Jon Davis - landcape in pastel and acrylic

I'm always fascinated by the many approaches taken by the different demonstrators who come to us each month.  Jon Davis had prepared an canvas board by painting it with white acrylic and he already had the basic scene depicted in light black. Only the sky has been added roughly at this point in the demonstration.

Jon studied classical portrait painting in the studio of Ken Paine. While we were setting up Jon told me how that came about. He had seen Ken working and rather rudely tapped him on the shoulder and asked what he was using. "Pastels.", was the reply and after a searching gaze Ken then asked "When's your birthday?" A date was named and Ken then announced "I've been waiting 20 years for you." They shared a birthday as did Ken with his tutor and so on back through several generations.

Eric Watson - pastel demonstration

Eric Watson used pastels, pastel pencils and watercolour pencils in a very able demonstration of animal portraiture on Tuesday. He provided plenty of tips that could be used just as readily for other subjects. There are two websites where you can see his work Eric Watson and The Priory Gallery

Eric uses white cartridge paper as the smooth surface allows for easy blending of pastels and a white support provides the majority of the white in his images. Blending is carried out either with a finger or with a torchon made from kitchen paper. When working with pencil the sharpness of the point was kept for longer by constantly rotating the pencil as marks are applied. When 90% of the animal was completed he added a background by laying the support flat on the floor, brushing off loose pigment, cleaning the background area with a putty rubber and then using a scalpel to shave off pigment from the pastel stick and then using finger or torchon to blend.
Images showing various stages of the demonstration follow

Best in Show

Congratulations to Daph Willett. Not only was her sunflower image chosen for the exhibition poster, she also had one of her pictures voted as Best in Show.

This is the first year LAS has invited visitors to vote for Best in Show. This proved very popular and also gave some added interest  for some of our younger visitors. Nearly every painting received at least one vote and there were two other paintings that were only three votes short of the winning entry.

More pictures at the exhibition

More pictures from the exhibition

 

2013 Exhibition - all set up, ready to go

Our annual exhibition of members' work starts tomorrow, Saturday 25th May 2013. Click here to see times.

We're all set up and ready for the members' preview this evening.













For more images click on

Computer Art

When you look at David Hockney's iPad paintings from The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate or art produced by artists using Photoshop or Illustrator you may find yourself thinking "That must be easy/difficult" or asking "Can I get rid of my sketch book anytime soon?"

So if you want to know more, come along on Tuesday 7th May at 9:45 for Paul Arnott's demonstration of computer art. See http://www.southwalesartsociety.co.uk/?p=1019 for a report on a demonstration by Paul Arnott last year.

For more views on Hockney try http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/18/ipad-painting-hockney_n_1213786.html There's also an article about using computers on the front of last year's LAS Newsletter http://www.msmusic.co.uk/ledburyartsociety/newsletters/2012-09_newsletter.pdf

Christopher Hughes - Watercolour

After more than thirty years as a full time working artist Christopher Hughes had plenty of experience to share with us yesterday. Before he began the demonstration he told us a little of his story which included working at Worcester Porcelain and running classes - at his home and studio in Worcestershire, on the Greek Island of Alonissos and online using Skype. To find out more about his work and courses visit his website www.christopherhughesgallery.com

He brought along some of his painted porcelain plaques and responded to the many questions LAS members through at him about the processes involved.

I don't think many, if any, of us are likely to try painting porcelain and after painting so much fruit for Worcester Porcelain he confessed that he had gone off fruit. Vegetables were a different matter, so he had brought along an arrangement on a plate that was to be the subject of his still life watercolour demonstration (see above).