More Basic Drawing Week 3 - Drawing in the Dark!

Last week on the More Basic Drawing Course at Sandown Library we worked on drawing still life objects in the dark illuminated by a single candle.

 

As always the main aim of the task was to improve observation skills. However, this was a wonderful opportunity to study the perspective of shadows as well as drawing using an artificial light source, i.e. a candle. The candle gave a beautiful ambient light reminiscent of the working environment and atmosphere of the old masters. 

 

The students found the lesson fun as it was so different as well as interesting and all found it achievable.  They did fantastically well in overcoming the challenge of not being able to see the colours of the pastels, the paper they were working on or even each other!  All left the class having developed a sharper sense of observation and concentration.

 

 

This was the still life set up we used illuminated by one single candle

 

There were two tasks, one in charcoal and one in pastel. A selection of the drawings are shown below:

 

Drawing by Sue

Drawing by Julie

Drawing by Diana

Drawing by Kevin

Drawing by Geoff

Drawing by Cecily

Drawing by Vicki

Drawing by Geraldine

Thank you to all the Learners who accepted the challenge to draw in the dark and for sharing their work on this blog post.  If you are interested in learning to draw or paint please message me via the blog contact form on this page.

Happy Easter!

Lee

More Basic Drawing Week 2 - Drawing Glass Objects

Last week on the More Basic Drawing Course at Sandown Library we worked on drawing glass objects.

 

The goal was to observe the light and the darks, and capture these whilst only drawing a small amount of the midtone.   An easy mistake to make is to over draw glass and this is overcome by minimising the midtones whilst concentrating on highlights and dark areas. However, the key with any drawing is observation. 

There were two drawings to do. The first was white pencil on black paper to make a negative image and the second drawing was pencil on white paper for a positive image.  A selection of the drawings are shown below:

By Geraldine

By Geraldine

By Diana

By Geoff

By Cecily

By Julie

By Vicky

By Kevin

• By Sue

Thank you to all the Learners who are taking part on the course and those who have shared their work on this blog post.  If you are interested in learning to draw or paint please message me via the blog contact form on this page.

Happy Drawing!

Lee

More Basic Drawing Course - March 2016

Original drawing by Julie 2016

Last Monday I started a follow on course entitled 'More Basic Drawing' at Sandown Library with a group of enthusiastic students who were keen to advance their drawing skills.  The exercise set was to create a sense of depth with aerial perspective and to use some of the mark making techniques which they had learnt on the first course. 

 

The results that you see here are a combination of finished drawings and works in progress.  Watch this space for more completed works soon!

 

Many thanks to the students who allowed their work to be shared on the blog and special thanks to Alma Walsh who allowed us to use her wonderful photograph of a beautiful scene in West Wight.

 


Original drawing by Vicki 2016



Original drawing in progress by Cecily 2016

Original drawing in progress by Diana 2016

Original drawing in progress by Geoff 2016

Original drawing in progress by Geraldine 2016

Original drawing in progress by Kevin 2016

 
This course is still ongoing at Sandown Library and this week we are drawing glass objects.  Check the blog next week for the results!
 
If you would like to take part in one of my classes or one to one lessons please use the contact form on this blog.
 
Best wishes
 
Lee

Painting Skyscapes Course - February 2016

Last Thursday the class Painting Skyscapes concluded.  Firstly we looked at and discussed various  famous artists work.  We also discussed what is a skyscape and as a group we decided that there has to be at least 75 to 80% sky with 20 to 25% land or sea.  We then looked at various ways of painting clouds using techniques such as stippling and dry brush. 

Following on from this we looked at sky and cloud colour mixes - where learners created their own colour swatches with my guidance.  We then spent three enjoyable weeks working on the paintings some of which can be seen below:



Original skyscape painting by Malai 2016



Detail of above painting by Malai

Original painting by Malai 2016

Detail of above painting by Malai

Original oil painting by Meryel 2016

Detail of above painting by Meryel

Original pastel painting by Vicki 2016

Original pastel painting by Vicki 2016

Original watercolour painting by Jan 2016

Original watercolour sketch by Jan 2016

Detail of above watercolour sketch by Jan

Original watercolour painting by Linda 2016

Detail of above painting by Linda

Unfinished oil painting by Janet 2016

Detail of above painting by Janet

Thank you to all the learners who shared their work on this blog and to Cathy who sent me a picture which I unfortunately could not upload. 

Meryel completed the painting below which I wanted to share today with you all:

Original oil painting by Meryel 2016

If you would like to attend one of my art courses or have one to one lessons please message me using the blog contact form.

Happy Painting!

Best wishes

Lee

Impressionist Landscapes and Lakescapes February 2016

On Friday we finished a four week course on Impressionism focusing on landscapes, lakes and rivers. 

The goals of the course were to produce paintings that captured light, fleeting moments and contrasts, whilst keeping the paint palette high tone.  The results were varying with some students opting for an impasto technique and others using a broken colour technique.  

Everyone created beautiful pieces of art and the paintings that are finished or almost finished can be seen below:

Original painting by Gaye 2016

Study for the above painting by Gaye

Study for a painting by Gaye

Original painting by Pam 2016

Detail of above painting by Pam

Original painting by Liz 2016

Detail of above painting by Liz

Detail of above painting by Liz

Detail of a painting by Lisa 2016

Original painting by Pam 2016

Detail of above painting by Pam

Detail of above painting by Pam

Thank you to all the above learners for sharing their work on the blog and to all the other learners who made the course a success.  If you would like to join one of my classes or have one-to-one lessons please use the contact form at the bottom of the blog.

Best wishes

Lee

Community Learning Workshops/Courses 2016

These are the classes I will be teaching at the Community Learning Centre which is located next to Tesco in Ryde.

 

The workshops cost £25/£15 concession and courses cost £60/£30.  To book a place call 01983 817280.

I am also running private classes.  Please see the details on my previous blog post

Learn Basic Drawing Skills -  4 WEEKS	Lee	Jan	Mon	10-1pm	18 Jan- 8 Feb
Acrylic Painting Techniques – 4 WEEKS	Lee	Jan	Wed	10-1pm	20 Jan-10 Feb
Decorative Mono-prints WORKSHOP	Lee	Jan	Sat	1-3pm	23-Jan
Portrait Oil Painting – 4 WEEKS	Lee	Feb	Tues	10-1pm	23 Feb-15 Mar
Drawing Buildings WORKSHOP	Lee	Feb	Sat	10-3pm	27-Feb
Drawing Dinosaur Fossils & Shells WORKSHOP	Lee	Mar	Sat	10-3pm	05-Mar
Island Scenes In Pastels - 4 WEEKS	Lee	Mar	Wed	1-4pm	2-23 Mar