Drawing our way through lockdown at BARA and videos on Vimeo

Well. Lockdown has been BUSY! I had grand plans of completing a large full length portrait drawing which I had started in the beginning of March. I rolled it up and brought it home, along with all the materials, paper and canvas that I thought I'd need for teaching and painting over the following weeks. Not a chance!! First, the portrait is over 7 feet tall. Which is taller than my ceiling. But as it turned out, size was the least of it. Where was the TIME?? 

Lockdown arrived during my Spring term, and a small number of students had decided to stay at home from mid March (a week earlier than the start of lockdown). In order for them to be included in the weekly class, I did a very rough video outlining what we'd be doing in the studio that week. Little did I know that that was The Start Of Something. I'd decided that, while all my classes immediately transferred onto Zoom, that might not be enough. What if the internet couldn't cope? What if students who live in the countryside have trouble with their connections? 

My Saturday morning Zoom class, which includes students from Ulster, Ireland, Egypt and Dubai!

So I made the obvious decision - all demonstrations would have to be made in advance, recorded and sent to students, so that if the internet was poor on the day of their class, they could see what to do, how to do it, and use What's App to send progress shots during their class. 

Has it worked? You bet it has! 

Has it been time consuming? Completely. 

But, I couldn't do it on my own. My son, who is furloughed and isolating in my house, became Chief Editor. A post he didn't choose, but is resigned to! He's very good at it. 

I now have a large collection of videos on Vimeo, freely available to all. So far, we've done over 20 videos. You can find them here: https://vimeo.com/juliedouglas

After 4 weeks, I decided to go back to my studio, which allows me space to do some drawing. After 11 weeks, with an hour here and an afternoon there, in between filming and Zooming, I finished the portrait drawing. Not 11 weeks of drawing, I hasten to add! 

And the students...? They've been AMAZING. They've worked harder than ever, frequently staying at their drawing boards long after the class is over, and cheering each other on over Whats App. It's been a rewarding experience, and many have said that the drawing and painting has helped them focus and think about nothing, except their art. Which is just the ticket, in uncertain times. 

For upcoming workshops, both live and on Zoom (with full instructional videos) please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

For new class information watch here:

https://juliedouglasdrawingpaintinglearning.blogspot.com/2020/03/bring-julie-to-your-home-new-bara.html

Portrait workshop 13 - 17 July

Oils workshop 20 - 24 July

SKY Portrait Artist of the Year, 2020

SKY Portrait Artist of The Year is a much loved programme, a favourite with not only many of my students, but lots of my non-arty friends too. It's a delightful watch, and artists are not judged harshly, but encouraged (and cajoled) by the judges and presenters alike.

The set for filming Sky Portrait Artist of The Year. Who's that in the apron... and, who are those two ladies bottom right... And, who's that in the blue and yellow dress..? All very familiar, just sayin... (this photo is a screen shot from the trailer)

The challenge for artists is to try to complete a portrait in just four hours. Perhaps 'challenge' is the wrong word - 'madness' might be better! If you have never seen the programme, you can watch previous series on many different platforms, including Now TV, Netflix and Youtube. 

The 2020 series is about to start, with the first episode airing on Tuesday 21 January 2020. If you watch on Tuesday 28th January, you may see someone you recognise...! (or perhaps several people you recognise!)

I'm not allowed to say more now, but instead I will show you this painting, which was one of 15 practice paintings I did, to work out how to complete a head in just four hours. Considering that most of my artorks take around 40 hours, 4 hours is very short. 

Drawing and painting completed in 4 hours - a marathon

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

Upcoming workshops include Friday Night Life drawing, portrait drawing, and an oils week.

Graphite study for portrait commission

I always like to do a pencil study before I start a final piece of artwork. It helps familiarise me with the subject, and when it's a commission, it allows the client to see what the finishes item will look like, and gives them the chance to alter things. When it's a portrait, this is the time to decide if the likeness is true (and that means true to how the client 'sees' that person, not how I see them). 

I decided to show the finished study first, then you can scroll down to see the stages in reverse! In this case I drew a map of the face, then worked tonally from the eyes outwards. 

The whole thing took around 10 hours. 

For info on classes or portrait commissions, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Portrait workshop October 20th & 21st 2018

Portrait workshop, 20th & 21st October 2018. Enjoy two days of instruction, by Julie Douglas, learning how to create a               likeness and deal with the difficulties, challenges and pleasures                                      of drawing the face. We will use various techniques and approaches,                       using dry media (pencil, chalks and coloured pencil).  All materials are provided as well as lovely home made lunches. The cost is £260 for the two days. Children's class, Saturday 27th October, 11am - 1pm.                                                   A morning of drawing and painting, 'Autumn colours'.                                                   Cost is £25 per person, advance booking required. For bookings and further info on all classes please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk Above, portrait study from life, Julie Douglas, oils.

Portrait drawing and painting in oil (work in progress)

A note from my drawing board, to your Inner Voice (you know the one, that keeps saying you can’t do, it blah blah…)

Did you know that artists are Human too? It appears that many students think that artists are some sort of Other Species who get things right first time, all the time. Well, if only that were the case, perhaps artists would be less frustrated.. 

Even when we have been using a particular process for a long time, we can still make mistakes. But this isn't a bad thing necessarily. It just means we have to work out a solution and try again. 

Recently I began working on a portrait - it was to be in Oils, but I always start with a drawing.

Drawing study, pencil 

After working on it for a few days,  I transferred it onto canvas to do an oil painting of it. This is a relatively simple procedure which I have done MANY times, which involves tracing over my original drawing, providing a rough line drawing on the canvas as a guide to paint from. But this time.. Well, what a palaver.

Firstly, I couldn’t believe how PALE the pencil was as it went onto canvas - I could hardly see it at all. So I tried again, using a much softer pencil, with little or no improvement. After almost an HOUR I realised that I’m not supposed to use pencil at all, but paint… What was I THINKING??! So I started again, again. And it was a gloopy, lumpy MESS. This is the point that many folks just give up. But giving up isn't part of the painting process, so I wiped the canvas and traced it yet again. Still gloopy, but slightly less so than previously. Here it is...

Gloopy mess - if you can't see much, rest assured, I couldn't either... 

It didn’t look inviting as a surface to paint on, I can assure you. But I painted on it nonetheless. it's up to me to make it work. 

slowly working on top of the underlayer

Inching along

The colour isn't great in these photos, but it gives you an idea. 

This is where it is so far, with another layer to go on everywhere. 

Why am I telling you this?

So that you understand that even when you’ve been doing this for a long time, there are always times which hurt more than others. And the only thing to do is carry on, anyway.

There are a few more hours left to go in this painting, I just wanted to share the process. 

Upcoming workshop: portrait workshop, children's classes, Location Drawing and four day drawing and oils workshop with PJ Lynch. For info please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Portrait, Child, Charcoal Pencil, A3

I'd not used charcoal pencils before and was asked if I'd have a try. They are more commonly used to define a chalk pastel drawing, rather than for their own merits. So I drew young Aiden, who is Mr Adorable-Delicious, obviously.

I drew larger-than-life, as the charcoal pencils are farily thick, so I'd not be able to get the detail in if I worked too small. I used Strathmore drawing paper, which has a slight tooth to it, and set to work. The first marks were rather scarey, as the charcoal goes on... black. Eek. Softly softly, and lots of rubbing with a finger.

I bought a variety of charcoal pencils but mostly used just two of them (because I didn't like the others - too scratchy). I used Derwent' Light' and Faber Castell Pitt Charcoal, medium. The Derwent gave a good, pencil-type grey and blended on the paper nicely. The others were so black that they almost scored the paper. I used Faber Castell Pitt Charcoal Soft for the pupil in the eyes - i gave a dense rich dark sitting on top of the medium. 

All in all, good to try new things. In the end, I liked the scale and the risk of dealing with blackness. 

Leaves and berries, water colour, student work

It doesn't take much to suggest a mood - a few red berries and a bit of green and we feel like it's Christmas! This weeks students enjoyed this challenge so much that I have carried it on for a second week of study. Its a tall order to try to finish a painting in a couple of hours, and its good to have extra time sometimes to take the painting through to a more finished level.

By Jean R, student

Work in progress, by Thomas McC, student

Work in progress, Thomas R, student

Teresa, demonstrating the art of colour-testing around the edges! Completed over two sessions

Nisa, a stunning painting, completed over two sessions

Next up, Portfolio course, portrait workshop, water colour workshop and oils workshop.

Email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for info

Presents!

I have always said that I have the best job in the world. (and only SOMETIMES have I said it through gritted teeth!) One of the surprising and delightful perks is getting paintings sent to me, from my regular weekly students, out of the blue, when they've been doing a bit of artwork at home.

Sometimes I'll get a text of a drawing or some sculpture, or an email of paintings. Always, its a joy, for knowing students are happy enough to practise what they've started in class, and feel confident enough to share it with me, is a great compliment. Thanks guys!

This week I got two water colours, pears from Thomas and a tree from Paul and last week, some face studies from Andy. A bit of practise at home goes a long way.

Upcoming courses - Big Drawing Workshop and

Portrait Drawing Workshop. 

Portrait workshop and Afternoon Tea

Yesterday I had a lovely portrait drawing workshop, with Mama Kaz modeling. Students started working using a mirror (we all get used to it after the initial horror!) and drawing themselves, which gets some of the initial hard-peering dealt with before moving on to observe the model.

Kaz was a little animated, but at least managed not to get the guitar out to serenade everyone while they were actually drawing!

Student drawing, by S. Foster - wonderful first portrait studies. 

I usually provide lunch when I hold a workshop at home, but seeing Kaz was singing on stage the night before, I started a bit later. So instead of lunch, I made Afternoon Tea!

Sandra, bless her, said it was... 'better than The Merchant'. Well, how delightful!! But I made so much food, that I ended up taking a cake round to the neighbours, and delivering a box of chocolate tiffin to Auntie Edith down the road! Apparently this week is Chocolate Week, and she's a bit partial.

Next up - intensive portfolio course
Water Colour workshop Belfast - Skies, trees and landscape.
For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Portrait Drawing ( - suffering for our Art and Home!)

Photo by Trish Semple www.takephotography.co.uk

Friday night was Culture Night in many cities across Europe and it was lovely to invited to take part. Emma from Art and Home, the most wonderful Art suppliers and framers, asked me if I would do 'something' and in a moment of weakness I agreed to sit in the window doing some drawing. What was I thinking...?? Luckily I had a moment of inspiration, and suggested that Mama Kaz might  model for me (safety in numbers..). (I mentioned her in a recent post, and though it would be good to get some practice in before the workshop.. Er, in public. Sheesh... )

Mama Kaz has a great face, and we started off nicely, calm and poised, even. But of course, it takes a long time to do a drawing (mine took an hour and a half) and all sitters get a little restless at some point, but as she was due to sing on stage, we decided to soldier on without a break. But, uh-oh, she spots a camera... 

.... and the messing Begins.. (oh joy!)

I haven't laughed so much for ages. But, we managed to regain composure for a while.. 

Photo by Mary Lappin

....but before long, the guitar comes out. I mean, please... how's a girl to draw when the model is rocking in her seat...?!

Photo by Emma Bond, Art and Home, Holywood Co Down

A really enjoyable experience, and I look forward to painting Mama Kaz soon. She is modeling for two portrait workshops, and they will be fantastic.

Art and Home, http://www.artandhomeweb.com/

5 minute portrait drawings

Some demo drawings from recent workshops. 

Portrait drawing workshop

Here are some of my demonstration drawings from portrait workshops. I love drawing faces. They're all so different, and yet...the same!

My next Portrait Workshop runs this weekend in Belfast. Email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for info.

Tied up in knots - cloth drawings, pencil on toned paper.

One of the most difficult things about photographing any of my students working, I notice, is that the table is so covered in coffee cups..

  Recently I asked them to draw cloth - this is a difficult subject, but so important for when drawing the clothed figure. Drawing the cloth without the figure is a kinder place to start. It is also, once you get used to the initial horror-feelings, almost meditative to do. This is a landmark subject matter - once you tackle this, you know you can do Anything...

(It is really difficult to photograph pencil work, and some of these were at night, so sorry about the quality). Graphite and white pencil on toned paper. 

These are stunning drawings (above is by Phillippa, below is by Brian, both of whom have only attended 4 lessons!). The end result doesn't show their total fear of the subject, or the determination to see it through, but it was there. Great work.

Above, by student John McI. Below Jayne McC. (Jayne's photo was taken in the daytime, which is why it is clearer!)

And finally, below, my own drawing. I don't always get to participate in the class, but this time I couldn't resist, and sat up long after everyone had gone to finish it. The upside of joining in is that I remember how difficult it is, and occassionally feel a little bit guilty... but then, I get over it!

Next up, portrait workshop. Email for info julie@juliedouglas.co.uk