Oil class - working our way around the fruit bowl! Student work

The projects in my weekly classes usually run for three sessions at a time. This gives enough time to draw, transfer, under-paint and top-coat the artwork. It has the great advantage of limiting students - so they can't overwork something, and are regularly starting the whole process again. Regular, controlled, mindful repetition helps consolidate the learning experience. 

I had some new students join the class recently and they enjoyed their compressed charcoal study of apples, followed by a grisaille in oil, and the following two sessions they worked in colour. 

Above and below - lovely studies by Karolyn. Above is compressed charcoal..

Above -  oil study

Of course, an important part of learning is the composition - lighting and cropping influence the drama and atmosphere of the artwork every time (over and above whatever the subject matter is). 

Peggy's orange

A hoard of oranges, awaiting completion

Julie B's work in progress

Karolyn, work in progress

Diana at work!

Above - Diana and Karolyn, with their first colour oil studies. 

Brigid, work in progress

Upcoming workshops include portrait, figure drawing, pen and watercolour and much more. For info email: julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

Small classes, lots of attention, refreshments and good fun. Not to mention massive support. 

 

Never judge a painting by its subject... Brussel Sprouts, watercolour

 I really enjoy using one than one medium at a time in class. It helps students try lots of different ways of working, and takes the pressure off any one thing being 'perfect'. When I saw a lovely field of cabbages recently, I decided that Brussel Sprouts would be a good way to cover a similar subject, quickly. 

Although at first the humble sprout may not appear to be all that attractive, in fact everyone enjoyed this exercise and became rather fond of their little green veg-ball. 

We worked in graphite, as well as watercolour, coloured pencil, pen and wash, and wet-on-wet. 

There is something satisfying about seeing a table full of sprouts!!

a row of lovely sprouts by Maggie

Clodagh, on the right, is a Tuesday student, and she brought her sister Sheila along for a class as a birthday treat. That's Max on the far right, working hard!

Kittens, coloured pencil. And a new studio space!

Recently I have been working on a large number of pet portrait commissions in coloured pencil, mostly cats and dogs. Cocker Spaniels, Springer Spaniels, a curly haired Cockapoo and a gorgeous greyhound called Lulu. I will share some with you. First up, kitten siblings Belle and Bertie. At the bottom of this post I have added progress shots, in reverse order, so you can see the process. 

In other news, I've moved to a bright, more spacious studio, just around the corner from my last one, and I LOVE it! It was a trouble-free move, and I was surprised that I only had two bags of rubbish and a few jam jars to dispose of, so I had somehow managed not to hoard! So, onwards and upwards in the new space.

Students on Thursday night, 

Wednesday morning students working in chalk pastel 

Ruth's lovely pastel drawings on Wednesday morning

Below. progress shots in reverse order of the kittens. Caran d'Ache pencils on Bristol paper. This is a smooth, grain-free surface which loves coloured pencil, though it takes a while to get used to the slippery qualities. And also, you can't rub out! 

For upcoming workshops please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk Courses include figure drawing (clothed model), portrait drawing, water colour magic, location drawing and oils. 

Pastel Workshop of Seascapes - student works

I love a new workshop, and this one was created because someone asked for it. We worked over two days and everyone produced two artworks each day, which is very good going. Lots of elbow grease! 

Karen's

The results were incredible atmospheric and dramatic. 

Some were from my photographs (below is at the beach in Lahinch, County Clare, on a dark and grey July day) and another of a sunset over Belfast Lough.  The calmest reference photo was looking out at a jetty at Lake Garda (see Christine's artwork, below).

Karen's

Linda's

Christine's

Christine, herself! 

Siobhan's - soft and lovely

Below - Karen came back a couple of weeks later to finish off this seascape. I think it's magnificent!

For info on workshops and terms classes, email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

Botanical workshop, pen and watercolour, Summer 2023

This two day workshop was a gorgeous flower-fest of summer colour. The best fun was working out composition - how would we compose our page to not only get lots of drawing studies on there, but also to entertain the viewer and lead the eye around the page. 

We did this by working out several possible combinations before going on to watercolour paper, going straight to pen for the 'thumbnails'. In the photos below, all the pen drawings on the left-side are the compositional designs. This 'working out' time pays off by getting the brain into Planning mode, and postponing the 'jump in' factor! 

My demo sheet

Each plant had its own attractions as well as difficulties.

The Sea Holly has beautiful architectural spikes with complex clusters of seeds in the middle. 

The Sunflower has the density of petals and thousands of dark seeds in the centre... 

Heather examining the subject

Clodagh's lovely studies 

This was Clodagh's first ever class, and she did a lovely page of studies. 

Stokesia Laevis 'Klaus Jelitto'

 But the most tricky of all was the magnificently blue Stokesia (or Stoke's Aster). I bought it from a farmers market in lovely Dungarvan in July. The tricky part was deciding on the colour. This is where Nature wins every time! 

For info on classes email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

Portrait in oils, workshop summer 2023

I love this workshop! We started by drawing several small face studies, to warm up and familiarise ourselves with proportion and in working generally (as opposed to specifically). This is counter intuitive as we LOVE detail, and are overly desperate to add eye lashes etc. So it is quite a task to let go of those expectations, but once we do, the path towards painting in oils becomes more manageable. 

Ruth at the easel

We worked through a series of small studies, with allows students to build up confidence through repetition and small successes. 

Rishona working on her colour study

Below is a drawing board packed with lots of examples of the process. It's amazing how much of a likeness you can get to your sitter, even by just painting them as an egg! 

Several examples of the oils process, Julie Douglas

Of course, there are many ways to approach an oil portrait, and in just four days we aren't going to do all of them, so I chose a couple of methods and we worked through those. 

Some of my oil demos from throughout the workshop

B&W tonal study

colour study

Small colour study start to finish

 

the two thumbnail colour studies - both tiny, both about 15 minutes each to complete

For me, quantity was the key. We drew each morning, then did mixing practice, then small black and white and then colour studies. Students worked very hard, and I wish I had more photos of their work to show you here! Below are two students work. 

Rishona's colour studies 

Suzanne's artworks from the four days. A terrific amount of work and lovely studies.

September sees the start of the Autumn term with weekly classes offered in mornings and evenings. If you would like to attend a regular class, get in touch.

julie@juliedouglas.co.uk