Best in Show

Congratulations to Brian Griffiths whose watercolour painting Talybont and the Brecon Beacons proved to be very popular with visitors. It gained more votes than any other painting by quite a margin.

Visitor numbers were high this year. Ten paintings sold and cards sold well.

Brian does have his own website so you can see more of his paintings and also his photographs https://www.brianonwoodside.co.uk/

Summer Exhibition photos

The exhibition started today and here are some photos of the paintings. Some, unfortunately, pick up reflections from the windows but still give a reasonable impression of the paintings on show. We also have cards and unframed paintings and prints for sale.

Summer Exhibition and Painting Challenge

The exhibition stars of Summer 2017

I'm looking forward to our summer exhibition which starts on 4 June in the Weavers Gallery, Church Lane, Ledbury HR8 1DW

It's open to the public:

•  2 - 4 pm on Monday 4 June
•  10am - 4.30pm Tuesday 5 through to Saturday 9 June
•  10am - 2pm on Sunday 10 June

Ledbury should be buzzing on the Saturday as that is the Community Day when the town's many clubs and voluntary organisations showcase their work. For information about all the groups (arranged by venue) visit http://www.ledburycommunityday.org.uk/listing-2018/

Last week I painted four pictures. Three were to suit titles I'd dreamed up when on holiday in Italy and entered for the exhibition. The fourth was because one of the paintings I had already done for the exhibition was really badly done and I don't know why I had entered it. Painting so much in a short period is a useful challenge and I recommend trying it sometime.

Shutters in Garda

One of my paintings was based on this photo of delapidated shutters. My wife complains I don't take normal holidays photos! You are free to use my photo as a reference for your own painting or drawing in whatever medium you favour. If you'd like to share a digital image of your work then do please send it to laschallenge@yahoo.com

International Watercolour Masters

State of the Union by David Poxon

What an exhibition! A great outing by coach to see this exhibition at Weston Park. We even met David Poxon, the exhibition organiser, and I know a few bought his book. For more details of this exhibition go to https://www.saa.co.uk/info/international-watercolour-masters/  (which is also the source of the image here)

It is well worth the visit. Go ... and be inspired!

You might also like to visit the websites of the individual artists or look for examples of their work online.

Here's one of the live demos on YouTube

Tia Lambert - Flowers in watercolour

Tia worked with watercolour and with acrylic inks, The image to the left shows a partially completed painting of bluebells on the Malvern Hills. The image was based on one she had used for April 2012 on her first calendar.

For more information about Tia and her work you can visit her website http://www.tia-lambert.com/ 

This particular painting was on stretched 140lb NOT watercolour paper. She had drawn the trees before coming to demonstrate but drew the foreground bluebells at the start of the demonstration using a dip pen and sepia ink. She uses Daler Rowney FW artists acrylic ink as it is lightfast.

Drawing the bluebells
using reference photos

After drawing the bluebells she put the painting aside to dry and then showed us some of her sketch books and her very portable outdoor painting kit.

She then demonstrated various techniques for working with watercolour and inks. The images that follow show some of this and the application of washes to the bluebell picture.

Frank Collict - painting with a palette knife

Frank had an early start from Penarth. He is primarily a landscape artist working in watercolour and oils. His work is about capturing the image with bold brush work while trying to convey the light and atmosphere of a place. Consequently, when painting in the field, he uses a limited palette to work quickly and keep things simple.

You can see more about his work on his website http://www.frankcollictart.com/

For this excellent demonstration he painted with palette knives. The first two images here show his starting sketch made in the field and a colour visual.

He was happy to answer questions as he painted, particularly when he had to spend time mixing paint on the palette, and he made sure we understood each step along the way.

For the demonstration he worked top to bottom and back to front but his approach in the studio is a bit different and he would usually spend much more time blending colours on the palette to make sure he achieved just the subtlety of colour and tone he wanted.

Frank stressed the importance of painting daily and working outdoors as much as possible. He felt that his painting had developed very quickly once he had plucked up the courage to work outdoors and his work became much more spontaneous, particularly his watercolours. Working with a palette knife had also contributed to the spontaneity of approach, particularly in forcing him to simplify.

Golden Theme Winner

This is Jill Lloyd's painting which was voted the best on a golden theme at the AGM. Judy Giles came second. It was great to have so many paintings entered as we celebrated Ledbury Art Society's golden anniversary.

Prizes for the competition were generously provided by the SAA (Society of All Artists). These included a specially produced mug for the winner.

To find out more about the SAA visit their website https://www.saa.co.uk/