Working remotely during Lockdown

A week before we went into Lockdown in March 2020, some of my students decided they would work from home, a 'just in case' mechanism. So that they didn't miss out on their class, I did my first, very rough, demonstration video, by attaching my phone (camera) to a little chair placed on the table above my work.

The challenge for me was to choose a subject that was accessible to everyone (so I couldn't simply delve into my boxes of props and suggest something whacky or unusual, sigh...) So I nipped down to Lidl, and got a few bunches of irises, in the hope that the few absent students could do the same.

It is really important to think beyond the subject itself, and consider the set-up. This means the environment around the subject. In the next photo, the iris is in a jar simply placed on a table. It is all clutter, the visual lines of the iris being distrupted by the background of the room. Not good to work from - too much going on!

A very simple solution is to put a piece of card (or a cardboard corner/shadow box behind it to give a clean background, allowing you to see the iris nicely. Below - a buff coloured card behind the flowers...

And below, white card behind the flowers. There isn't a 'right' or 'wrong' colour, it is up to you what colour and what tonal value you prefer.

In this exercise, I asked that students concentrate on the flowers, but I did love the patterns and reflections within the vase. The results were wonderful, both in-studio and from those working remotely. I particularly value colour 'tiles' on the page, as well as little trial studies - this is the correct way to approach any and every subject, rather than jumping in expecting to creat something 'finished' in one sitting. The first sitting (even if you only intend to DO one sitting) will always be the trial run, the study, the play and the what-if. If you regard it as such, you will learn, and enjoy it. Photo below - a lovely study page by a student, who worked from home using the demo video for help.

And below, a sketch book page from a student working in-studio.

For info on upcoming classes and workshops both in-studio and online, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Book review by Katherine Tyrrell, of Notes for the Atelier

I was delighted to read Katherine Tyrrell's review of my book. Katherine writes one of the most popular art blogs in the UK, and I have worked with her in the past, and was pleased to see her at the filming of Sky Portrait Artist of the Year in Battersea Arts Centre. (She was very encouraging there - it's amazing the difference it makes to a stressfull experience when you see a face you know, and they say nice things!!)

A spread from the book

If you would like to read her review, you will find it here.

https://makingamark.blogspot.com/2020/02/book-review-notes-from-atelier-by-julie.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MakingAMark+%28Making+a+Mark%29

Another spread from the book

Water colour: baubles, reds and missing friends.

My palette, looking the cleanest it has for years, and a few baubles hoping to be painted...

My line drawing. 

The finished study. 

Painting Reds in water colour can be challenging. Red pigments are inclined to dry looking a bit 'streaky' - it is such a strong pigment that not only does it stain the water that we paint with, it also stains the paper. This means that it is almost impossible to remove if you have changed your mind - it's permanent. For this reason, I try not to use it for the main subject matter until students have gained a little bit of experience with this medium.  
But we can't avoid it for ever! A couple of bright Christmas baubles fitted the brief nicely, and students first task was to choose which background colour they wanted to offset the reds. Not an easy decision, as the reds themselves appear differently according to the colour around them.

A student beginning the background wash. 

After the initial line drawing, the background was painted first, to get rid of the loud noise of white paper. If we didn't do this, it would be more difficult to get the tones correct in the baubles. As always, most folks didn't get the study completed as time ran out, but excellent reds were tackledand mastered throughout!

Lovely reds on this student's study. 

David's artwork, with lovely wash strips on the side. 

Another student example, with lovely contasts beginning to show between the red and the gold.

Sara's line drawing

Sara's study - not quite finished, but showing great reds. 

Working in a class of others on a regular basis, particularly when we all share a table together, is a very bonding experience. So when we heard that Marjorie had fallen onto the concrete steps outside the local museum and broken her hip, meaning that she'd be house-bound for several weeks, we knew we'd miss her. But she's a trooper (here she is below, waving at the class, from home!) and returned last week, on crutches. Welcome back Marjorie!

Talking Drawing with Kim Leneghan, BBC Radio

Just home from a breakfast interview with the lovely Kim Lenaghan on BBC Radio Ulster. Well, I say 'breakfast', but 7am on a Sunday is way beyond breakfast for me... 

Kim said that she'd LOVE to be able to draw and paint, and showed me photographs of her lovely Lurcher dog, so I have challenged her to take a few lessons and we'll see if we can't get rid of a few of those self-doubting thoughts and phrases, and turn her doodles into delicious drawings! 

Here's the programme!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08kxpck

TODAY: Book launch and art display, The Engine Rooms, 5 Donegall Square South, Belfast. 3 - 6pm all welcome! 

Burning the midnight oil... edit edit edit!! Notes From The Atelier, the first arrivals!

The past few months have been full on (yes, even more than usual!!). So, by September last year I'd written a book (well, MOST of it). But then I realised I needed to learn how to use InDesign, so that I could do the layouts. My degree is in Graphic Design, and (fortunately) I love layout, but I'd never done it on a computer. Indesign is HUGE... However, I got started, and learnt about it as I went along, and it became rather addictive. 

Various, early proofs, spiral boumd for convenience only. 

What was less addictive, but highly necessary, was the editing process. BIG SIGH!!! I am hugely indebted to David McKnight, who edited tirelessly, and never complained, EVER! 

Yet more (late night) editing. 

Just a slection of the printed proofs - each copy
different to the one before, and all of them edited
 and re-edited... I know, I'm repeating myself.!

As a self-published book, the thing that can be lacking is a DEADLINE! And deadlines are so focussing. Then a student mentioned that she's going to America and wanted to take a book with her as a gift - and so my deadline was born! After getting it all to the printer on time, thanks to designer Paul McNally for help with the technology side, I was glad to see an end to it!!

And now I've recieved the first batch!!Exciting! 

I admit, it does feel strange to see so many copies of it all at once!

Sneak peek at Nisa's painitng

Sneak peek at Pat, Sara and Jean's paintings. 

As you can see, it's a big book - 250 pages of Big!

Here's Paul McNally holding his copy. Thanks Paul!!
If you'd like a preview of more pages please click here:

http://www.juliedouglas.co.uk/julies-book/notes-from-the-atelier

The link also shows you how to order a copy if you'd like one. The price is £35 until the launch, which is on 2nd April. 

NExt up: Oils workshop 25th March. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Compressed Charcoal, tonal studies of apples and onions!

Compressed charcoal is a delicious, and very flexible medium. Recently I gave my students the task of producing two drawings in one session, first on white cartridge paper, then on thicker, mid-toned grey paper.

My demo drawings, with the Compressed Charcoal box top left. 

While most of us enjoy colour (after all, we do live in a colourful world!), working in black and white really improves our abilty to see subtle variations in tones. These same tones are necessary in our colour work too but easily overlooked, giving an unsatisfactory result without depth.

Demo showing the variety of tones, using only three greys, and white.

Graphite pencil is excellent for training our eye to see subtle nuances in tones, but using compressed charcoal allows us to cover the whole area in a shorter time frame, helping us to remember to compare tones in areas all across the page (relative to each other) as well as tonal variations which are close together.

My quick demo on tinted card, with darker tones left hatched rather than blended.

After arranging the apples and onions pleasingly on cloth, the drawing was lightly mapped in, and the tonal challenge began in earnest. Unlike charcoal, the compressed sticks come in a range of 4 greys plus black and white. The challenge was to remember to change the stick as we went along - leaning more heavily or lightly doesn't alter the tone. 

Lovely artwork by Brigid

Another great study by Gavin, who enjoyed the challenge so much that he spent the full session on this artwork. 

It's a dirty business, but once we get stuck in, we become more absorbed in observing the subject than worrying about chalky fingers! We worked on white paper first, and enjoyed the differences when we moved on to the tinted grey paper.

Dawn, blending nicely 

Working on tinted paper means that the whites really sing out brightly. it is also a pleasure to add highlights, rather than realying on the white of the paper to do the job for us. It's good to vary the tone of our paper - 'white' is not our friend. It can be harsh and cold. A neutral colour is often better as a base to work upon.

Sara's atmospheric artwork, nearing completion

Nisa, who is getting lovely richness in this study.

A group of studies - not quite finished, but well on the way.

 Compressed charcoal gives a lovely, velvety texture and laying tones on top of one another creates a wider variety of shades, and the result is very painterly. A delicious exercise, and everyone enjoyed it!

A wonderful result from Joanne, with excellent tonal ranges. 

Next up in March: Colour pencil and watercolour workshop. 

Oil painting workshop. All suitable for all levels of experience. 

For information on workshops please email 

julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

For information about my book 'Notes from the Atelier', and to see a preview please click 

http://www.juliedouglas.co.uk/julies-book/notes-from-the-atelier

Foiled! Student watercolour paintings.

This week at the drawing board was all about colour and pattern. Having put everyone through their paces last week by asking them to draw a packet of crisps (which, as you might imagine, gathered a 'mixed' response, but lovely drawings nonetheless..!), I decided that the natural way to capitalise on the lessons learnt from that was this setup of a lemon and orange set on tin foil.

OUCH? Well, not really... 

Merlynn

Tin foil can appear to be colourless and boring - but when we crinkle it just a little and put something bright on top - voila! Colour and pattern heaven! 

Gavin

Sara

We began with a careful line drawing,  using the fruits as a safe anchor-point from which to connect the maze of patterns. You can see from margery's drawing below that the amount of observation and concentration required was rather like solving a complicated puzzle.

Margery's drawing 

Adding colour brought relief and an element of clarity. 

Margery's artwork after a couple of hours painting. 

While the fruits were painted first, the artworks were transformed with the addition blues. I hesitate to say that the blue acted as an excellent foil for the warmth of the yellow and orange, but it did so you will excuse the pun!  

Colin - this is only the fourth watercolour that Colin has done. Amazing! 

Dympna

The results were a triumph of colour and the paintings are joyful! While everyone 'suffered' at various stages in this exercise, a lot was learnt and some were even keen to try the subject again! None of the paintings were completed due to time restraints, but they still look great. 

Brigid

Lorraine

 I'm very proud of how hard my students work, and am grateful for the trust they put in me when they walk in the door and see what awaits every week. I thanked them during the class yesterday, and Pat's little voice said... 'Resistance is futile' !!!!! 

Pat

Next up: Drawing worshop Belfast, Children's workshop, Watercolour weekend. For information email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

It's official, I'm Mistress of the Arts! A great Day out.

In September 2012 I wrote a post declaring the start of my journey back through college - this time around it was Belfast School of Art, part of Ulster University - to study for a Masters of Fine Art in Multidisciplinary Design.

It's been a much bigger journey than I could have imagined, and during the tough times, I consoled myself with the knowledge that it was my choice and that I could leave it at any time if I wanted. 

It was unusually long for a Masters programme - full time it was a two year course, but after a few weeks I changed to part time, making it a four year commitment. Yikes! 

Me, in the hat, with Debbie Fraser, my tutor 

During that time I read many many books (on business, creative collaboration, psychology, brain development, education, drawing and painting), wrote many presentations and reflective documents (which fill over 20 files), travelled abroad to attend painting workshops in New York, France, Florence and created many public events that would never have happened, outside of the programme. I met my heroes! 

The course was tough. Out of the six students who graduated an amazing FIVE of us were awarded a Distinction. The Northern work ethic is alive and well!! 

Peter Cooper is an amazing Animator and Creature Designer  https://www.facebook.com/petercooperstudio/

Lisa McCausland designed and produced a wonderful new product called Dogease, a post surgical suit to help animal recovery http://www.dogeaseuk.com

Judith Gordon invented a new way for children to learn about money using her app http://www.justmoco.com/about/

Paul McNally is a Graphic Designer who did a massive Kickstarter book project for the Masters, and is now, I'm proud to say, designing my book.

paulmcnallydesign.com 

Slightly wonky shot from the Graduation Programme 

I wrote my thesis on the myths and misconceptions surrounding drawing and painting, to help students get through the difficult times, and am making it available to buy. I made a short film with Paul Marshall called 'Let's Draw!' to encourage everyone to learn to draw, which you can see at this link:    

  

https://vimeo.com/165225207 

As well as this I have written a 200 page book called The Weekly Atelier, which is full of tried and tested exercises on drawing and painting, fully illustrated with mine and my students artworks, which is at the design and editing stage at the moment (= agony!) and will be published in the Autumn. 

Draft cover of the book!

On Wednesday this week, we had the formal graduation ceremony and while it was lashing sheets of rain outside, inside the atmosphere was buzzing. 

Peter Cooper, me and Lisa McCausland before the ceremony

Peter Cooper MFAMDD, Julie Douglas MFAMDD, Lisa McCausland MFAMDD 

Celebrating at lunch afterwards with my son Rory 

I'd like to thank my son for putting up with my mountains of books and papers all over the table/piano/living room/kitchen. I'd also like to thank my drawing and painting students for contributing to my research through interviews and discussions, and their moral support. I'd like to thank Debbie Fraser and Christopher Murphy for their inspiring lectures and encouragement, and my fellow students for being there over the past four years. (PHEW!) 

And now I'm back to my drawing board, workshops as usual!

Next up, oil workshop, portrait workshop, location drawing and childrens drawing classes. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk