Grantchester day workshops

I am delighted to say that there has been an excellent response to a series of new workshops I will be running in Grantchester Village hall, near Cambridge. Both the portrait days, on 22nd January and 12th March are fully booked. The life drawing and painting one on 12th February still has a couple of spaces left.

It is a fun day with the opportunity to meet and learn from other artists as well as the tutor.
Workshops run from 10 am - 4pm and the cost is £35 for the day. This includes model fee, tea, coffee etc. Bring your own packed lunch.

Portrait demonstration

Throughout the year, I give portrait demonstrations to many art groups and societies. These can be great fun but also challenging in that you never know who the model is going to be. You hope that the person selected or volunteered will look interesting, striking, distinctive etc. But there is no guarantee. You hope also that they will be engaged in the process, be lively and willing to enter into a dialogue with you so that you become a sort of double act , a form of entertainment for the audience. Occasionally, I am allowed to choose from amidst the "shrinking violets" before me and I am glad to say that usually my instinct is right. But mostly, the victim has been pre-selected.
Over the years, numerous memorable things have happened. There was the time when the model, an elderly gentleman, instantly fell asleep and snoring loudly . No matter how much I cajoled or prodded, could I keep him in a state of consciousness. I cracked all my best jokes and anecdotes but the audience sat in stony silence and all that could be heard was the sound of sweety wrappers being unfurled. It was a "beam me up Scotty" night. I did struggle on manfully and produced a fairly decent portrait by the end of the evening. The group applauded loudly and said it had been extremely enjoyable and informative. Would I come back again? I smiled sweetly, grabbed my cheque and fled , vowing never to return within a 60 mile radius of the place! On another occasion, I was demonstrating to a group of over 80 people. Being such a large audience they decided to wire me up for sound. A very odd experience. Even odder when I forgot my "electronic" state and went off to the toilet and shared it with everybody.
This last Monday, I gave a demonstration to Hartest art group in Suffolk. I am delighted to say that none of the above horrors occurred. It was my third visit and so it was rather like meeting up with old friends. The banter was good with artist and audience winding each other up.


The artist at work.

I spent just under two hours on this oil portrait of Sue. I began by explaining about materials I would be using as well as techniques, proportions, tone, and colour mixing. With a large hog's hair brush and turpentine I roughly drew in the outline of the head and fixed the position of the various features. Then it was time to block in the main flesh tones, mid -tones, and shadows before concentrating on the finer details of the eyes etc. Working in this alla prima way there is only a certain amount one can do on the day, all of which was explained to and discussed with the audience. Below, is the painting at the end of the session.

To learn more of the techniques used see my various other blogs. To see me " in action " watch the video of me painting a portrait in 80 minutes in the "Tuition and Demonstration " section.

Cambridge Drawing Society Exhibition

This last week, I have been wearing one of my other hats, namely that of Treasurer of the Cambridge Drawing Society.
Throughout the country, the Exhibition season is underway with artists rushing to finish and deliver paintings, and organizers trying to cope with all that involves.
Tuesday was the handing in day for the Cambridge Drawing Society. Wearing my “official” badge, and sitting behind the desk, I was able to observe the scene from a very different perspective. Amidst the sea of wrapping paper and bubble wrap, there were those who nervously handed over their works and fled as quickly as possible. There were those who saw it as a social occasion and wanted to chat with friends and officials, blissfully unawares of the queues building up behind. There were those who had followed all the instructions, filled in correctly the forms and labels, and there were those who had done none of it. There was the sound of snipping scissors and shouts for string and pens all adding to the general atmosphere and tension of “Sending in Day.”
Wednesday was the Selection Day, crunch time for all. It is the second year I have in my official capacity been witness to the procedure where all the paintings are brought before the Selection Committee for their decision. It is wholly democratic, with one man one vote, and everyone, whether they be President, Treasurer or Candidate must abide by the judgement, no matter how wrong or unjust we think it might be . Not for the faint hearted the inevitable rejection artists have to endure!

The Selection Committee at work.
Following over 3 hours of judging , the selected works are laid out ready for hanging. It is a time to see everything that has been accepted and to begin to get the feel of how the exhibition will look.

Time also for a brief lunch break!

In the afternoon, screens are erected and the process of hanging begins. This is an art in itself, balancing subject matter , colours and trying to ensure that every painting is seen to its best advantage, an almost impossible task with over 300 works on display. And there are , of course, good spots and bad spots within any exhibition area, so somebody is bound to be upset by where their work is hung!
The Private View looms. Activity becomes even more frantic as labels and catalogues are organized and food and wine “magically” appear.
The Private View took place yesterday evening and was very well attended.

Tania Verdejo, Andy Mc Kenzie and Karen Stamper.

Gavin Clark

Rachel Haynes and her pastel paintings.

Lynne Woodhams, a newly elected member.

Mrs. Gavin Clark.
Founded in 1882, the Cambridge Drawing Society is one of the oldest art societies in the country. Former members have included Cecil Beaton, Ronald Searle and Gwen Raverat. Despite its name, the Society encompasses all forms of artwork, from oils to acrylics, watercolour,gouache, pastel, linocut, etching , wood engraving and sculpture.
In this exhibition, I am showing two works.
The first is an oil portrait of Tony Langford, Managing Director of John Smedley Ltd. ( 2003-2009.)

The second, is a charcoal sketch of “Granny Mc Leod” a 94 year old Scottish lady of great character.

The Cambridge Drawing Society Annual Exhibition at the Guildhall runs from 25th April -2nd May and is open daily 10- 5.30

Acrylic/oil portrait painting 5

The finished portrait of "Val and Betty". It was published in Artists' & Illustrators' Magazine and was judged the "most popular painting " by the public at the Autumn Exhibition of the Cambridge Drawing Society in 2007.

Acrylic/oil portrait painting 4

Now I have started working in oils. In places, the pigment is solid and opaque. In other parts, I use scumbling or glazing techniques, allowing the original acrylic painting to show through and act as a foil.

acrylic/oil portrait painting 3

Out of the chaos, order gradually emerges. Details of clothing, the table and objects on it, and the window gradually appear. I am still working in acrylics and the process so far has taken around two hours.

Acrylic/oil portrait painting 2

Here, I am still working in acrylics. I now begin to feel my way into the composition. The figures are roughly drawn in, as is the basic perspective of the background setting. I establish a cool green underpainting for future warm flesh tones.

Using acrylics as an underpainting for oils

The previous oil portrait was done in a traditional manner. This time I am using acrylics as the underpainting. The reason? It dries extremely rapidly so layer upon layer can be built up quickly prior to adding the oils on top. It is spontaneous and can be great fun, as can be seen from the somewhat colourful and apparently chaotic illustration on the right. But the colours I am using are chosen very deliberately to pick up those in the subject.

The finished portrait painting in oils

Over a number of sessions, the details in the head and hands was built up. This involved various techniques- glazing, scumbling and the use of body colour. At times stiff pigment was used, at others the paint was diluted with medium. I favour a stand oil, dammar varnish and turpentine mixture. The background was added during this process as well as details of the chair and clothing.
The background was painted over the edges of the hair . When this was dry, the hair was dragged back over it and a sable rigger used to establish some of the finer wisps.

Charcoal sketch to portrait painting in oils

Having decided on the finished preparatory sketch, I now prepared to do the oil painting. I chose to work on a fine linen canvas which I had stretched before applying two coats of size and two coats of oil primer. I then stained the canvas with a transparent wash of raw umber. This gives me a very useful mid tone on which to build my lights and darks.
I drew the figure in with a brush and fluid paint ( lots of turpentine) before moving on to the blocking in stage. All this time, I am checking angles, proportions, rhythms through the figure, and ,of course, position on the canvas. There is nothing worse than painting a fine head only to discover it's in the wrong place!
The accompanying illustrations show the painting in various stages of development. The head is well under way, the hands are just rapidly sketched in , and there are still large areas of the original staining. In my next blog I will show how the portrait was developed further.

How to create a charcoal portrait 3

Thanks Simon for your comments. These are usually fairly quick exploratory sketches, not worrying too much about either likeness or expression - they are mainly about pose and composition. If I did however, chance to get the "perfect expression", I would hope to recognise it and be able to replicate it in the final painting. The client and I both agreed that sketch 2 was not the "correct" one; the sitter is a very lively 92 year old who despite her physical frailty is mentally very alert, enjoys talking to people and is very aware of what is going on in the world. We both felt that sketch 3 expressed this better.

How to create a charcoal portrait 2

This drawing is another preliminary sketch for the finished painting. The materials and techniques used are the same as in my previous blog. Here, I have gone for a three-quarter length sketch as her arthritic hands were an interesting feature. Altogether I felt this pose produced a more reflective portrait.

How to create a charcoal portrait

This is one of a series of charcoal studies done in preparation for a finished oil portrait.

Materials: Smooth cartridge paper, willow charcoal, medium and soft charcoal pencils, compressed charcoal, black conte stick, soft cloth and a putty rubber.

Method: After establishing an initial outline, the area of the head was rubbed over with willow charcoal and smoothed with the cloth. The position of the main features was established before softening and lightening the mid-tones. The details in the eyes and mouth were built up using charcoal pencils. For the darkest tones, I used a combination of either conte crayon or compressed charcoal. The highlights were lifted out with a putty rubber.