Portrait workshops

I have done a couple of portrait workshops recently, and I do love them. Students are often amazed at how quickly they can draw the face, well, and in giving attention to the right things, they get a likeness too.  The top two drawings by students B. McKinley and P. McCormack, were self portraits, looking in the mirror.

Facial expressions are good fun to do too. (shock, horror!)

Next up: Illustration workshop, Belfast
Intensive Portfolio Course
for info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Creativity and Contribution, in many forms.. Fish and Chips..

Recently a student reached into her art-bag for some materials and brought out some... knitting. When I asked what she was knitting, she said it was an outfit for the Fish and Chip Babies - babies orphaned at birth in Africa who are wrapped in newspaper as they have nothing else to clothe them. From what I have found on the internet, I think the knitting began in New Zealand a couple of years ago and has spread around the world, people sharing the very simple pattern to knit a small all-in-one garment for the babies.

She sent me the pattern and I got to it - it knits up very quickly and you should get two out of one ball of wool.

My first little knit for quite a while. Delicious.  

If you would like to knit one, here is the pattern. It is very easy. You are asked not to use white or baby pastels as they will probably not be washed.

Jumper/Vest:

• 8 Ply Yarn (double knitting)
• 5mm needles (tight knitters) or 4.5mm needles (loose knitters)
• Cast on 44 stitches
• Work 18 Rows in K2, P2 rib
• Work 30 Rows stocking stitch (1 row plain, 1 row purl)
• Cast on 12 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows and at the same time change to K2, P2 (for sleeve)
• Rib 22 more rows.
• Next row: Rib 21, cast off 26 stitches, rib 21
• Next row: Rib 21, cast on 26 stitches, rib 21
• Work 22 rows in K2, P2 rib
• Cast off 12 stiches at beginning of next 2 rows
• Work 30 rows stocking stitch
• Work 18 rows, K2, P2 rib
• Cast off

I discovered that the local wool shops are happy to recieve these as missionaries call in to collect them at regular intervals. 

If your local shop doesn't do this, the address to send it to is: 

c/o Foto First,

180 Murchison Street,

Ladysmith 3370,

South Africa

or

Mowbray Maternity Hospital
12 Hornsey Road
Cape Town
South Africa

Black Cockerel, Colour Pencil on Bristol Board

I love drawing animals, and have done a few drawings of chickens. This is a very small drawing of Pat Mitchell, who owned the (VERY unfriendly) geese I drew running in snow (well, the geese were running in snow, with me following, but I wasn't drawing IN the snow. If you see what I mean...). He lives in a fabulous, crumbling demesne house in Woodford, County Galway, and just loves his chickens and geese. A student of mine lived near him so took me to meet him. He only lived in a small part of the house, with candle light only. I didn't see much of the house inside, but remember that when I looked up the curving, highly carved staircase, at the very top was a fantastic glass dome, flooding us with shafts of light.

Outside was a menagerie of every type of chicken imaginable (and some beyond imagination!) This splendid black cockerel was left in a plastic bag attached to Pat's railings - someone had rescued it and assumed Pat would look after it. And they were right!

Colour pencil on Bristol Board, approx 7 inches x 7 inches (17cm x 17 cm), by Julie Douglas 

Last week I got a lovely email from a mature student who did a portfolio course with me last year. He had no previous drawing or painting experience - the course was a bit of a shock to his system (on account of me taking no prisoners, so to speak), and he worked very hard. But it was all worth it. He wrote:


Wow! Those onions look amazing.
I should let you know that I have been offed places on the Architecture Degree Programs at UCD, DIT and UL.
Also a place at Limerick School of Art and Design.
The architecture courses required an interview process as well as a portfolio assessment. Portfolios were additionally examined during the interview process. Curiously, during all interviews, the show stoppers in my portfolio were the water colours that I completed at your portfolio course. That is despite serious endeavour with many artistic media since.
Who would have thought that architects would be so interested in a banana, some lemons, a chili pepper and some vague trees.
Please accept my thanks for your instruction, for opening my eyes (and ears) and for awakening my artistic potential.
I intend to accept a place at UL to study architecture. Their interview was rigourous and demanding which endears me to their tuition.
Continued success to you and I hope our paths cross again.
Yours,
Alan




Up coming courses - Portrait workshop, Illustration workshop - this is a new course and
Intensive Portfolio Course. Also summer classes for teenagers.
 Email for info: julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Onions, Oils on board 8in x 10 in.

I love onions.  I found this box of onions outside Coffee's butcher shop on Lisburn Road. He had great rhubarb too..

This took quite a while to do as I have been busy with other things. And it's really difficult to photograph - it's a bit darker on the bottom than this suggests. But you get the gist.

Two-colour tonal exercises, Water Colour, and an Oils workshop, Belfast

Here is Susan, who came over from Wales as part of my distance learning programme, for an Oils workshop. In this pic she is demonstrating how to squint through the little hole in the paper, to see what colour the white ball REALLY is...! Well, it's yellow, no its pink, no no it's blue, purple..ORANGE.!

Squinting...

Susan's first oil paintings. 

Tonal Value Studies -
I was very surprised, when I looked for imagery on line to show in demonstration to my students, that nothing came up under Two Colour Tonal. This is not a good sign.

From my sketch book

Painting using one or two 'colours' (or one colour, or 3)  is so important in helping to understand balance without the distraction of actual colour. The darks, lights and mid-tones are more important the the colours themselves. The painting above was done during a class, and I was very relaxed about it - it is not a Finished painting, it is an Observation of tonal balance. I'm not saying that it is correct either, but it's not far off. I used Payne's Gray and Yellow Ochre, which together give an interesting and complex array of greens. Mixing two colours doesn't equal three colours, it equals a hundred possibilities...

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

Sunbeam Sheep, Colour Pencil on Bristol Board

I love sheep. (and cows and chickens and pigs. ) This is one of the most complicated drawings I ever did in Colour Pencil... Its a pity it is reduced in size here - I really don't like seeing my work smaller, as it compresses and hardens the detail - if anything it looks better enlarged! It was the first in a series of sheep and the only one of the series that included so much landscape. I drew this a few years ago and it was the first large drawing I had done for some time as my children were small. I think that's why it ended up being so complicated - perhaps I needed to know if I could still 'do it'. The sheep belonged to neighbours in Sussex who had a Smallholding,  Sunbeam Farm, and I drew some of their pigs later, and chickens. And in fact, their children too now I think on it.

The chicken wire fence against the tree had me a bit cross-eyed, and looking at it now, I notice there are a lot of fences here - I like fences and gates. Notice the colours in the sheep - pink, green, blue... There is a LOT going on in this image, including a pig in the background. The blue distant hills are of Hastings, East Sussex. It took many weeks to complete.

Tone - the Heart of the matter. Student Watercolour studies.

Yes, I know I keep coming back to Tone, but it truly is vital...! Last week I gave my students a group of three peppers, one yellow one red and one green, which they painted using only Payne's Grey (a totally delicious colour, if you use Artist Quality... Never use anything else).

Jean R

Ruth T

Pat F

Choosing tones which correctly balance these three different colours is not easy, and it was interesting to note that often the yellow one was not the palest tone...

Kate A

Hilary H

Ciara's - this was huge, on A3 paper, and just her second watercolour..!! 

There was, as usual, much huffing and grinding of teeth, and, as usual, I took no notice... The results were astonishing. All brilliant! So good, in fact, that we're doing another tonal study this week, but I haven't told them yet...

John McI

Portfolio Preparation, Ireland

Last week I did the first portfolio course of the summer (that's an Irish summer, mostly damp). I had a sweet group (don't tell them I said that), students from all over the country, who worked hard, produced great work and set themselves new, higher targets to aim for. With only a minimal amount of nagging on my part and hardly any huffing on theirs...!

For the first time ever, I had more boys than girls on the course, which meant it was a bit quieter and a lot more...funny! Yup. (girls, if you think boys are 'stupid', try listening harder, for they are truly funny if we let them get a word in!)

I had a chat with one of the parents afterwards and between us we came up with a wonderful idea for distance-portfolio-help. Sort of like a weekly class but at home with internet-nagging one day a week, to get the students through the summer. 

Lovely bunch - Conny, Bilal, Rowan, Josh, me (using Siranee as a human shield), Siranee, Ellen, Eoin, Bronagh and Ciara.

More portfolio courses in July and August, as well as Oils workshops, Big Drawing Days, Art for Teenagers and more...
Email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

For Sale - a slice of Heaven

Well, it may seem a little odd, but why not...? These photos are of my gorgeous house in east County Clare, Ireland. It's called The Park, it is nestled half way down a hill, and is surrounded by beautiful countryside, with a view across to a lough.

It's an old farmhouse, with a warm history and an important role in the village - it was the first house to have a television, for example, so the neighbours used to come over on Tuesday nights to watch The High Chaparral..! As well as card nights, and for tea after weddings. In my time, we had an evening of tradtional music in the studio as well as open art days. A living history, a lovely place. Lovingly restored, with an Aga, open fireplace and wood burning stoves, 4 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms and separate studio.

Studio

Inside the studio

View from the front door.

last week I got stuck in traffic... 

The reason I'm showing you is because it is for sale. Many of you have visited it and spent hours painting and drawing, and basking in the lovelieness of the place. If you are interested in living in Heaven, send me an email and I'll pass you on to the estate agent. It's less than 45 minutes from Limerick city and Galway city, making it accessible yet private, quiet but also the centre of the Universe.
julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Sex in the City...! (on my birthday!)

 

Last week I was invited to the library of the  National Botanic Gardens in Dublin to meet some botanical artists. I was extremely grateful to be invited, as I'm not strictly a botanical artist at all. The library has an extensive collection of amazing Botanical artwork, and having noticed an increase in the number of visitors asking about botanical painting, they decided to invite a few artists along for a get together. After a talk by Brendan Sayers, the foreman of the Gardens, about the background of botanical painting there, we were given a tour by Librarians Colette and Alex of the rare books room (I could have spent all day in there..) and shown some drawings by Irish artists (all women..), including Sophia Rosamond Praeger, who lived in Holywood, Co Down (I was so impressed by my student Geraldine who came with me, for when they mentioned Praeger, Geraldine immediately recited a quote from one of Praeger's sculptures.. I just basked in the reflected glory!) - Praeger was well known for her scultptures. We also had a fabulous peer at the botanical paintings of Lydia Shackleton (1848 - 1914) - they were laid out for us to view unframed. Amazing work and an honour to get such a good, close-up look. Some of the work is incredibly small - in botanical painting, your painting must be the same size as the flower.

                                            Painting by Lydia Shackleton.


We were treated to coffee and scones, and I was taken totally by surprise when they began singing Happy Birthday and brought out a cake for me!! Aw! Big blushes, and thanks to Colette, and to Shevaun for being so kind. You can see from the photo that I'm only 3..

The highlight was a talk by Susan Sex, who is a beautiful painter, generous with her time and happy to share her knowledge. She has produced two books alongside Brendan Sayers on Irish orchids, and has recently completed a set of Botanical Stamps. Very interesting hearing how she has about 2 days to paint a flower before it gives up the ghost. To help her, she has people turning up on her doorstep with floral offerings. The foxgloves were, apparently, the 'last foxgloves in Ireland', and were brought to her from the Mournes last year! So, an art form which requires the artist to drop everything, paint it now and paint fast. (no pressure there then..) The exhibition of stamps is still on, really worth a look. It includes all the artwork plus many of the preliminary drawings. As you can see from the photo below, the paintings are tiny - there is one on the wall behind Susan's head.

                      Susan Sex, above and below, talking about her sketch books.

Photos above and below by Lorraine Adams.

On the right above, Shevaun Doherty, a wonderful botanical painter, who so kindly invited me to this lovely day. Best birthday treat Shevaun, thanks. 

Above, Colette Roberts, also from Holywood (small world!) talking about her work. Seated on the tables are Librarians Colette and Alex. These are the most welcoming of women. (photo by Lorraine Adams)

Susan also spoke to us about a variety of artists, including Frans Bower, Augusta Drake, Margaret Meade (who spent many years painting in the Amazon, and was deeply concerned about the number of plants disappearing), Wendy Walsh, who is still painting, aged 97, and Raymond Piper, who was a mad-sounding artist from Belfast. (Well, a mad artist in Belfast? Whatever next?!)
We finished by showing and sharing our paintings, which was a pleasure - botanical painting is alive and well in Ireland. This fantastic water colour painting by Lynn Stringer was shown on the day