Tag: seascape

All at Sea? Of course not!

Posted on Posted in active artTagged , , ,

by Bev Dunstan

Chandlers Ford Art Group welcomed Stephen Foster once again to host a ‘Stormy Sea in Acrylics’ Workshop on Saturday 10th October 2026.

Stephen began by demonstrating how he would go about creating a Stormy Sea using just a pallet knife and a silicon brush.

His first marks were created by dipping his finger into the paint and sketching with very simple lines marking the horizon and the shore line.  Using his favoured #009 pallet knife, he continued with the clouds in the sky, explaining how a moody sky would influence the seascape; no blue skies in this painting!  He used a simple palette of prussian blue, yellow ochre, titanium white, magenta and terracotta.

The painted sea and shoreline completed the painting demonstration.  Stephen applied a frame and recommended this technique to help to assess whether the painting was finished. Taking a black and white photo and considering the tones in the painting was also recommended.

Stephen brought along other examples of his work and encouraged people not to work directly from photos, but to let the paint marks set the scene.

The workshop continued as people created their own work.  It is often a challenge to paint loosely on an abstract scale if one’s own technique is form and realism; abstract can be very daunting and is definitely not as easy as it seems but everyone gave it their best effort, many completing two or more paintings during the day.  Stephen took time with everyone, encouraging ideas and assisting when asked.

The workshop ended with Stephen commenting on each of the final pictures presented to the table; offering words of advice and encouragement to each artist.

Soraya French Workshop (9 March)

Posted on Posted in active artTagged , , , ,

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

Working with Oils – beautifully!

Posted on Posted in active artTagged , ,

by Bev Dunstan

Heather Jolliffe presented a ‘Working with Oils’ Workshop on 9th September, which was great fun.

Heather began the day patiently explaining the different types of palette knives available for the artist and how to use them to make marvellous marks with oil paint; complete with a comprehensive array of examples to see.  She continued with a thorough tutorial on the different types of oil paints, including water and oil based versions followed by an in-depth description on what surfaces to use and how to prepare them.  Heather then provided the group with her first demonstration using water based oil on a prepared ground base board.

The members then tried out the techniques for themselves and what an amazing paint medium to use!  Smooth as cottage cream that oozed under the knife, the paint stayed workable as it was manipulated over the surface of the board.  The brushes stayed in the box as the palette knife became more familiar in the hand and the magic happened as the paintings came to life.

Heather completed her second demonstration after lunch and then we set about our own masterpieces of seascapes and landscapes.

Ultimately everyone agreed that the biggest disadvantage was the drying time particularly for the artists that favoured Acrylic paint.  Nonetheless, the workshop proved a wonderful opportunity to discover the fantastic properties that oil painting provides the artist, if only they were patient enough to wait!

Getting loose with a knife – and some paint!

Posted on Posted in active artTagged , , , , ,

by Jacky Pett

Stephen Foster’s workshop on 13th May was his second this year, and presumably just as much enjoyed by us as it was for our predecessors!

This was entitled ‘Spontaneous palette knife landscape/seascape painting’ and Stephen gave short talk beforehand on methods and materials, showing examples of his work. Then he picked one to demonstrate the techniques of using a palette knife on a prepared board.

Looking from a distance, the way Stephen blurred and moved the paint around to create clouds and trees was amazing. It was even more amazing, as I saw later, his spiky trees emerging from the clump were really just rough squiggles in the paint when you looked closely. His clouds showed the scuff marks on the board, too, but from a distance, they looked fantastic.

Despite the word ‘spontaneous’ and Stephen’s advice that if we wanted a reference, to look at it once, then put it away, quite a few people carefully drew out their landscapes and proceeded to fill them in. Maybe they were being more spontaneous with their paintwork than usual. They were certainly more beautiful than mine, which I thought were a mess. But then this was my first workshop with the group, and the first time I’d used acrylic paint in nearly twenty years. Thank you to my table mates Bev and Valerie for making me feel at home, and also for helping me get the paint caps off!

Although we’d been around the room and admired each others work, we also got a critique at the end from Stephen, who went through each painting and made useful comments. I think they were useful learning points for us all, anyway. And I came away with plenty of ideas about painting with a palette knife that I hadn’t had before.

Thank you to Stephen, and to Bev for organising it. A good time was had by all, I think!

Digital art is still controversial

Posted on Posted in DemonstrationsTagged , , , , ,

A respectable turn out for Paul Arnott paid great attention to the methods and artistic expertise involved in creating digital art. Other aspects of the medium remain controversial.

That seemed to be the reaction of a range of members afterwards.

Painting with stylus and tablet…

Paul Arnott kindly explained all about the programme he uses, a top-spec software system called Corel that has been in development since the early 2000s, and consequently has more bells and whistles (sorry, options) than Microsoft sticks into a spreadsheet programme.

In the first part he showed the way you can use such a program, and the differences between types of ‘brushes’ that the stylus on your tablet (such as the Wacom 6 one Paul uses) will generate on your screen. That led on to the computer enhances things like holes, and swirls, and (very useful) the way you can mask out areas by selecting and inverting them, a bit like masking fluid, but more sophisticated, and cleaner.

The second part, Paul created a lovely seascape from scratch, showing the uses of different features, and the way you can use different layers, which you can then move if it’s not quite right.

Chandlers Bay, Paul Arnott

…and digitising pictures in the style of…

And then, having proved that digital art can be just as creative and demanding on the artist as any other medium, he ruined the illusion by demonstrating a programme that plays with photos to turn them out as, well, any artist you like. All you have to do is say ‘when’.

There are good things about this, if you are doing something for your own enjoyment. Why not have a picture of your favourite pet rendered in the style of Matisse? Get it printed for permanence, and hang it on your wall.

But…

  • what if you used this to do a lovely landscape and passed it off as an ‘original digital artwork’? Who would know you’d done virtually nothing of artistic merit yourself?
  • what if you printed this, or indeed any of your carefully drawn/painted work on your tablet on your home printer. You might use ordinary inks on paper that might not be permanent… how could you guarantee the quality if you sold it as a painting?
  • What if you got the programme to do something with a photo in a style you thought wonderful, and you copied it in paint yourself. Is it original?
  • what if you used some other artist’s work as the basis for your digitising? Have you got the copyright? Have they?

Paul did mention the issue of printing, and showed one of his works that had faded in the light. He generally sends them for professional printing if he intends to sell them.

Ideas and controversy

Some of the members present got a lot of ideas from this presentation, others found it unevenly presented, and worrisome. On balance, maybe it won’t have helped the cause of digital art acceptance at our summer exhibition. Not yet, at any rate.

It’s a controversy that will run and run.