Seascape

Evie Whitfield was inspired to paint a seascape in acrylics following the February demonstration by Colin Ross Jack. She brought her canvas to our AGM today so plenty of members were able to congratulate her on such a successful painting.

We are also pleased to announce that Colin Ross Jack is going to run a workshop for us at Wellington Heath Memorial Hall on 23rd April.

Inspired by Colin Ross Jack

I was inspired by our February demonstration to have a go myself. I followed Colin Ross Jack's method of putting in the two tonal extremes and then developing a tonal painting before adding colour. It's been a little while since I used my acrylics but I worked fairly rapidly and was reasonably pleased with the result. I painted on a sheet of A3 acrylic paper. I used a tooth brush to create the white marks on the nearest rocks and some of the finer marks on the other rocks.

The land in the background is the island of Bressay and the land in front of it is The Nab, a promontory on the edge of Lerwick. When we lived in Shetland we could see these from the windows at the rear of the house. The view in the painting is from a point about 200 metres from our former home.

If others were inspired by Colin's demonstration, please let me have photos that I can post on the blog.

Colin Ross Jack - Seascape in Acrylic

Demonstration painting - unfinished

What an excellent teacher Colin is. His combination of humour, story-telling and relevant information about the painting process was lively and engaging and he kept our interest in all he was doing. Much of his inspiration comes from the Fife coast, particularly Anstruther, where he grew up. Although he now lives in Worcester, he frequently visits the Kingdom. As my wife spent some of her childhood living on the Fife coast, I know to refer to Fife as the Kingdom.

Many paintings, including today's demonstration, include the Isle of May, which localises them to Anstruther. Some of the stories he told were about his father, James (Jimmy) Jack, who was coxswain of the Anstruther lifeboat for many years, He was rather fond of standing alongside his portrait in the Scottish Fisheries Museum (painted in 1964 by James Selbie). I have to say the museum is well worth a visit as is Anstruther and all the East Neuk villages.

Darkest and lightest values added

He normally paints in oils and uses acrylic only for underpainting but the demonstration used acrylic throughout. He works on canvas and primes it with masonry paint. You can see from this image that he begins with a simple drawing.

Here he has added the darkest tones (black) and the lightest (white). Cheap acrylics from The Works are used for this stage but then he moves on to heavy bodied (System 3) acrylics from Daler Rowney.

You can see more of his work on his website http://www.colinrossjack.co.uk/ though the images there are rather small and do not do justice to his work.

Katrina Stephens - Chinese Brush Painting

Chinese Brush Painting is completely different from anything we've seen demonstrated before. Katrina began by telling us a little about its rich history, which dates back many thousands of years, and the two main traditional styles - the meticulous and free brush. The meticulous style uses outline and blended washes  to achieve a realism that tries to express the harmony of nature. The free brush style is simple and spontaneous. The diagramme gives a brief summary of the history and the principles that lie behind this rich tradition.

If the diagramme is too small to read then you can find more information about Chinese Brush Painting on the Chinese Brush Painters Society website and on Wikipedia.

You can see more of Katrina's work on show at Ross Market House. Take a look at the Made in Ross website and at her own website www.maistra.co.uk

One major difference from most western art is that the paintings lack perspective and shadows.

The ink used in the form of a solid stick which has to be ground in an ink stone. A little water is added to the well of the mixing stone before grinding. The intensity of the ink will depend on the amount of water. The intensity of the ink in the brush is tested on a white ceramic tile before making marks on the paper.

The nature of the marks will depend not only on the type of stroke made but also type of paper used. Note how the paper is held down by brass paper weights. The paper is also laid onto felt.

Mike Purkiss

Incoming Tide River Orwell, Suffolk by Mike Purkiss

LAS is sad to announce the recent death of Mike Purkiss, our former Chairman, who did so much to build LAS into the much enjoyed and successful society it is today. We shall miss him.

SAA World Record Art Challenge

The SAA is attempting to set a world record for the largest number of original works of art exhibited under one roof. Ledbury Art Society has sent in 24 pieces painted by members.

The list of contributors (in no particular order) follows

Robert Guy - Buildings in Watercolour

Unlike most of our demonstrators, Robert had not prepared his drawing in advance but made it part of the demonstration. Initial drawing with a 2H pencil was, unfortunately, difficult to see and impossible to project onto the screen. His drawing and painting was very detailed and he could not complete the image during the demonstration.

Robert has been a professional artist for over 20 years during which time he has worked as a fine artist, illustrator, designer, storyboard artist and art teacher. His work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries in London and Singapore and he has worked to commission at St Andrews and Gleneagles golf clubs. You can find more about him on www.artprofile.co.uk