos as inspiration.

and Ian C taking inspiration from the beautiful sunsets that he has seen lately on his journey home, used his own photos to make a composite landscape in watercolour.

And finally…

• subscriptions are now due, £25.00, Ian can be paid in the usual ways, and to make things even easier he now has a snazzy new card reader, so you can pay in person using your bank card!
• Harriet mentioned an  excellent exhibition currently at Diss Corn Hall in, last few days, but well worth a look.
• Sally P has organised a whole day pastel workshop with Andrew Harrington on February 13th. £30.00. A different format, combining several quick studies and exercises.
• Unfortunately there are limited places, only 12, already filled, but Sally has a waiting list Incase of cancellations, and there is a possibility that we could run this again if there was enough interest.
• Hannah is in charge of the blog next week, so please send contributions to her.

​sally

Frances explaining procedure and showing examples while we listen intently

 Sally L practice pieces, leaf and apple and Jane's samples and pepper, followed by Maggie Anne's super apple and Jenny's neat work.

Sally made samples and was pleased with the apple but thought the sky needed more work 

Ian made a coloured background on which to work his view of the Derbyshire downs. Angela was interested in the technique and was pleased she finished the leaf and everyone thought the sky worked well.

Barry tried the technique with felt tipped pens which gave a very neat clean look. Harriet's picture  in the middle had a wash first to unite it and she thinks the foreground needs more detail. Jo's sunflower showed lots of texture.
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Avril enjoyed the sessions today and learnt a lot

Ian made an inexpressive picture of a boat capturing Sizewell's atmosphere

The blogger next week is Sally Ladbrooke

Eleven members were at the Bowls Club this morning, a beautiful crisp sunny day.
Harriet had provided us with a wide variety of winter soup making vegetables, but being the eager beavers that we are we drew them instead.

​and David prepared himself for the gruelling task of modelling.

​First an appetiser from Carolyn, an Avocado pear, which looks certainly good enough to eat, the outer  skin has such a lovely texture, perfectly captured.

​And now for the vegetables…Josie’s  vibrant composition I think has a touch of Cezanne, strong shapes picked out effectively against the varied background colours.

​Jane’s drawings of part of the still life display, and almost ‘vegetable portraits’ of the separate elements

Sally P tackled the tricky shiny metal pot, with almost too good to eat luscious vegetables

 Frances ( left)                            And Avril (right) drew almost the same section of the still life table.

Jenny painted the delicate trailing leaves of the Tradescanthia and some edible looking tomatoes, and Frances also drew a striking version of the Jade plant.

and here are the portraits of David.

From Avril, some striking likenesses.

​From Harriet, very delicately drawn, and beautifully observed hands always a tricky subject.

​From Ian, a portrait in pencil.

​and from Jackie a lovely figure study. Especially  effective against the coloured background,
​, and part of the still life.

And from Frances, a strong graphic image.

Meanwhile on the side table Maggie Ann drew this charming portrait of her dog Mollie in Pastel pencil.

I worked on versions in  tone and composition of a landscape that I might get round to painting…

​Jenny brought in this finished version of a boat started at a workshop session a few weeks ago, to remind us of summer days ahead.

• And finally…
• Don’t forget to update your gallery pictures and send them to Hannah.
• Next week’s session is a workshop led by Frances - see below
• Avril is in charge of next week’s blog.

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Sally