Autumn in the studio, Comber

 It's been lovely in the studio this half-term. We've studied seasonal delights, including some leaves, warty gourds, trees, plus landscapes and... pigs! We have been using water colour,  charcoal, oils and colour pencil. Delicious variety keeps the spice of creativity alive. 

Here's a selection of works produced along the way. 

The Wednesday session...

Student Sara with her beloved colour pencils. 

Georgie's easel - a colour mixing exercise - Thursday morning class

pauline with her lovely charcoal drawing study and oil study - Monday night class

A lovely double page from Sara's Moleskine book

  

               Ken, Aidan and Alan working hard in the Thursday night class.              

Nicki's excellent yellow-red exercise - Thursday night class

                                                                                                

Peggy working on a charcoal study, Thursday morning class

Lovely water colour leaves, Thursday night class

Lovely little pig study, by Clive in the Tuesday morning class. 

 

 Diana, who really wanted to paint a pig! Monday night class


Well done everyone for working so hard!

For information about attending a weekly drawing and painting class please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

 

Art Holiday to Sermione on Lake Garda.

Drawing and painting on location is always fun, but go to a warm sunny town on a small peninsula jutting into Lake Garda and the pleasure increases beyond measure. Throw in 18 students and you are all set for a great week!

Sara

We stayed in a little hotel in Sermione, just a 20 minute walk from the centre of the old town. Crossing the bridge, with water either side and flanked by a medieval castle, is like stepping into history. Twisty small streets, shaded by tall ochre coloured buildings, with several squares leading to the lake, all full of cafes and restaurants. 

Anne, Pam, Sandra, Carlo

Pam and Julie B

Clive working on his painting

Carlo, Anne and Liz - painting in the dappled shade.

Nicky, Kate, Clive, Ken, Christine and Pam

A boat trip to the next town was a blue-balmy treat. 

Christine

Kate

Anne

Claire, Christine, Sandra, Anne, Julie, Gennie, Nicky, Pam, Aidan, Ken, Ruth, Julie B, Sara, Clive, Liz and Kate 

A quick demo

On the last day we stayed at the hotel, and painted water colour exercises around the pool. Very productive and relaxing at the same time. 

Front, Sara, and on the lounger.... Robert!

Julie B, Carlo, Pam, Christine, and outside, Nicky, Ken, Gennie, Kate, Liz

Student exercise

Verona from above

Gennie, Robert, Ken, Anne, Liz, Pam, Julie B, Kate, Sandra, Kate, Carlo, Sara, Ruth, Aidan, Nicky, Christine, Claire. 

Reflected in the window, Gennie, Julie, Sara

A day trip to Verona led some of us to a gorgeous little art shop/stationers whose window was full of tantalising colour pencils...

Nicky, Christine, Claire, Gennie, Julie, Robert, Ken

The next trip is to Croatia - can't wait!!

Portrait workshop with visiting art group

 I was pleased to welcome members of Kilmood Art Group to the studio recently, for an afternoon's portrait drawing workshop. A couple of months earlier I did a full portrait demonstration on Zoom, and while I was unsure about the idea, it actually worked tremendously well. I had my camera facing directly onto my page, so it filled their screens and gave them a better view than I actually had of the artwork!       

Interestingly, even though I have been teaching for more than half my life, I still get nervous demonstrating to people I don't know, so I was glad that some of my own students Zoomed in too, and while I couldn't see anyone at all, I gelt comforted knowing that they were there. Thanks guys!! (for being there, and for not heckling!!!!) This made it all the more lovely to welcome the art group Tony studio for a hands-on session. I must say that the standard was excellent!

We worked from a photo that I had taken specially for this purpose, of my younger son. I'm sure you agree that they all got a likeness, and all dressings were delicate and sensitive. 

A lovely time had, by all.  

For info on weekly classes in drawing and painting please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

www.juliedouglas.co.uk 

From raw materials to delicious arrangement - making the composition greater than the sum of it's parts

Composition. This is the fun part of image making, yet one which is so often completely ignored! That word 'fun' nicely segues into fundamental - composition is the fundamental ingredient that makes a painting worth creating at all, or not bothering. It need not take long. Or it might take ages. Either way,  if you fail to plan your composition, then you plan to fail. 

a multitude of apples

Early in the term, I piled the studio tables with subject matter - apples, 'shiny things' and fabrics. The students then had to take some of each, and create their own arrangement. 

selection of shiny objects

a mountain of material

The fun begins! Reflective objects give so many ways to play with colour. Patterns can look like fairground mirrors, from the grotesque to the ridiculous... 

..and popping an apple into a shiny bowl changes the colour of the interior of the bowl, and creates a 'new' tone. Delicious! 

Changing the view point offers more opportunities to change the look of the creation. And zooming in closely changes the atmosphere., making it feel more intimate. 

We must never 'blame' the objects for being 'boring' - it is down to US to make the ordinary look enticing and interesting. Playing with lighting and changing the height of the arrangement is also great. In fact, all good still life set-ups should be able to offer many different possible compositional outcomes. 

Give it a try! It'll get your creative juices flowing and deliver that 'inspiration' factor that often only arrives after you begin! 

For info on upcoming classes including weekly drawing and painting classes and the April portrait workshop, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

Arty Hen Party!

A couple of weeks ago these lovely ladies spent a morning laughing while doing some drawing and painting, as part of their Hen Do. What a great fun way to spend time time getting to know each other! 

 We started in the easels room, with a bit of charcoal, drawing pears and plums. I stood up to do a demonstration for them, when suddenly they all burst into song, and they did a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday for me, awk!! After the demo, the ladies got over their initial nerves, rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in - with excellent results!

Bride at work!

After tea and cake we moved into the other room for a bit of watercolour painting, and as you can see, they all did a brilliant job. 

The full line up! Brilliant bananas!

Bride (sporting a new BARA apron!), bridesmaids and bananas! 

The studio is perfect for groups wanting to spend time learning a new skill, be it co workers, family or friends. A warm creative environment with space for up to 16 people at a time.

For programme info on upcoming workshops, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk