Bravery and trust at the drawing board

Sometimes when I look at the drawings my students create, I am astonished at just how DIFFICULT the subjects are. Subjects which I set, of course! Tough. Stretching.

Suzanne B, student - a lovely set-up

But it's not only the level of trickiness which strikes me - it's the students themselves, and how brilliantly they respond when they see each week's offering... (Some hide their horror, some let it show!) Please remember that my students often have very little past experience. Some have not drawn for 30 years. Some have doodled at home without guidance, and attend out of exasperation or frustration at their lack of improvement. Some have no experience at all, but a desire. And others have attended for a little while and feel the benefit of the challenges I give them. All attend just once a week, for between two and four hours. A short time (and usually drawings are not completed in that time) - but they all improve, and accept the challenges.

Clive, student

So when I show you the work they produce, it's because I appreciate them and am proud of their achievements.  Appreciate their WORK, their frustration, their grit. And their staying power.

When I decide on a subject, it is chosen with a sense of adventure and fun. Excitement at a reflection. Pleasure at a shadow. Visual feasting, and enthusiasm for the puzzle-solving to come at each drawing board, by each student.

Recently the subject was cookie cutters. A great subject, fitting into what I would describe as the 'structural' category (as oposed to 'organic'). In other words - no hiding places! I made some ginger bread cookies too, but we decided to eat those rather than drawing them, even the crispy ones...

Alison S., using coloured pencil to beautiful effect. 

This arrangement was placed on the spotty paper, which provided the biggest challenge. If you look hard you will see part of the ginger bread cutter, and some ribbon. This took two hours of study, and while it is not finished, it is still beautiful. By student Kate.

Pat -this drawing was larger than most, around A3 sized. 

Glynis - in order to help her get less lost in the puzzle, Glynis marked R for red and Y for yellow on the stripes of her drawing. Every little helps! 

Ewa's drawing, with gorgeous warm colours reflected from red and gold paper, into the cutter. 

Teresa's drawing - Teresa is a new student and this was her first time using coloured pencil. A great start. 

A lovely water colour version. 

Alan S, lovely colourful start.

Sara's successful combination of graphite pencil and colorued pencil. 

Brigid's lovely drawing. 

 To make things more exciting, I added shiny paper into the mix. Students had a choice of silver, gold, striped or spotted paper, which introduced both colour and extra pattern to the subject. To be kind, I threw in some ribbons for extra impact. Students set up their own arrangement, inside 'cardboard corners', after experimenting with placement of colours for best effect, and got to work. Ouch!

Jim, coloured pencil with a little water added.

The best place to find shiny and patterned paper this year is..The Range! 
well done to everyone on a fantastic piece of observation drawing. 

Next up: Friday Night Life (life drawing 28th December 2019), Children's art (29th December 2018)

For info on all workshops please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Hot off the press! My book is ready for pre-order!!!

After working on it for the last 18 months, I am delighted to tell you that I have finishing writing, illustrating and designing my instructional book, ’Notes from the Atelier’.

I have attached a link below which will give you a preview!

http://www.juliedouglas.co.uk/sample

If the above link to the preview does not work for you, please use this one:

https://issuu.com/juliedouglas3/docs/issuu_final

The book is a collection of 32 of my weekly drawing and painting workshops, providing a programme of exercises designed to build skills cumulatively using a variety of media, strategies and subjects.

Guiding students through the steps required to develop a new way of seeing the world, the fully illustrated book provides an accurate reflection of lessons from the studio. Fresh, practical advice on the creative process, to empower students to enjoy the learning experience and to draw and paint better than ever before. With over 245 pages, and a foreword by artist PJ Lynch, the book is packed  with over 500 illustrations and photographs. The artwork was done by me and over 50 of my students.

I am self-publishing the book and have just sent the artworks to an excellent printer, with a view to a book launch in March 2017. 

 At this stage, I need to decide how many books to print, so I need an indication of your interest please.  I am taking pre orders, as I have to inform the printer in the next week or so. If you would like a copy, please email me as soon as possible. The cost for pre-order is £35 per book (Plus post and packaging where applicable. To give you a guide, postage costs approx £5 to UK, £13 to Ireland, £20 to USA. At pre order stage you will only be charged for the book, and postage charges will be invoiced after printing). 

Everyone who orders a book will be invited to the launch to collect it. The launch will include a display of artwork of my current students. If you would like to purchase at the pre order price, here is the link:

http://www.juliedouglas.co.uk/julies-book/

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. My email is julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

Julie Douglas

Back to the Airing Cupboard, Oil on board

It is a good idea for artists to meet other artists from time to time, to appreciate each others work and talk about our different approaches. Artists spend a lot of time working alone, so this sharing of experiences ignites new and varied enthusiasm and stops us going... nutty. It's always interesting to see how other people work - from the state of their studio space, to the music they lisen to, the lighting they prefer, their favourite brushes and of course the process they use to create their paintings. 

From time to time I visit my friend the artist Ian McAllister. His paintings are beautifully crafted, delicious mysteries. I took along a painting-to-be, of some little pumpkins that I'd arranged in my airing-cupboard-of-controlled-lighting, which I'd drawn and transferred in line to an art board. 

Ian's 'Dark Start' on the left and my 'Pale-but-interesting' on the right..

It's wonderful to see the very beginnings of another artist's process. As you can see from the two 'beginnings' above, we took the opposite aproach. Ian starts in fuzzy darkness (left), working with a really long brush and adding lights to the dense background. I (right), with my water colour and drawing history, am champion for wanting to preserve my drawing, lest I fall off the edge of the world or something..  So, lets mix it up, we thought... and slathered darks dollops of thinned down paint all over my drawing... 

Big broad strokes, but the comfort-blanket of drawing is still visible. 

Above - we managed a good bit of darker tones on top of the 'slather' until the surface was too sticky to take any more, and I took my painting home to see how I'd get on.. 

Dried, lighter

The image above shows how it dried - the tones had sunk in much more than I expected. The idea was for me to try building up colour using glazes. 

Glazing

I made lots of mistakes. Grr.. I did many layers, which at first were streaky and transparent and unsatisfying. I  did LOTS of layers, in colour, then wiped over it with black to keep it soft and fuzzy. This was verging on the traumatic at times, but I soldiered on...

The set-up 

My goal was to get real depth into the warm orange colours on the pumpkin, and eventually the richness I was after began to emerge, with the colours making the objects look solid yet velevety. Then I had a little accident.. 

Oops...

Yes, I'd not lowered the top block of the easel to secure the board, which was thin and lightweight. So, JUST when I was happy with a days work, and moments before I had to go out to a meeting, the board tipped over and landed in my palette. The dollops were impressive! 

Clipped on! 

Of course, I wiped it off, along with the areas around the dollops which were still wet, and laughed at myself... I worked a while more on the painting, but evenually was fed up looking at it so I ceased. I learnt a great deal from this little painting - some of what To Do and lots of what Not To Do. When I put it away, I really didn't like it, but now, some months later, I dont mind it so much and appreciate having taken the time to struggle with it. Often, what we learn is invisible, but we use it in the next painting and the one after that and the one after that..

Inspiration down town - perfect ingredients.

What has shopping got to do with painting? Well, perhaps the actual shopping part has very little, but BROWSING - that is invaluable. Just as a walk in the woods will bring visual treats, the mm and ooh and aha moments, as well as the exercise and deeper breathing, which encourage us to get back to the drawing board, the shop that tickles your fancy will have the same effect.

Luckily for me, my two best art shops have some great shops/inspiration raisers, nearby - extra reasons to get supplies in. One of them, The Flower Rooms, is brand new, and I happened upon it by accident (honest), while walking the dog. Which meant I had no money on me, probably just as well..

The front door is flanked by potted Bay trees, and inside, one room is filled with fabulous flowers (mmm, the scent), another with hearts, pixies and angels, wooden crates and galvanised buckets. It is, well... heaven.  On the edge of Holywood High Street, (the opposite end to the art shop, Art & Home) its well worth a visit. Visual and sensory delights. 

The very welcoming Kathryn Millar, from The Flower Rooms, Holywood

I discovered recently that one of my other favourites has.. doubled in size! Oh, Yes!

 Sawers, a deli round the corner from the art shop in Belfast (Bradbury Graphics), is an Aladdins cave of gourmet treats, guaranteed to cheer up even the most grumpy browser, with their jars of Devilishly Hot spices, and amazing-sounding things in the freezer.. 'Scorpion in candy', 'chocolate covered ants', 'BBQ flavoured worms'...

The Boss, Sawers

'Snake's bite' and 'Satans Sweat' sauces... 

While I'm at it, I might as well tell you about the fantastic little wool shop, 'Selections' in Carrickfergus! This place is so filled with blocks of COLOUR I wonder sometimes if I'll ever be able to leave! And the lovely staff - well, they even came outside to take a photo in daylight to help me decide what colour.. In fact, Isa wanted to teach me to crochet right there and then, so I could become one of their 'hookers'. em.. Haven't laughed so much in a wool shop, ever! Hooked is right. 

What's the common denominator here? 

All these shops are small, personal, friendly and intimate. Add to that,  colour, smells, textures, tactile, sensory enrichment, communication, interaction, engagement and enrichment. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for an art class. 

Upcoming workshops: Drawing, Oils, water colour, portrait drawing, portfolio weekends and weekly session. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk