Thursday 18 August 2016

Demo Still Life

This is my demo from yesterday.
A lovely lady is coming to me once a week to learn to paint in oil.
She is an interior designer so has an eye for colour and can really see the tones so I don't believe she will need many lessons. 
Just mixing the colours is really the best exercise I can give her. 
The first week, we started off with a basic vase of flowers , sweet peas from her garden...she instantly loved the whole process of mixing...okay she might not have managed to get the colours she had hoped for, but she could see the tones.
Last week I set her a couple of exercises I use in my weekly winter classes, painting two small paintings from black and white photos and using only two colours , not black and white obviously. My students all love these exercises, some asking to do them again and again.
This week I feel my lady made great strides as we sat, side by side, I was mixing from my palette, she was mixing from hers. I really enjoy mixing muted tones .
Next week we will be using palettes knives as well as brushes on a small seascape. I do love teaching what I know!

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Hiatus!

It's been nearly four months since I posted on my blog....I do feel ashamed to have left it so long.
It's been a busy summer, I am happy to say, my painting mojo came back....a health issue is now resolved, my mind at rest.
I have been using this year as a year to experiment and I have , not dramatically so, but I can say I have progressed in some aspects!
I have been painting with acrylics......painting boats, I am loving this medium but only after purchasing more heavy bodied paints. I missed the meatiness of oil paint.
I love how I can glaze with acrylics, place it on thickly too,  how quickly it dries ( that used to be the thing that stopped me from using them)...it is amazing how if you just allow yourself to relax and be open minded , where it can all take you!
I won't leave it so long till my next post....I will open up about another little bit of experimenting I have been doing