Conkers, drawing and water colour, student work

This year was a good year for conkers. That means the trees were heavily laden, and that lots of conkers had prickly spikes. In wetter years there are fewer conkers, with no spikes,  which makes them less interesting to paint.

If you're a compulsive collector of natural things, like me, you get to know where nature performs well, so you can revisit frequently.. I am blessed that there is a conker tree at the bottom of my own garden - it kind of doesn't get better than that..

Collecting conkers can be a messy business. Lots of climbing and scrabbling in undergrowth..

(son scrabbling under the tree.. )

My students did so many wonderful drawings and paintings of conkers that I haven't room to put them all here, but I'll show you a selection. If you would like to see more student work, I am having an Open Studio in a couple of weeks, so email me and I'll send you an invitation. I am displaying portfolios of their works in progress, showing how students have progressed in their learning journey.

Nisa, student

Pat F, student

Glynis M, student - showing the benefit of attending two classes in one week, and drawing the subject twice. It really pays off to do things more than once. She did the pencil study at the bottom first, then the water colour.

Geraldine B, adding some colour pencil to the water colour.

Judith G, a lovely drawing and only her 3rd class!

Sarah B, student

Caroline, who has forgotten temporarily how much pain was involved in producing her lovely drawing..!

New York New York! A great big adventure.

I might not have mentioned this in the blog, except that I'm getting so many emails and calls from worried students and people wishing me well that I need to set the record straight.. Yesterday I was honoured to be named the first Beard Scholar at Belfast School of Art and I'll be using the scholarship to attend a course in the Grand Central Academy in new York, a school of classical realism, started by Jacob Collins. I 'discovered' GCA a couple of years ago and have wanted to visit ever since, so its is fantastic to have this opportunity and I'm very excited to be going.
However, the newspaper has said that I am going for a year - in fact, I am attending a course for a WEEK! (but I'll do my best to cram in a years-worth, honest!) It will be late in the summer, and I'll take a big empty suitcase to put all my knew knowledge in, to bring back to share.

Meantime, it's business as usual back at the ranch, and now that my term has finished for my Masters, (see http://juliedouglasdrawingpaintinglearning.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/mistress-of-arts-college-and-portfolios.html) I'll be posting more of the artwork that's been produced in my studio recently.

And yes, I DID go on my bycicle every day to college, and YES it's quicker than driving, and YES it feels great - even in the snow.