Summer online workshops at BARA

This year, 2020, has been exceptionally busy at BARA. All classes and workshops have been online since March when we went into Lockdown, and even once restrictions were eased, classes have remained mostly online. 

From one of the firsst demo videos - very important to check your bottoms! 

Also from first video - also important to drink plenty of tea!

Classes are live, but with pre recorded demonstration videos - I am mindful that not everyone has good internet connection, even in this day and age, and my worry was that doing live demonstrations only might exclude some students. 

The pre recorded videos have been incredibly succesful and really popular, not least because they can be viewed many times. It does, of course, increase my workload, and that of my son Rory who has edited every one of them. However, it's great to be able to be useful in this way and keep all my students feeling connected to one another. 

Film making, a job for all the family... Rory editing 

Lulu 'helping' 

Sky Portrait Artist of The Year asked me to make a two minute film of how lockdown was impacting my creative practice, so here it is!

For info on upcoming classes, some in-studio, many online, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

When a Distance isn't a Distance

Technology and the internet has transformed our lives, and there's no going back, only faster and faster forward.
This is very exciting, and just about anything we can think of can be reality very quickly. However, this doesn't mean that everything happens quickly. Change is rapid, communication is instant, BUT the skills we need to be really good at something take almost as long as they ever did. This is not a bad thing, it is just the way it is. And perhaps the learning of deep skills is the saving grace that people are seeking - the time and focus required to be really good at something is in that place where the fast-moving world can't reach, once we start focusing - it is a mindset, a choice, a commitment, a discipline.

One of the beauties of the internet is that it reduces miles between us. It means that we don't have to be beside the teacher any more. This week I accepted a new student for Distance Learning - she is in Kansas City Missouri, 4164 miles from me. Or a click of the mouse. It's so exciting to exchange knowledge and create new bonds across the globe - or just across the pond.

And because the requirements of students is different I am beginning to personlise the courses so students get to venture more into areas that interest them individually. This makes it never endingly interesting for me too.

So while students may rightly regard their creative learning experience as a journey, they aren't alone. It's my journey too. In fact, I'm the navigator.

Distance Learning - for info on the course, which has modules in Drawing, Water Colour, oils and portraiture, email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Going Dotty.. Chalk pastels, drawing workshop, Belfast

A friend gave me a wonderful scarf for Christmas, red with white spots on it. As soon as I saw it, I knew it wouldn't make it as a scarf, because it had a higher destiny, to be immortalised in paint.. How I LOVE a new prop!

However, only the really Tough students took the challenge, and produced lovely pastel drawings. Well done girls! (these are some of my Thursday-Girls) Chalk pastels on water colour paper - which has a chunky groove on it and takes a lot of layering. (On the right you can see two lovey mushroom drawings by G.M. - just her second class!)

We decided that the spotty drawings, overall, had a snowy look to them - Delicious!!

Teenagers and art...

I don't often hold classes for teenagers, but when I do I LOVE them. I have such faith in this age group - they are receptive and attentive, and it's a joy to introduce them to new ways of looking, new ways of thinking and using materials they may not have tried before. 

Teenagers are open to learning, and less cautious about trying something for the first time. Small classes encourage a warm atmosphere where enthusiasm reigns supreme, and the emphasis is on moving forward, and succeeding. In a class like that, they become totally absorbed in their drawings and no one wants it to end! Including me.

                                                                Gourd in Charcoal

                                                          Boys absorbed in their drawing...

Fabulous chalk pastel

HAPPY! 

This class took place between Christmas and New Year, and the students relished the time, and so, I gather, did their parents. One mum had traveled quite a distance to drop her child off, and I suggested she sit in the other room to relax with a coffee, but she stared at me, wide eyed with excitement, 

and said Aw, no thanks,  I'm.... off to IKEA!!!

Upcoming workshops - mini portfolio weekend, Belfast
Water Colour Workshop, Life Drawing.
Email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for info on dates.

(Permission was given by all parents before these photos were used)

Another Big Red Tart! Oils on Art panel 8 x 10inches

I was asked recently why I was painting Strawberry Tarts. I couldn't think of an appropriate reply. Especially as I don't have a sweet tooth. There's just something good-looking about them, like a big traffic light. The demand my attention. I went to the bakery looking for another cake to paint, but was attracted right back to the same red ones as before. So, what could I do??

Not quite finished, but near enough.

I got a really great response from folks on the first tart. Brian, a student in Dublin, emailed and said Fab tart, you made me feel good! Well, that sounds like a good reason to paint them doesn't it?! Right now, my fridge is home to 8 more little cakes, all hoping to be next.. Unfortunately I tried a bit of the coffee one, expecting to not like it, but uh-oh, it was YUMMY...

Next Up - Oil Pinting workshop, Dublin
Water Colour and Big Drawing Days, Belfast
Bookings being taken for Intensive Portfolio Course in January 2012.
Email: julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Portfolio Course, Ireland

In spite of the recent downpours, its mostly sunny here in Killaloe, East Clare, for my portfolio course.

Students are busy drawing and tackling the brief for NCAD, and making a lovely big mess - well, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs... 

Unfortunately, I've been given TONS of extra tables, so of course, I've spread the mess out over every one...eek! All for a good cause! 

Next up - monthly Mondays, Portrait Drawing, Big Drawing weekend, Oils and water colour wokshops... 

Email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for info. 

Drawing - chalk pastel gourds, student work, Belfast.

This week was fantastic gourdy fun, looking at colour and mixing, using chalk pastels. Many had never seen a gourd before (what???!!!) but all enjoyed their gaudy bright colours, warts and all (literally!). I think gourds are nature's little joke, a sarcastic splash of vibrant enthusiasm before the Winter Shut-Down. And they are wonderful to paint.

K. Feeney, Student.

N. Thompson, Student

G. Bunting, Student

All of these students have only attended 3 or 4 sessions and had not used chalk pastels before. I think they are amazing!! (I think they're rather amazed at themsleves too!) And they're SO well behaved, they hardly moan at all, so long as I make them coffee... 

K. Greene, Student

G. Evans, Student 

               And while chalk pastel is very messy, its good fun, so long as you work large enough.

K. Feeney. 

W. Bukowska, student. 

Deirdre, demonstrating the Hands On approach to green!

 Fortunately, I have a mirror by the front door, so folks can check themselves for chalk dust on their way out - some students definitely had a green look about them!
Thank you to The Floral Boutique in Holywood who allowed me to strip them of their entire supply of gourds. The crop was poor this year, and I got the best of them (mostly from ther window display!), thank you so much.

Next up - In Ireland and Belfast, Water colour workshop, Oils Workshop, Big Drawing Days, Portrait Drawing days and Intensive Portfolio Prep course. As well as this, weekly classes in Belfast. All good fun, and very good for your health!
Email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for info

Tonal value studies, charcoal and pastel

Charcoal study, H.J, Student

Grey Chalk study, H.J, Student

Whether you are an artist or a student (and show me the true artist who doesn't regard themselves as student) there is so much to learn form working in black and white (though I really mean drawing in a multitude of greys, with White as a special treat and Black only to be used if you've brought a letter from your great great Grandmother). In fact, it is very difficult, and while many students begin working in black and white with wistful mutterings on how much they love Colour, it doesn't take long for the problems and challenges of tonal balance to crop up. Using charcoal on its own first restricts you to black only, and moving on to a second study using grey and white chalks then gives you the luxury of Applying highlights and allows a fuller range of tone. 

Grey Chalk study, J.McC, Student

These student drawings are lovely and have a very painterly feel about them. There is no black at all in the middle drawing (only dark greys instead of actual black) and in the third drawing, the only black is just behind the area where the onions meet. ALL the infomation and tonal variation required in a black and white study is equal to the tonal range needed in a successful colour piece. But if you go straight to colour every time, you are open to being intoxicated with the notion of COLOUR and colourS, instead of the tonality of the subject. A colour study is everything that a tonal study is, but with colour as WELL.

Next up - Oil painting workshop, Belfast, Portfolio Course for college entry, Killaloe.
email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for info.

Forty Shades of Green

Continuing my Woody theme obliges me to tackle some Colour myths, once again. And this time it's my favourite, Green.

It's not that green is my favourite colour, for it isn't. But I love the variety of greens. On my frequent walks in the woods I am always, always surprised and overwhelmed by the number of greens on display, which of course alters and multiplies with sunlight, the time of day and the time of year. From leafy arbours to the open fields at the side, the different array of greens is infinite. As I said in my post, Seeing Red, one word for a range of colours is ridiculously mean, representing a lowest common denominator word to over generalise a complex area. The naming of a colour (or Hue - I think the word Hue is better than the word Colour as it is less commonly used) influences how much (or rather, how LITTLE) we actually observe. Being lazy in language encourages us to be lazy in Seeing. Which impacts on our painting.
Here are a few greens for you to visualise - Moss-Green, Grass-Green (long wavy grass-green, then short newly-cut spring grass-green), Savoy Cabbage-Green, Spring Cabbage-Green, lime green.. I won't even START on leaves, apart from the obvious extremes of Silver Birch leaves and holly.

See what I mean? But considering our limitation of language, sometimes looking directly at the woods may restrict what we See. Look at the photos above - both LOADED with different greens. But I decided to shake the camera so everything became merged, and wow, a rather different array (albeit compromised) of greens, and Seeing, appears. I've put them on here sideways to help you to see not Trees, but GREENS. Please double-click on them to get the full benefit of this amazing palette... Delicious....

I think these look a bit like paintings, but they are photographs. 

This week, guess what? I am mostly painting... trees! 

Next Up - weekly classes in Drawing and painting, Belfast

Oil painting workshop

Bookings being taken for my next Portfolio Course.

For info on everything, email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Prickley things, nuts & seeds, water colour in Moleskine Sketchbook

What's not to Love about Autumn...? It's full of gifts. 

I was worrying last week that the conkers are too high to reach, and the very next day, I happened upon another tree which was abundant, at eye level! And once you start collecting them, its hard to stop. Delicious. They are lovely to paint, even the prickly sweet chestnuts, though they don't last so long and go brown very quickly. All the more reason to keep painting them NOW...!

This photo is to give you an idea of scale - the paintings are a little bigger than the actual chestnuts.

Next up - weekly classes in Belfast, Weekend Oils workshop and Water Colours AND Monthly Teenagers Class. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

The Distance Learning Course is also running, and you can start that at any time. 

Light, red and green. Red stops you, green lets you Go.

Well, I was going to write about Green. Green is my favourite. But...

The other day I got lost in my local wood, an astonishing acheivement as I knew I was near the car park, but er, where is it..?  So next day I deliberately followed the same route to become more familiar with the place that I thought I knew already. They do say that getting lost is the best way to learn... (but maybe not half an hour before your class starts...?! I made it on time, phew!)

The air has changed a little, the sun is a bit lower in the sky and has taken on the suggestion of Autumn. (don't panic, it's just the Suggestion..) I know that some people don't like Autumn, and I can understand that to a degree. But its a long slow season, a foot in both camps, with so much going for it, so much colour, that I've begun to view it more like natures big Flush, fully bountiful, the climax of giving the fruits of its labour, rather than the beginning of an end. Look what I'm GIVING you before I have a  winter-rest so that I can start again...  So I was relishing the greenness, the not-autumn look of the wood, when oops, there's some fabulous RED.

There was no Light, too early in the morning, it was overcast and the camera (which lies) wasn't picking up the vibrancy of the colour in the way that my eye did - after all, there were just a few red leaves on the grass, but it was enough to shine out like a beacon to me). 

I had a closer inspection of the shocking redness, totally FABulous, and was relieved that the colour which allowed the red to sing out the best was my favourite after all - GREEN! 

So don't get blue over the autumn, not yet. Not ever. 

Next up - Water Colour workshop (Landscape, Skies and trees) Belfast.

Potrait Drawing, Portfolio Prep, Big Drawing and Oils. 

Contact - email, julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Drawing - Plums in my sketch book, pen.

Plums on the branch, 8in x 5in. Julie Douglas.

Its been another bumper year for fruit and my plum trees were bent from the weight. So instead of removing just the plums, I took a few over-laden branches off so that the tree wouldn't collapse.  The upside being a lovely subject for a quick draw. (quick? This took about 3 hours. But I was stringing it out..) There is something wonderful about planting something, watching it grow then picking some of it to paint it. A real joy. As so often happens, I had a lesson prepared for my class but at the last minute, swapped it for this seasonal offering. Too voluptuous to resist. The students, wisely, used colour, making mine feel very black. But there's no going back now, the plums are in the pan, becoming jammmm.

Next up - watercolour workshop Dublin, Portfolio Course and Monthly Monday.  For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

or call from UK - 07730 560 517 or from Ireland 087 1330040

Twigs, Apple for the teacher, and Beauty in All Things...

This week I am doing a Portfolio Course for students wanting to go to Art College. I often ask them to bring along an object for study, but this time a student Surprised me. Y'know when you think you've seen it All? Well, Fiona brought a big smile to my face when out of her bag she produced a...Twig! WONderful!!! Now, you have to love your Twig if you're going to do drawing studies of it - its not the sort of thing you can force someone to draw, the desire has to come from Within.

                                                       Fiona's Twig.

The variety of colours (double-click the photo to see them) , textures and shape in this should not be underestimated, as well as the strong composition it makes when it splits the image area. The negative shapes are clearly as important as the positive shapes, though they are not Dominant. So I was walking the dog and saw some lichen-covered sticks and fabulous knarled stumps and brought some back, and presented them to Fiona for further study, knowing she's That Kind Of Girl.

She was delighted - but not as much as me, because she put her hand in her pocket saying, And I found this for you... And gave me an....Apple! (A manky, mis-shapen, bruised, fabulous crab apple) I have been given a few gifts, as a teacher, ranging from flowers to even a beautifully framed painting, but never an apple. Thanks!

                           Next up, Colour and Composition Workshop, Killaloe
                                               Monthly Mondays, Killaloe
                                               Portrait Workshop, Belfast.

Water colour Lillies - students, painting without drawing.

There are many ways of using water colour, and occasionally I ask my students to go straight to paint, without a pencil drawing underneath. This rarely goes down well, till they've got started, then the advantages of not being able to rub out begin to kick in. 

by Pat Finlay, student, Belfast.

Certainly, with a complicated subject like this, it would have been difficult to draw AND paint it in one two hour session, and while none of these paintings were completed, the aims were achieved. All are A3 size. 

By Hilary Johnston, student, Belfast

The aim was to Look more carefully, to understand the Whole as well as the smaller sections, to paint in tonal groupings rather than draw in a linear fashion and to make visual connections instantly, one section to another. The other aim was to get the information down and make it work. 

By Jean Reid, student, Belfast

All these students have been having lessons for only a short time. This is a VERY challenging exercise. They did brilliantly, with hardly any moaning (I think they were in shock...). 

By Brendan McKinley, student, Belfast

This ingenius piece of kit was made by Hilary and I've put my order in early for Christmas...  She took a box of Ferrero Rocher, DUTIFULLY munched her way through the contents (how we suffer for our art), made little dividers out of mounting card, and hey presto, the perfect storage for her water colours. 

If you would like programme information on my courses, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for all the dates. Upcoming courses include Water Colour, Oil painting, Drawing, Portrait drawing and Portfolio preparation. I also run a Distance Learning programme which covers Drawing, Water colour, oils and Colour & composition. I hold weekly classes in Belfast and weekend courses all over Ireland.