Drawing in The Drawing Offices, Belfast, for Ireland's National Drawing Day

Last weekend I gave the first ever drawing class to be held in The Drawing Offices, in Belfast's Titanic Quarter. 

May 2014, students drawing the building

This is where the highly skilled draftsmen drew plans for the ships built by Harland and Wolff, including Titanic and Olympic.

100 years ago, draftsmen drawing the ships

Location drawing always presents it's own challenges specific to each site. This room is big and empty, which could have been daunting - it's aircraft-hangar-large, with lofty arched ceiling making people seem very small indeed. 

But, daunting it was not.  

This photo of me before everyone arrived gives an idea of scale, though it shows only a small part of the room. In reality, the size of the room is breathtaking.

The atmosphere of the room was still, with a delicious kind of calm. None of the students had been here before, and location drawing was new to most of them. As one student put it, its good to get out of your comfort zone. I tackled the enormity of the building by 'reducing it' into more manageable sections, which not only allowed students a user friendly introduction, but also gave us scope to appreciate the finer details of the room. From the reflections in the inner windows (which revealed layer upon layer of rooms, patterns and shapes including Titanic Belfast, the new museum across the way), to the paintwork on the walls. The paintwork is crumbling, but in such a beautiful way that it is worthy of a portrait in itself. 

The briefing

The concentration

happy students! 

Here are just some of the drawings the students did, in a very short time. 

It was a lovely afternoon, a fantastic experience and so appropriate to be drawing in The Drawing Offices.  I hope to have many more drawing days there in the future. 

If you would like to attend, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

www.juliedouglas.co.uk

www.draw-in.co.uk

Batchelor's Button (cornfower) in water colour, student work

Time - how long is it?       

                                                                                                                                                     Sometimes there is nothing for it but to change the boundaries of time... If we spend the same set amount of time on each artwork, then we can get into a bit of a rut. Either nothing will be finished, or else you will get into a formula so that you complete artwork within the time. The down side of the latter is that your work won't progress and you will ultimately feel less satisfied and frustrated. 

The gorse exercise in the previous post 

was an attempt to change the boundaries, by working on two paintings at the same time.  This week, I did it again, by starting students with a time limit of TEN MINUTES. 

You'd not believe it - they were too shocked to even MOAN! I set the timer, helpfully suggested they use a pale blue for the petals and a green for the leaves... GO! 

And after the first ten minute painting, we did another one. There wasn't a peep out of anyone.. And now, once everyone was warmed up, they were given the final hour to work uninterrupted. 

Pat F, water colour, student

I have not shown any 10 minute paintings here - these artworks all took the hour or so. The advantage of the warm-up painting is that it helps you get a feel for time. Doing several 10 minute painting means that suddently 20 minutes is quite a long time.. 

Shirley F, colour pencil - the top flower is the drawing, the bottom one is the flower! 

Sarah B, colour pencil. Again, the drawing is on top, the flower is on the right. 

Sarah M, student, water colour

Nisa V, or Speedy-Nisa as she's known in class (not), water colour

  I think the colour pencil studies were completed more fully than they would have been, without that rush start. The water colours have a freedom about them, because changing the boundaries allowed a 'letting go' of the possible outcome. Very little pencil was used, most of the drawing was done with the brush. No time to mess about!



Upcoming workshops: Intensive portfolio preparation, Oils, Drawing the portrait, Big Drawing, Water Colour landscape. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk


Drawing Symposium, a full weekend of demonstrations and workshops in figure drawing, portrait and more, with visiting artists including PJ Lynch, Katherine Tyrrell, Paul Foxton and Julie Douglas. 30th & 31st August, Belfast

Oils still life painting workshop, BELFAST - 25th - 29th August, with Matt Weigle from Grand Central Academy New York,

Classical Figure Drawing, BELFAST, 1st - 5th September, with Colleen Barry, from Grand Central Acadmeny, New York.  For info on all courses, email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Gorse, of course.. Water colour, student work

Sometimes, the next simplest step is to do something prickly... and to do it quickly.

Prickly, quickly.

Frequently, my students don't complete their artwork during a session as my emphasis is on providing the right tools to complete the job rather than try to finish something within a specific (short) time frame. Having the tools to understand what you are doing is an empowering experience.

This week, I decided to shift the boundaries and make everyone work quickly, on more than one painting at a time, and the objective was 'what happens when I do this?'. Which means, you'll never do it wrong.

Under my nagging (tsk, I mean instruction), students worked to understand the architecture of, the underlying structure of the plant, simplifying it to work out how to begin, and to understand that if these basic structural elements were not correct (even in a very loose painting), then the plant would look wrong. Lots of washes, wet-on-wet and layering. Yummy.

The amazing thing is that Nisa, one of my most careful students, who never finishes anything in class, is the only student who DID finish TWO paintings in the time. Prickly and quickly is perhaps the way forwards!

Nisa's speedy work!

Draw In The Drawing Office Belfast Titanic Quarter

Belfast has a long tradition of shipbuilding, and the new museum, Titanic Belfast, provides a wonderful insight into our maritime heritage, as well as the history of excellence in engineering, inventiveness, craftsmanship and draftsmanship of this city.

The museum was built right at the top of the slipway, and behind the original Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices, which are about to undergo major renovation.

On 17th May, it is my great pleasure to be taking students to draw in The Drawing Office, in the very room where plans were drawn for many ships which were built here, including Titanic. 

I will teach how to deal with working outside the studio environment, how to choose where to start and to become comfortable working on location. It will be fun, friendly and informative. 

This is part of the National Drawing Day of Ireland, whose aim is to allow everyone to have access to a FREE tutored drawing session, no matter what their artistic background or past experience is. I was delighted to host a session last year, in Belfast School of Art. Students who attended that day really enjoyed the experience, and learnt a lot of new things.

If you would like to come along, please email me julie@juliedouglas.co.uk to reserve a place and to receive details of times etc - the price is FREE but spaces are strictly limited. No past experience is necessary. 

Drawings of busts, by Jean R, student

Sketch book drawing of the front of the Drawing Office, with the new museum reflected in the windows, by Julie Douglas

Materials - all students must bring their own drawing materials.  Please bring a sketch book (no bigger than A3) and pencils, elbow grease and enthusiasm. I provide tuition, encouragement and buckets of praise. 

Note: This must be treated as location drawing, so be prepared for chilly weather. Dress for comfort! 

Upcoming workshops - oil painting weekend, portrait weekend, water colour landscapes, intensive portfolio course. 

25th Aug - 5th Sept - Draw In, action packed two weeks of drawing and painting workshops with some of the finest artists working today. Handson workshops in figure drawing, oil painting, portraiture and tonal studies, with Colleen Barry (NY), PJ Lynch, Paul Foxton, Kathering Tyrrell and more.

 Check for details at  www.draw-in.co.uk  

Arts - food for the soul

I read a great quote the other day which said:
"You don't need to ask if you have a soul. You ARE a soul, you have a body."

And today I got a letter from a friend who is embarking on a drawing course, saying

Now I feel my soul dried. How amazing to read this expressed in such a way.  How interesting it is that no matter what we have studied or what our occupation may be (because this wasn't anything to do with history or sociology), eventually we acknowledge the calling to address our need to feed the soul.   It doesn't mean we've been doing everything wrong, but finding ways to ensure space in our days for some of all things, keeps the soul happy and reconnects us to... our self. 

Above, a page from the Nature Sketchbook Exchange project, my painting in Debbie's sketch book. 

Upcoming courses: Portrait drawing, this weekend

Oil painting workshop, portfolio course. 

Teddy Bear's Picnic - tonal drawings, student work, pencil.

I asked my students to bring a teddy bear to class for drawing. It was so charming seeing them arriving, clutching their cuddly toys lovingly.. Great drawings, though pencil is difficult to photograph. This was such a popular subject - though there was nothing frivolous about it. The aim was to consider texture, and to understand that tone comes before texture

Sarah M, student

Ruth T, student

Sara C, student

Sarah B, student

Liz C, student

Upcoming workshops - Portrait Drawing 12th April, Oil Painting Workshop 26th & 27th April. 

Next Portfolio course is in June, email for details.

Draw In - summer drawing weekend 30th & 31st August with demonstrations and workshops by  PJLynch, Colleen Barry, Katherine Tyrrell and Paul Foxton, among others. www.draw-in.co.uk  

Draw In - a learning event to celebrate drawing! Belfast 2014

Home page from the website

I am delighted to bring you details about a drawing and painting event I am organising this summer on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August. Full details are here www.draw-in.co.uk

A weekend of talks, demonstrations and workshops with some amazing artists from around the world,  including Illustrator PJLynch, Colleen Barry, who is described as one of the greatest painters today, Katherine Tyrrell who writes the fantastic artist resource blog 'Making A Mark', and Paul Foxton who is passionate about drawing education.

As well as the weekend, there are two five day workshops, in Figure Drawing with Colleen Barry and oil painting still life with Matt Weigle, who has recently graduated from the Grand Central Academy in New York. I attended a week long workshop last year at GCA, and met Matt on the course. I attended the GCA with the aim of improving my own work and also to invite tutors back to this part of Europe, extending their reach to a wider audience.

It has been an honour to gather these creatives together for this event - they are all interested in teaching and sharing their knowledge with you - students attending will feel empowered and go away with new and exciting skills.

The event is open to everyone, from beginner to more experienced, and all levels are catered for.

Please look at the website, and be inspired.
 www.draw-in.co.uk  

If you would like any more information about any aspect of the event, please email me on 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. 

It's a matter of Tones.

This week my students have been marvelous. No change there then. I did an oil painting workshop and had lots of props left over, so used them for a water colour exercise for my weekly students. It was an aubergine and a lemon on coloured paper. The thing that is so intersting about these objects placed together is the huge range of tones - from the very bright lemon to the highlights and darks on the aubergine, with the paper in between.

This photo is a bit blurry, but it shows clearly what the brief was. Painting by Carolyn G, student

The task was to draw the objects, twice, on water colour paper, then do a one colour tonal study using Payne's Grey, and then a colour version. 

And how much suffereing was there...? Well, I couldn't possibly say, though on the whole students wimpered fairly quietly. The one colour painting took much more time than the colour one, which was interesting. 

By Thomas R, student (Thomas managed the colour painting in about 20 minutes!) 

The challenge is to get the contrasts right, and most avoided the very dark of the aubergine for as long as possible. But, until the dark is dark enough, the lights won't shine, so eventually, the layers built up and those contrasts really began to work well.

Not the best photo, but two lovely studies, by Ruth T, student

By Jayne McC, student

If we painted in black and white more often, our colour work would benefit hugely. Black and white forces us to observe tonal contrasts in order for our wrk to look 3 dimensional. Understanding tones helps us be less intoxicated with actual colours, allowing us the freedom to see far MORE colour than if we'd ignored the tones. 

Hard at work...

Up and coming - Friday homework club for teenagers. 

Lemons and ellipses and composition.

This week I gave my class a big challenge. Nothing new there then... I arranged a lot of white and off-white bowls on a dark cloth, and popped a couple of lemons inside. But the challenge was not about drawing, but about composition. How to select the most interesting section, and portray only that..? 

the set up

Students began by drawing on cartrige paper, with a time limit of around 30 minutes to get the whole thing drawn in. This caused some anxiety, as the arrangement was large.  I showed no mercy... And didn't allow them to use a rubber either. This meant that lines had to be free-flowing, with the whole arm contributing to the arcs required to draw round the ellipses, altering and ammending as they went along, leaving the 'wrong' lines in place, and carry on regardless. Phew! 

Stage 1, full drawing (student work)

The next stage was to place layout paper over the top of the drawing (layout paper is thin and semi-transparent, so you can see through it even though it is white), and draw small 'boxes' - squares/rectangles - then move it round the image to isolate interesting smaller sections and draw over them. 

Stage 2, on layout paper,  zooming in to select a varitey of cropping options (student work)

This cropping and zooming stage is very interesting. If the original set-up is busy enough, then often there will be potentially half a dozen possible variations of cropping. Zooming in creates a more intimate view point. Zooming out, therefore including more of the objects, is colder and less personal. Once each student decided which image they preferred, then they drew it out afresh on water colour paper (they couldn't directly trace as their initial drawing was not accurate enough - this was because of the time restraints of a two hour class). Below is the painted version of the students chosen composition. it was around 8 inches square. 

Below - this photo shows the first and third stages, before it was completed.

By T. Raju, student

Below the finished painting, which is so interesting, full of tonal values. By T Raju, student - he did attend for a second session, giving more time for completion.

Stage 3 - painting of the chosen favourite composition, water colour, student work

Third stage, by Liz C, Student

It is important to note that the paintings are not finished - the exercise was in composition, and the many stages involved menat that there wasn't time to finish painting, but much was learnt.

This is an interesting use of the background 'box, by allowing all the bowls to break out of the boundary. By Pat F, student 

lots of circles in the kitchen

One of the up sides of using food props of course, is the recycling. Tonight, as a break from college work, I used some of the lemons to make lemon curd (note - it is aways worth making time to make lemon curd), and chopped up another to tart up my drink. 

Up coming - Oil painting weekend workshop, Belfast. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

This summer - Julie is organising a Drawing Event called Draw In, which includes two 5 day workshops (in figure drawing and Oil painting still life) and a weekend Symposium of talks, demonstrations and workshops with artists P.J. Lynch, Paul Foxton, and Classical Realist painter  Colleen Barry (from New York). More info soon! The dates are 25th August - 5th September