Exhibition at Brancaster Staithe

Last weekend, along with some students and friends, I took part in an exhibition at Brancaster Staithe on the North Norfolk coast. Having grown up beside the sea, it was good to get back to vast skies and the smell of salt air. The mud flats are very different from the sandy beaches of Scotland where I grew up, but they have a charm of their own and I do love painting them.

My task for the day, however,  was not painting en plein air, but to demonstrate portrait painting. It is much more fun than sitting behind a desk smiling endlessly at customers and potential purchasers! I decided as a challenge to paint two portraits in tandem. That way I don't fiddle around and come back to each painting with a fresh eye.

Both paintings were done in oils on canvas . Size 18" x 14". Stained with raw umber.

Each took around two hours, in between drinking tea and chatting to interested onlookers. All in all, a most enjoyable day

 

 

Pauline

 

 

                                                                            Mary

 

The Society of Disabled Artists

Last week, I did a one day portrait workshop for the Society of Disabled Artists at Belsey Bridge Conference Centre, near Bungay in Suffolk.



To the vast majority of students, portraiture was a completely new venture. I began, therefore, by demonstrating the basics of proportion, tone and colour mixing. After that I gave a demonstration in oils.
After we had enjoyed a hearty lunch, I set the students the task of working from the live model. There was the odd protest raised, but in the end all seemed to enjoy the challenge.



All in all, a pleasant and successful day.

Gouache Painting at West Norfolk Arts Centre

I recently made my second visit this year to West Norfolk Arts Centre. This time it was to teach the art of painting in gouache.

The first day was spent explaining the history of the medium and demonstrating techniques and materials. As a bit of fun I "copied" two paintings hanging in the studio. These were by other artists. One was an oil, the other a watercolour. It was simply to show how gouache interpreted the same scene in a very different way. The rest of the day was spent exploring the medium and working from references or photographs.
The following day, I did both a portrait demonstration and a landscape "en plein air". It was then time for the students to work outdoors. Fortunately, the sun was shining!





All in all a very successful weekend. Very few of the students had ever tried this medium and were delighted with its versatility and forgiving nature.

As usual, Ros and Richard Cartwright, Directors of the Centre were the perfect hosts with their close attention to detail and the warm welcome they extended to all.


My next visit to the Centre will be to teach "Portrait Painting made Easy" 28th - 30th October.

Portrait workshop in Grantchester

Yesterday, I ran my first Portrait workshop in Grantchester, near Cambridge. I am pleased to say it was both successful and enjoyable. Ten students attended from various art clubs and societies bringing a whole range of skills and techniques . Some worked in oils, others in acrylic, watercolour or pastel producing a huge variety of work.


I began by talking about the basics. How to draw a head and get a likeness. I explained about proportion and tone before moving on to do two 20 minute practical demonstrations. The idea was to show a couple of different approaches to painting a portrait in oils. The first was a fairly traditional method establishing the drawing first ( on this occasion in paint.) before moving on to add the colour.




Here the canvas has been pre-stained with raw umber. The drawing was done with diluted burnt sienna. As I do this, I am measuring proportions , angles and running verticals and horizontals to fix the features. Only when happy that everything is in the right place would I begin to add colour. It is a safe approach.

My second quick demonstration was the high risk method. No preliminary drawing . Straight in with the palette knife going for colour and large tonal masses. My audience was fairly stunned at the initial, apparently, child-like daubs. I then move on to applying thick paint with brushes. Rich, juicy impasto. Some wonderful accidental effects on which I try to capitalize. Now is the time I start to panic. Will anything emerge from this chaos? Will this be my Waterloo? Time to impose a certain control, to begin to position features and establish a likeness. To my relief, a human face gradually begins to emerge. I have now managed to capture my audience. I am encouraged by their responses and by the excitement that is being engendered by the process.


I should hastily add that neither of my 25 minute demos did justice to the model, poor girl!


At the beginning of this blog, I indicated the range of students attending. Below. I show a few samples of the work they produced.











As is clear from these few paintings, none of them were painting "in the style of" John Glover. Nothing is more depressing than to see a group of students slavishly copying /imitating the tutor and my aim is to encourage everyone to develop their own "vision."



I will be running the following workshops in Grantchester.

Saturday 12 February. Life Drawing/Painting

Saturday 12th March. Portrait

For full details e-mail john@gloverart.co.uk or tel. 01284 810 460

Future Day Workshops.

Plans are well ahead for 2011.

I will be running the following workshops at the beginning of the year.

Saturday, 15th January, Portrait
Sunday, 20th February. Life.
Saturday 19th March Portrait.

All workshops run from 10 a.m. - 4p.m. and are held in Barrow, near Newmarket, Suffolk. The cost is £35 for an individual session or £30 per session if two or more are booked . This will include model fees, tea, coffee, biscuits. Students have to provide their own packed lunch.

I will also be holding workshops in Grantchester, near Cambridge. Details to follow shortly.

If you have any queries,please telephone me on 01284 810 460 or e mail john@gloverart.co.uk

One to one art tuition.

I am often asked if I do one to one tuition or teach small groups in my studio. This is something I am always happy to do for a variety of reasons. Assuming the student is keen to learn and has no objection to doing "homework", he/she can make huge progress in a very short space of time.
For me that is very rewarding.
During the time in my studio, I demonstrate materials and various techniques, I set a subject for the day and oversee how the student progresses with this. At the end I offer advice and a crit. as to how the work can be taken forward. I then suggest various pieces of work to be completed before the next session. These will be commented on at the beginning of that session. As I repeatedly tell my students, it really is about practice, practice and more practice!

The Rowan Foundation, Cambridge

On Thursday afternoon I visited the Rowan Foundation in Humberstone Road, Cambridge. This was as part of a link that is being forged between it and the Cambridge Drawing Society, of which I am a member.
The Rowan is a charitable organization that "offers work experience and training for people with learning difficulties". The hope is that we at the Society will be able to offer and share some of our artistic skills with students there.
On my arrival, I had little notion of what to expect , or how the afternoon was to be structured. After a brief introduction , I was shown a large supply of art materials. From these, I selected some pastels and paper and decided to do a quick portrait of Amie, one of the tutors. I am delighted to say that this caught the attention of the students who appeared fascinated by the process and quickly lined up to have their own portraits done. In the course of the afternoon, I produced 10 sketch portraits. It was an absolute delight to witness how excited and engaged my sitters were. Having caught their imagination, I will hopefully be able to build on this in the months to come.

To see the work that the Rowan Foundation does , please visit their website, or call in to 38-40 Humberstone Road, Cambridge.