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.