water colour daisies, demonstration in class

Last week in class I asked students to do small drawings of daisies, then spend most of the session playing with the background. 

This timy painting started as a line drawing, then background added, with the flowers having a light wash of colours at the end. 

'Playing', when we are adults, can be very tricky!! We are accostomed to expect exact rules, or at least definite consequences, so that playing can seem...a waste of time (horror! The reason we 'work' is to fascilitate our 'play'). But playing within a small set of boundaries feels less open-ended, so in this session, the boundaries were to create a dark background, with dots of wet-on-wet in a paler colour, just to 'see what happens'. What could possibly go wrong?!

The full set, showing how small the paintings are.

I did a few examples in a small Moleskine sketch book, leaving them at various stages of completion - it is important to have a reference of early stages of work, otherwise we can forget how we started (a down-side of watching someone else work ).

This shows the detailed line drawing, and I painted the background first.

 So rather than producing one painting, I did several. Mostly I drew the flowers, and painted the background first. Working in this way means that you haven't spent ages on the details, which can make you less willing to risk getting messy! Risk is GOOD!

In this example, some of the petals have a wash of colour before I began the background

 Another good reason for doing the background first is that it gets rid of the white paper. White is not our friend!! It is loud and attention-seeking, and the soner we paint over it, the sooner we can make correct value decisions in the rest of the painting.

Petals first, background second

No drawing at all - straight to paint, working outwards from the centre of the flower

Workingstraight to paint is liberating and worth trying - the key is to 'blob' colour onto the page, then push is around, as opposed to doing a line-drawing with the brush.

Working across two pages keeps it light hearted and not prescious

It was good fun - playing is to be advised when learning to paint, but playing with boundaries is the best of all.


My drawing and painting instruction book, Notes from The Atelier, has now got over 40 five-star reviews on Amazon! Available on Amazon, or directly from me (a bit cheaper!). A lovely christmas present for the arty person in your life.

www.juliedouglas.co.uk

email:  julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

Gorse, of course.. Water colour, student work

Sometimes, the next simplest step is to do something prickly... and to do it quickly.

Prickly, quickly.

Frequently, my students don't complete their artwork during a session as my emphasis is on providing the right tools to complete the job rather than try to finish something within a specific (short) time frame. Having the tools to understand what you are doing is an empowering experience.

This week, I decided to shift the boundaries and make everyone work quickly, on more than one painting at a time, and the objective was 'what happens when I do this?'. Which means, you'll never do it wrong.

Under my nagging (tsk, I mean instruction), students worked to understand the architecture of, the underlying structure of the plant, simplifying it to work out how to begin, and to understand that if these basic structural elements were not correct (even in a very loose painting), then the plant would look wrong. Lots of washes, wet-on-wet and layering. Yummy.

The amazing thing is that Nisa, one of my most careful students, who never finishes anything in class, is the only student who DID finish TWO paintings in the time. Prickly and quickly is perhaps the way forwards!

Nisa's speedy work!

Portfolio Course, Sketch book drawings, chickens and a message to students.

On the last morning of my recent portfolio course, the students gathered around a large cage which housed a rather splendid...hen, which had been Volunteered into doing some modeling. She was placed on the table tennis table and pecked and clucked happily while students.. well, while they STARED. So charming -  their exclamations of.. She MOVED. Well, yes!  I was very sympathetic, and demonstrated this by leaving them to it while I made them a nice cup of tea...!  By day 5 they all know that I don't mind if they Huff, so long as they draw anyway... Their drawings were fabulous, just like I told them they would be. 

(Rebecca, left, BEING a chicken) 

However, the best thing I saw all week, really, was when they had all just left. I went back into the cottage and there was a large note, lying on the table. It was from one student, about to go to college in London. These last few days before they head off are stressful in so many ways, for parents and students. Its the slow end of one part of their lives and the exciting but scary Beginning of something new. Loaded with fear and anticipation. I am thinking warmly of ALL my students heading to college. I know you will do SO well, for your foundations are secure. Please REMEMBER THAT. Your foundations are secure. 

Here is the note that was waiting for me. 

Well, as anyone who has ever been to one of my classes knows, I believe in all of you. 

Thank you, for all YOU have taught me, in every class, every day. 

Julie xxx