Tag: live demonstration

Early Autumn Colour?

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With the drought still taking its toll of our trees, it looks like we will be having early autumn colour, and probably holding on for a long time, if the rain comes as promised. So what better reason to get the autumn colour paints and pencils out!

We have what feels like a ‘standard’ programme for the first time in ages. We start with Life Drawing on Sunday 6th September 14:00-16:00 in MR3 at the Dovetail Centre, with a second opportunity two weeks later, on the 20th.

As always the Drop-In Session does not let us down, taking place on Wednesday 9th from 10 till 1 at the Community Centre in Hursley Road. If you want to make some new Christmas cards, this might be a good place to start!

On Saturday 12th, we have a pastel workshop with Brenda Molyneux, who will take things from first steps. If you had pastels for Christmas and don’t know what to do with them, see if you can get squeezed onto this workshop by contacting Bev. (Members only)

By Jim Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3451685

The Sketching Group will be out and about on Monday 21 September, 10:00-13:00 with an outing to Bishops Waltham. I keep meaning to visit the Bishops Palace… maybe it’s time.

Our last event of the month is a live Demonstration by Stewart Beckett on Wednesday 23 September at the Methodist Church, Chandlers Ford. Starts at 19:00-21:30, and non-members are welcome to join for a £5 donation (in cash, preferably). Stewart is a Hampshire artist who has exhibited in London’s Mall Galleries, and works on landscapes, portraits and other subjects. He appeared on Sky Arts TV Landscape Artist of the Year in 2018, and you can see an interesting time-lapse of his entry on Youtube here.

Be prepared for hot weather next time!

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We start with an apology for the very late cancellation, hopefully only a postponement, of Jake Winkle’s live demo last Wednesday. But it was far too hot for most of us to leave the relative cool of our houses until well after 9pm that day. Safety first, especially in extreme heat. I’m sure Jake will be willing to travel from Dorset to see us on another occasion, and we look forward to it.

Jake Winkle Workshop
Our efforts to reproduce Jake’s Cheetah at the workshop last year!

Thankfully, the forecast for the immediate weeks ahead seem more normal. Which means we won’t have to worry about the heating for the Life Drawing session on Sunday 5 July or the one two weeks later on the 19th.

The last session of the Introduction to Sketching course takes place on Monday 6th, with the Drop-In Session following closely on Wednesday 8th at the Community Hall, Hursley Road Details

Saturday 11th sees a Gouache Workshop with Jill Iliffe at the Dovetail Hall (next to the Methodist Church). Jill did a wonderful workshop of painting a kingfisher last autumn, it’ll be great to see what happens next! Details

Our Sketching Group will be heading off to Hamble for their session on Monday 20th, so we hope the weather stays sunny and warm, without too much need for excessive heat precautions. Take sunhat, water and suncream anyway – even if it’s raining!

Wednesday 22nd is the fourth Wednesday of the month, and so time for our Live Demonstration at the Methodist Church with Caroline Viney. Hopefully Roy will give us more details in the members newsletter nearer the time. Non-members are welcome, for a donation of £5 (preferably in cash) at the door. The demo starts at 7.30, so arrive a little ahead of time to choose your seats.

Finally, your interest forms for the Summer Exhibition at the Hillier Gardens are already in; the next stage will be for your entries, and for helpers to sign up for the things they were interested in. Please respond promptly, it helps the organisers no end! Also, after the sterling work done to arrange HOS in the Dovetail Hall at the end of the month, those of you who have signed up will get your allotted days, and further instructions. Because of these events, the Life Drawing sessions for August are cancelled.

Please spread the word about both events (Posters to come!)

(header picture (c) Heather Jolliffe)

How did June get so busy?

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No, it’s not a rhetorical question, or even an inquiry into a mysterious lady from the past. It simply reflects the amount of activity going on within the group this month… and there isn’t even an exhibition (although there’s a great deal of planning for August going on!)

We start the month with two (fully booked) special events — Behind the Scenes visits to Southampton Art Gallery. I’m looking forward to hearing a report on these from one of the attendees – it doesn’t have to be as detailed as Bev’s workshop reports, but it would be nice to know what you saw and what you thought!

These are speedily followed by the first of our Life Drawing afternoons on Sunday 7th, when Rowan Roberts will be revealing all. I never cease to be amazed at the ability of our life models to stand still in poses I could not adopt for more than a few seconds – they hold them for a few minutes or up to an hour (usually the longest we ask for is a half hour).

Note: this may not be the model for June.

The day after, on Monday 8th, sees the first session in a new Sketching Course, taken by Mandy Axtel. The other sessions take place on 22nd and 29th June, and 6th July. We look forward to seeing your sketches of the St Cross area.

Relegated to a lowly spot, in the listing, but still on the second Wednesday of the month, our drop-in session runs from 10:00-13:00 at the Hursley Road Community Hall.

This month’s workshop is on Saturday 13th, and promises to be a lively Abstract Acrylic and Mixed Media with Rebecca Hurst. It is speedily followed by the Sketching Group’s outing to Romsey Abbey on the Monday, and a brief pause before our second Life Drawing session on the 21st.

Finally we round off the month on Wednesday 24th, with a lively live Demonstration from Jake Winkle. A good time will be had by all.

And that takes us to Midsummer! You realise we will then be closer to next Christmas than last Christmas? Start painting your cards now 🙂

Spring into Sunshine

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Well, maybe. This Bank Holiday looks like it might be a little cloudy, but then we could do with some rain already!

But that won’t make too much difference to us as it’s the Spring Exhibition at the Dovetail Centre Main Hall, with hand-in and set-up tonight (Friday), and the event open from 10 till 4 Saturday until Monday (when its closes at 4pm officially, and hand-out at 4.30, but these things become flexible over time).

Please tell your friends! And bring them along. And visit often yourself. Bring the visitors, bring the kids and their friends. There’s nothing better to do on a bank holiday weekend!

and after that…

Life Drawing! The first session of the month is on May 10th, second on 17th. There were a couple of late spaces available for the extra session put on in April, but the May ones are, as far as I know, fully booked.

Wednesday 13th sees our Drop-In Session at the Community Centre in Hursley Road, 10 till 1. Do whatever you want, enjoy the company, or just enjoy the space to spread out without the cat puddling your paintwork.

After the second life drawing session, we pray for good weather as the sketchers head for a morning at Mottisfont (National Trust, so bring your card if you’re a member). Even if the weather turns inclement, there should be plenty to see and sketch. (You could do the cellars underneath the building on the right hand side of the picture – they have fabulous pillars!)

The most important date is Wednesday 27 May from 18:45-19:30 as it’s our Annual General Meeting. Just a few routine reports to be read, committee to be seen, elected, or co-opted. Just to make sure we run ourselves clearly and correctly. And this is followed by our first LIVE Demonstration of the year, with Marieta Sotirova doing something very interesting.

The Summer’s Over…

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… and we can get back to painting rain, storms, puddles and all the other things we haven’t seen for a while!

We also finished our Summer Exhibition and HOS25 studio. Thank you to everyone who exhibited or took part in the studio section – it was really rocking at times! Also welcome to all those who are now following this website, and hopefully your enquiry about membership has already been dealt with.

Here’s a selection of memories from August, which is followed by the usual monthly update.

… and here comes September

It does not often happen, but we start with a free week! Grab your art kit and get out between showers for a quick sketch – the theme for the month is action/sport.

The first event of the month is on Wednesday 10th, the Drop-In Session at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road (members only)- Details

On Saturday 13th, Jill Iliffe will be doing a workshop, for which we have some places remaining. Contact Bev if you would like to join in (this may be available to non-members who have already contacted us about membership) The workshop is called ‘Kingfisher in Oils/Acrylics’ and it will be at the Dovetail Centre Hall. Details

Our Sketching Group will be out and about on Monday 16th. Hope for good weather, or at least a nice place with shelter!

Sunday 21st see our monthly Life Drawing resume in the Dovetail Centre.  We have been using the hall, but I think it may be moving to Meeting Room 3 (where we had the HOS studio) where the heating is alleged to be more reliable. The life drawing booking sheet went out in early summer, so if you missed it, you’ll have to join a waiting list. Watch out for the new year’s sign up list, which will be out soon. Details

Finally, we finish the month with our last Live Demo of the year, on Wednesday 24th, when Rebecca Hurst will be demonstrating Something Large (all will be revealed!) in the Methodist church, where there is a lovely video feed set-up so you can see the details wherever you sit. (visitors welcome, for a small charge) Details

Where did June go? Notes for July…

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June whizzed past me, fortunately mostly full of good weather, gardening and family activities. So what’s in store for July, art-wise?

Goldfinch/ Church
Goldfinch (c) Chris Church

Saturday 5th sees a Coloured Pencil Workshop with Chris Church. Intriguingly, those on the participants list have also been encouraged to include certain watercolour brushes in their kit. There is more to pencil work than pencils, obviously.– Details

On Wednesday 9th we have our monthly Drop-In Session at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road. A chance to finish off the pencil drawings, or perhaps try out the acrylic techniques (I want to try sgraffito), or splash some colour about, as inspired by Jamel Akib. – Details

If you forgot to send back the application for life drawing sessions for the rest of the calendar year, it’s too late. Although, things happen, and Peter Maule tends to keep a reserve list for when spare places arise. Sunday 20th is our next Life Drawing session (at the Dovetail Centre Hall 2-4pm). Details

Monday 21st will see our Sketching Group out and about again. It seems to have morphed from Open Air or Outdoor sketching group to En Plein Air (which is just the French phrase), but still. And don’t forget there are monthly themes and weekly prompts for you if you prefer to sketch at other times and places, and would like a stimulus.

Our Live Demo at the Methodist church this month is on the 23rd, with Julie King demonstrating ‘Flowing Flowers in Watercolour’ – Details

And watch out for news of how to get a space for our Hampshire Open Studio at the Dovetail Centre, dates 16-25 August.

NEW – AND IMPORTANT

On Tuesday 29th will belatedly host our AGM complete with reports of last years activities and finances. Most importantly, we will launch our Postcard garden for this year and have a bit of a social event. At the Dovetail Cafe, starting promptly at 7.30pm.

May is packed – hopefully with continued good weather

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This lovely weather is hopefully bringing the crowds to our Spring Exhibition at the Hillier Gardens. This ends on Tuesday afternoon, so get your friends along for the last weekend and don’t forget to collect your exhibits after 4pm on Tuesday – details

Wednesday 14 May sees our next Drop-In Session at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road Details. These are currently FREE, so get along to work on your next masterpiece.

Saturday 10 May is a Workshop with Katherine Anteney. There were a few spaces left at the middle of April, check with Bev if you’d like to join this Linocut Workshop. Details

Our next Life Drawing session is at the Dovetail Centre Hall on Sunday 18 May from 2-4. Contact Peter if you need to drop out or want to be placed on the waitlist.

The Outdoor Sketching Group will be hoping for decent weather on Monday19 May, but they seem to cope with anything the weather gods send their way. You can also join in the sketching challenge at any time. Many of those I see are more artworks than sketches, but anything goes!

We round off the month’s menu with a Live Demo on Wednesday 28 May. Jenny Muncaster will be demonstrating Acrylic and mixed media.  Details

Hope you find something there to pique your interest.

She’s the cat’s whiskers!

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Susan Kerrigan-Harris gave us a wonderful demonstration of animal drawing in pastels in April.

Interestingly, she works in sections to finish rather than layers. Her thought is that if she did layers and got to a state where she liked it a lot, she wouldn’t want to work on it further. Doing sections that she’s really pleased with motivates her to move onto the next section and bring that to the same level.

The key to doing animals: fur direction. Use strokes, feathering, sides of pencils ‘glazing’ for different effects. Hold pencils at far end for lightness of stroke.

Sue uses pastel mat for good tooth, but lightly to move pastel around—harder strokes will stay in place. Torchons are very useful, but you can get rubber blenders but also all sorts of plastic used for other things!

She has a blog post on website which talks about her favourite colours. Purple and dark green are very useful in fur; complementary colours really add depth.

Which pastels?

You can and should mix pastel pencils with pastel sticks. Don’t get confused between pastel pencils (which can be pricey) and cheaper pastel-coloured pencils. Those won’t work well with pastel sticks.

Isopropic alcohol can be painted on dark spots to fix (aka surgical spirit). This melts the pastel and locks it into the paper, but it will bleed, so take care. It also makes your paper darker.

Pastel papers are very varied, you just have to find what you like.

More on materials

Fixative is an art, she doesn’t use it. She did use hairspray at school and it worked well.

With something like pastel mat, get on the mailing list of someone like GreatArt, and buy large sheets when it’s on sale… sheets you cut to the size you want are far more affordable than pads.

You can also reuse it, wash it off, dry flat….

Pencil sharpeners

When sharpening pencils… Sue has a video on YouTube. Ordinary sharpeners, including the big ones with handles, go blunt too quick. For pastels, use a knife/blade and then scrub on sandpaper to get to a point, sandpaper on its own will probably do.

Sue traces the underdrawing. As she wrapped up the evening she told us an anecdote about a well known artist who uses a lot of different techniques to get the basic structure down. “Anything goes in getting the basics right!”

Thank you for an excellent and entertaining demo. The list of Sue’s materials will be added soon.

Time to relax over Easter?

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Yes, let’s all relax over Easter. There’s nothing much to do other than enjoy spring sunshine with family, and eat Easter eggs.

Well, it might be like that. Unless you’re involved in any, or all, of these events.

April’s packed programme

It’s no April fool. The first formal (or informal) event is our Drop-In Session on Wednesday 9th at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road, as usual. Details. Have you done your postcard yet? Are your artworks for the exhibition finished? Escape from whatever’s going on at home (like a kitchen renovation) and paint in peace here.

Sunday 13th sees our Life Drawing session at the Dovetail Centre Hall from 2-4pm Details. Apparently it was on the cold side earlier in the year, and the problem was solved – by turning the new heating up a notch or two!

Then comes Easter – and there is no sketching group meet on Easter Monday. But they’ll be back before the month end.

Wednesday 23rd from 9.45 to 10.30 is hand-in time at Hillier Gardens for our Spring Exhibition. Make sure your framing and labelling are according to schedule! Good luck to the setting up team – we know you’ll do a super job.

Hand-in 2022

Live Demonstration

And not to let anybody rest, 23rd April is also our first Live Demonstration of our new year. Sue Kerrigan-Harris will be demonstrating ‘Animal Portraits using Pastels’ and her examples on her website look amazing. Non-members are also welcome at the Methodist Church at the Dovetail Centrefor a £5 charge on the door. (see Details)

The next day, Thursday 24th our Spring Exhibition opens at 10 am at the Hillier Gardens. It closes daily at 5pm, there are various places for refreshment around the gardens, and if only visiting our exhibition and the adjacent cafe, there is no entry fee. But as you’re there, why not pay the entry and visit the lovely gardens too. Bring your friends. Do some sketching! The exhibition runs until Tuesday 6th May  details

While that’s going on, people will be stewarding, and artists will be doing ‘artist of the day’. Anyone still without a kitchen may be availing themselves of Hillier’s excellent food. And on Monday 28th the Sketching Group will be having a delayed meet-up (not at the gardens).

There is also a sketching group monthly theme and weekly prompts, so watch out for more information in the newsletters.

A September to Remember?

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After the excitement of our Summer Exhibition and our HOS24 Studio, September might seem a little flat. BUT NO!

Adebanji at our 2022 demo

Saturday 14th sees our return visit from Adebanji Alade, and this time for a whole day. The workshop for those booked (contact Roy to go on the reserve list), plus an evening demonstration. Everyone who came to his demonstration for us in 2022 thoroughly enjoyed it. Adebanji is both a superb artist and a great communicator. There are still a few tickets available for non-members: see the full details here.

The Dovetail Cafe will be open from 6pm – Free coffee/tea & biscuits for ticket holders and members.

Adebanji Alade – Sat 14th September, 7-9 (coffee etc from 6). Non-member tickets HERE

Other activities

Wednesday 11th is our monthly Drop-In Session at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road. A chance to work on you own project in company. (Members only)

Sunday 15th: the return of Life Drawing after being squeezed out for the last couple of months, at the Church Hall 2-4pm (members only)

Monday 16th sees our regular Sketching Group meet up, this time at Royal Victoria Country Park. They are visiting some great venues; contact Lisa Marshall if you wish to receive the email updates (members only)

November Exhibition Plans

Save the date: Sat/Sun 9/10 November 2024. This is our Autumn Exhibition in the Church Hall. Full details will be coming to your email inbox soon!