Category: active art

Starlings in watercolour pencil

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by Bev Dunstan

Chris Church came down to Chandlers Ford from Buckinghamshire and provided a days tuition on the use of watercolour pencils.

He began the day with a quick introduction of himself and his work enabling us to see what could be achieved with minimal equipment; namely paper, coloured pencils, tiny brushes and water.

He chose to demonstrate the painting of a starling, with its deep iridescent colours of purple and green overlaid by golden edged black feathers, tipped with an arrow head of white, this proved to be an excellent choice.

The workshop progressed in stages beginning with a choice of two photos of the starling and sketching the image in graphic pencil onto acrylic paper.  The pencil could then be erased at the end of the process and once the watercolour was dry.

 Starting with the head, the next step was to apply the base layer of colour by overlaying the pencil marks before introducing the water to mix the pigments on the paper.  

For those new to this medium it was very much a journey of trusting the method, since the early stages of the painting looked very rough and ready!

Working from light to dark, the golden wing edges were defined and the layers of colour continued to be applied.  It was important that the brush strokes followed the alignment of the feathers.

Once the colour base was completed then it was time to sharpen the black pencil and start to introduce the feathers and the eye.  

The crowning glory was the use of a white posca pen to mark the white feather tips and the method suddenly made sense!

We were all pretty happy with our results, despite having qualms during the session. ‘Follow the process’ works!

Chris was a patient tutor, spending time with the artists and sharing his tips with the members and also managing to finish his artwork.

Chris is keen to provide a zoom demo in the future.  Our 2025-26 calendar is complete but he is ‘pencilled’ in for a session in the Autumn of 2026.

Loose Landscapes with Christine Forbes

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by Bev Dunstan

Christine came up from Chichester on June 14 to present a wonderful  ‘Loose Landscape in Acrylic’ workshop.

Thought process

She began by explaining the importance of drawing out your painting prior to applying the paint.  By doing so, you were breaking down the thought process of the painting into different stages – tone, mark placement and then colour.

Using a graphic stick, the members were encouraged to map out the image, pressing hard to show the darker areas and working the graphic stick across the page to demonstrate the different tones within the painting.

Using the tonal map as reference, a test piece was created to practice making the marks and the placement of paint. Beginning with deep purples – mimicking the darker tones of the graphic marks and once dry, the landscape was applied and the cloud formations were completed.

The final painting was then created using the techniques of the practice piece.

Sgraffito

Christine continued by demonstrating the technique of sgraffito.   A base layer of colour was randomly applied to the paper and once this was dried, a darker application of paint was brushed over the top. Whilst this was still wet the artist scratched away the paint to reveal the colour beneath.  

The afternoon provided time to the artists to use the techniques learned in the morning to create their own work – either freeform or from favoured photos.

The final display of work demonstrated the wide interpretation of the techniques learned during the day.

Linocut workshop – think white space and mirror image!

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by Bev Dunstan

With a lovely warm day upon us, the Chandlers Ford Art Group hosted a well attended Linocut Workshop run by the very bubbly Katherine Anteney.

Her knowledge of linocut and print making was wonderfully presented and her enthusiasm for the craft was infectious.  

The day began with an overview of the stages and a demonstration of the tools provided for the workshop.  The most important lesson was understanding that when the material was removed from the lino it would represent the white of the final image.  Compounded by the fact that the print would also be in reverse from the linocut – definitely necessary to consider if text was involved – it was so important to really concentrate on your work.  

Patience was the key and the best technique was to take it slow and ink up the linocut regularly to see the stages as the image developed.

The 6 hours flew by and resulted in a diverse range of printed images as the photographs show.

Soraya French Workshop (9 March)

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by Bev Dunstan

Soraya presented a well structured and dynamic workshop to the Chandlers Ford Art Group members who attended today [9 March].

Soraya began by explaining the differences between acrylic ink, soft and heavy acrylic paint.  She also discussed the advantages of using watercolour papers for acrylic use.  She demonstrated the different types of ground materials and structural gels to give the painting that extra textural affect.  Another tip was to use the paint as glue when introducing mixed media such as tissue paper and avoiding pva glue in your painting.

Soraya began her demonstration painting by applying the ground layers and textures that underpin the seascape scene.  Periodically Soraya would bring the members back to her painting to show the next steps and techniques to progress the artwork.

The artists were encouraged to use their own sketches and photos which led to an amazing array of fantastic paintings at the end of the day; including Antarctica, Westward Ho!, Isle of Harris and Westbay.

Everyone agreed it was an amazing day with great tips and advice to take away.

A montage of the day’s work

An Italian Workshop

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by Bev Dunstan

Ron Moody presented an excellent Pen and Watercolour Wash workshop on Saturday 8th February using a sketch depicting Lucca in Italy as the basis for the day.

He began by demonstrating techniques on transferring the image onto the paper; either by tracing or by copying the image by eye.  Once this stage was complete each participant had their version of the image drawn in waterproof ink.

Deep in concentration

After protecting the roofline using masking fluid, the sky came next using the wet-in-wet technique and tilting the paper to allow the pigment to flow across the paper before allowing it to dry.

Ron Moody adds shadows

The painting continued to develop in simple stages, allowing plenty of time to learn and progress without undue pressure as Ron moved around the group to guide and mentor as needed; concluding with the final shadows and key ink strokes on the building facades.

Even though everyone began with the same image the final paintings showed a wonderful diversity of colour and interpretation.

To summarise a wonderful day “we all drew the pictures and coloured them in!”.

Lucca JMP and Ron Moody

Sketching through February

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Thanks to Lisa Marshall’s excellent co-ordination, we’ve been sketching to a different prompt each day through February. Lisa (with Marc and Roy’s help) set up a private group on Facebook so we could post our efforts, and ‘like’ and comment on them.

The prompts have been many and varied. The opener of ‘hats’ set the scene, and was followed up with ‘monsters and fantasy animals’. ‘Sweet treats’ and ‘Under the sink’ were slightly easier to find subjects for (although some of us have to be contortionists for the latter). A surprising number of us do not have anything in our houses that counts as ‘red’, and resorted to mobile phones for ‘knobs and buttons’.

By mid-month we were tackling ‘something you saw on a walk’, and ‘something beginning with G’.

To join in, contact Lisa Marshall.

Here is a selection to inspire you, from Lisa, Caroline, Jacky, Gill and Sue. All pictures copyright the artist, of course.

Red
Caroline Haines
Chair
Gill Brophy
Cans
Gill Brophy
Foliage
Lisa Marshall
Foliage
Jacky Pett
Seen on my walk
Jacky Pett
Red
Caroline Haines
Inspired by Music
Sue H-M
Chair

Wet in wet, lost and found: Jake Winkle shows how

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by Bev Dunstan

Saturday 11th January saw Jake Winkle return to Chandlers Ford Art Group with a workshop ‘Light and Movement in Watercolour’.  

Jake provided a dynamic ‘seat of your pants’ experience of working wet-in-wet in watercolour.

Using a big mop brush the members were shown a step by step guide in how to use a simple palette of colours to produce a quayside scene in deep shade and bright sunshine.  As the workshop was about using watercolour and less about drawing, the members were encouraged to trace the image onto the paper, thereby leaving more time to apply the paint.  Once the sketch was complete then Jake demonstrated how to mix and apply layers of watercolour to build up the painting; beginning with simple washes and finishing with darker pigments to define the sun kissed areas on the roofs and water.

In the second half of the workshop, Jake illustrated the technique of ‘lost and found’ in a painting.

The drawing was again traced into the paper to maximise the time to apply the paint.  The technique was to paint just the darker tones, working from top to bottom and wet-in-wet.  

This produced an image showing how, by just painting the shadows on the people and donkeys and not completing the whole outline, the human eye can capture the full intensity of bright sunlight as it falls on subject in hand.

Our results!

A Priceless Workshop

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Adebanji Alade held an ‘Urban Landscape using Acrylic’ workshop for
the Art Group on Saturday 14th September.  What a fantastic day!

The day began with Adebanji offering to gesso prime our canvases –
which we all accepted – and providing various images of London
demonstrating light and shadow.  He showed the group how to mark out a
grid by dividing up the image into smaller triangles and mimicking the
grid onto the canvas.  His tip was to use a canvas or board that had a
ratio of 3:4 to provide a balanced rectangular painting.

He completed an hour’s demo, talking us through his technique of
sketching in the image to create a tonal sketch; blocking in the darks
before completing the stage by using white to create a monochromatic
painting.

He then continued to add the sky, progressing to the ground and then
working with the darkest areas towards the lightest points.  He
continued to work on the painting during the session and has kindly
signed and donated the piece for CFAG to auction off with the proceeds
going towards the Eastleigh Mayors’ charities.

It was then the turn of the workshop participants.  What seemed to be so easy in
theory took much effort and concentration to even get close! Four
hours later and with much encouragement and assistance from Adebanji
sixteen paintings were lined up for review.  Adebanji was absolutely
amazing – he was willing to help – offering advice and assistance to
all – be it adjusting the painting, mixing the right colour or just
providing words of encouragement.

Adebanji then ended the day by completing a two hour demonstration in
the evening – first sketching and then completing a portrait of a
Vagabond – aka our Chairman Roy.

A splendiferous workshop.

Bev Dunstan

Watercolour Plus! Wild Flower Meadow Workshop

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by Bev Dunstan

Wendy Jelbert presented a ‘Watercolour Plus! Wild Flower Meadow’ Workshop for the Chandlers Ford Art Group on 8th June which took place at the Dovetail Centre.

Wendy began with explaining some amazing techniques using watercolour including the effects of using permanent and non-permanent inks with the paint and using cling film to enhance the texture of petals and leaves.

Wendy provided plenty of examples from her intensive archive on best techniques to produce images of wild flowers.  This included using oil pastels and masking fluid to enhance the flower stalks and daisies within the meadow.

References

She also introduced Brusho powders and the best methods of applying them, namely puncture the lid and use it as a pepper pot to sprinkle the powder into the wetted paper. [oooh, thanks for the advice!]

Discussions

The group then set about creating their own interpretations from the flower meadow images provided by Wendy and she was attentive to everyone throughout the day providing help and advice.

Photos copyright Bev Dunstan, images copyright variously Wendy Jelbert and members

Sketching Group news

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Our Sketching Group (for members only) had its first outing on 20th May, when a lovely crowd took advantage of good weather at Lakeside Country Park to sketch and chat.

Fortunately the weather held, and plenty of good work was done by all.

The next sketching meeting will be on 17th June at Rhinefield House Hotel, Brockenhurst. Full details will be emailed to all those on the Sketching Group list. If you didn’t sign up originally, but would like to join in, contact Roy.

We have word of a possible exhibition of views of Eastleigh Borough (celebrating 50 years this year!), so don’t be shy about turning your sketches into something you’d be happy to exhibit.