Painting Night Skies - May 2017



Laraine painting her night sky composition

This was the first time I had run a course on painting night skies.  As research beforehand i took photographs of coloured pieces of card at different times on a sunny day starting at 10am and ending at 9.30pm.  The pieces of card were the primary colours of yellow, blue and red. This was to determine the effect of diminishing light on the coloured card.  Through the series of photographs it was clear to see that as the day drew to a close the coloured card became cooler in colour. Most interestingly at 9.30pm the yellow card was only just visible, the red card had completely disappeared and the even stranger was that the blue card was still visible.

On the next night I took photographs of the scene which we were going to paint in class.  I took these photographs as before at various times of the day - from 2pm, 5pm, 7pm and 9pm.  The results were as expected that as there was less light there was less colour. The one taken at 5pm especially had become washed out as if devoid of colour, but in contrast the one taken last of all at 9pm had taken on an atmospheric appeal of muted purples, indigo blues, highlighted by pinpricks of light from the pier.

The paintings created by the students are shown here.  These were on the whole successful and were a very good lesson in mixing extremely subtle shades and tones of the same colour.

Original painting by Laraine 2017

Original painting by Andrew 2017

Original painting by Kate 2017

Original painting by Liz 2017

Original painting by Rosemary 2017

Original painting by Peter 2017

Original painting by Doreen 2017

Original painting by Sandra 2017

Thank you to all the students who took on the challenge painting night skies and for allowing me to share their work on my blog.  This was an amazing class to teach and I am sure you will agree the paintings are very accomplished.

If you would like to join one of my courses or have one-to-one classes please contact me using the blog contact form below.

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

Upcoming Course 'Painted Gardens' June 2017

Photograph taken of Osborne House Isle of Wight by Lee Papworth 2017

I am really looking forward to the upcoming course on painted gardens.  This is a four week painting course and you can use any painting medium you wish (oils, watercolours, acrylics, gouache, pastels). On the Island we are lucky to have so many beautiful gardens to inspire us and many of us are keen gardeners ourselves so you can also paint your own garden! Here are the details of this enjoyable course:
        
4 Week Painting Course ‘Painted Gardens’ (open medium) 
Friday 9^th June 12.30 to 3pm, All Saints Church Hall, Ryde, £65.

A brief course outline: Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject, history of ‘Painted Gardens’, recap of mixing your own greens, how to create texture, drama and depth. You can choose to paint a grand garden like those at Osborne House, Ventnor Botanical Gardens, Mottistone Manor or you can paint your own beautiful front or back garden.

I look forward to seeing you on the course.  You'll learn loads! You can book a place by contacting me via the blog contact form on this page.

Happy Painting!

Lee 

Boats and Yachts Painting Course 2017

Original painting by Sue 2017

The Boats and Yachts Course was four weeks long, fully subscribed and packed with talent! 

Not everyone finished their painting, but those that did or nearly finished are shown below.  Whilst this course was running I also organised a one day workshop where artists brought along their unfinished works to receive guidance to help them complete their paintings. You can see these paintings further down on this page.

Original painting by Pam 2017

Original painting by Lolly 2017

Original painting by Liz 2017

Detail of original painting by Kevin 2017

Original painting by Jean 2017

Original painting by Jean 2017

Detail of original painting by Jean 2017

Detail of original painting by Jean 2017

Study for original painting by Gaye 2017

Original painting by Sue 2017

Paintings from the one day painting workshop

Original painting by Andrew 2017

Original painting by Andrew 2017

Original painting by Kate 2017

Original painting by Rosemary 2017

Original painting by Gill 2017

Thank you to all the artists who took part in the four week course and one day workshop.  Without you these courses would not have been successful and I continue to be inspired by your endeavours.  Thank you too for all those artists whose work is not shown here.

See you soon on my Impressionist Figures and Portraits Course and my Night Skies and Night Landscapes Course.  Details of these courses are below. If you would like to join a class or have one-to-one lessons please contact me via the blog contact form.

Happy Painting!


Lee 🎨

4 Week Painting Course ‘Night-Skies & Night Landscapes’ (open medium) 
Friday 5^th May 10.00 to 12.00pm, Northwood W.I Hall, £65.

4 Week Painting Course ‘Impressionist Figures & Portraits’ (open medium) 

Thursday 11th May 10.00 to 12.30pm, Bembridge Village Hall, £70.

A brief course outline - Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject - history and origins, Impressionist painting techniques, proportions of the human body and face, mixing various skin tones, scaling-up photograph’s and how to create a more successful portrait.

4 Week Painting Course ‘Painted Gardens’ (open medium) 
Friday 9^th June 12.30 to 3pm, All Saints Church Hall, Ryde, £65.

A brief course outline - Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject - history of ‘Painted Gardens’, recap of mixing your own greens, how to create texture, drama and depth. You can choose to paint a stately garden like Mottistone Manor or your own beautiful back garden. You might wish to paint a cottage with a front garden or an exotic botanical garden.

Upcoming Private Art Courses - Spring & Summer 2017

View of Shanklin beach from the Chine

I am really looking forward to the upcoming courses over the next few months.  Sunny days and painting go so well together.  If I am not teaching you can be sure to find me outside with my easel, paints and a canvas trying to capture the mood and atmosphere of this beautiful island!  The following is a list of my upcoming classes and I hope to see you there 🎨

4 Week Painting Course ‘Night-Skies & Night Landscapes’ (open medium) 
Friday 5^th May 10.00 to 12.00pm, Northwood W.I Hall, £65.

4 Week Painting Course ‘Impressionist Figures & Portraits’ (open medium) 

Thursday 11th May 10.00 to 12.30pm, Bembridge Village Hall, £70.

A brief course outline - Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject - history and origins, Impressionist painting techniques, proportions of the human body and face, mixing various skin tones, scaling-up photograph’s and how to create a more successful portrait.

4 Week Painting Course ‘Painted Gardens’ (open medium) 
Friday 9^th June 12.30 to 3pm, All Saints Church Hall, Ryde, £65.

A brief course outline - Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject - history of ‘Painted Gardens’, recap of mixing your own greens, how to create texture, drama and depth. You can choose to paint a stately garden like Mottistone Manor or your own beautiful back garden. You might wish to paint a cottage with a front garden or an exotic botanical garden.

 1 Day (3.5hrs) ‘Painting & Sketching at Shanklin Chine’

Friday 14^th July 10 to 1.30 pm at Shanklin Chine, £40 (entrance fee not included).

 A chance to paint, sketch and take photo’s inside the beautiful and naturally formed Shanklin Chine. As well as the natural beauty too look at there is a small art gallery and museum along with a shop and tea room. The paintings, sketches/drawings and photos produced on the day will be used later to create a painting on a 4 week course due to start in September.

Please message me using the contact form on this blog if you have any questions or give me a call.  I am also available for one to one art classes tailored for the individual artist.

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

In the Shanklin Chine

My Top 20 Art Galleries Abroad

Wherever I travel the first places I look for are the art galleries.  Here are twenty of my most loved art galleries in the world (beyond our shores)...I am looking forward to future travels and finding more beautiful works of art!

Barcelona: 
Museu Picasso
Fundacio Joan Miro

Madrid: 
The Prado
Reina Sofia
Thyssen

Vienna: 
Kuntshistorisches Museum
Leopold Museum

New York: 
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
Guggenheim Museum

Paris: 
Musee National d'Art Moderne
Musee d'Orsay

Rome: 
Galleria Borghese

Venice: 
Galleria dell'Accademia

Florence:
Uffizi Gallery

Palermo: 
Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Palermo

Amsterdam: 
Rijksmuseum
Van Gogh Museum

Bruges: 
Bruges Museum of Fine Arts

If you happen to visit one of these beautiful cities I urge you to visit these fantastic galleries!

Happy Painting & Travels!

Lee 🎨

Painting London Life - February 2017

Original painting by Jean 2017

I recently taught two open medium painting courses on the subject of London Life (or other major cities).  The classes included students who were new to painting as well as experienced artists.  Some students used conventional oils, water mixable oils and acrylic paints.  It was a difficult subject to tackle as even my experienced students were to realise.  This was because of the combination of architecture (straight lines, perspective) and figures.

After starting with a few of the basics on perspective and proportion of figures, the students prepared their canvases and boards. They went onto to create some very successful paintings at different levels, but everyone learnt a lot along the journey!  Please take a look at their wonderful work....

Original painting by Gill 2017

Original painting by Kate 2017

Original painting by Laraine 2017

Original painting by Liz 2017

Original painting by Michelle 2017

Original unfinished painting by Pam 2017

Original painting by Pam 2017

Original painting by Peter 2017

Original painting by Peter M 2017

Original unfinished painting by Sandra 2017

Original study by Sue C. 2017

Original painting by Sue C. 2017

Original painting by Sue 2017

Original painting by Vicki 2017

Thank you to everyone who took part in these classes. You all made them a great success! 

Thank you for allowing me to show your painting off on this blog post and also a big thank you to Nina and Geoff whose work is not shown.

If you would like to join any of my future classes or would like one-to-one lessons please contact me via the contact form on this page. 

Happy Painting!

Lee 🎨

My Favourite Female Artists

Ask anyone that is not connected to art to name one female artist and there is a good chance that they will not be able to name one.  Ask any aspiring artist and they may be able to name two or three female artists. I suspect this is due to it being a male dominated career in the past along with the pre-eminent art critics and art dealers being male as well.  

Here is a list of my favourite ten female artists who span the last 150 years.   The list comprises of artists working in the fields of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Op Art, Precisionist, Dada, Post-Modernism and Contemporary Art. 

I invite you to find out more about these fantastic artists many of whom were pioneers of their time:

Bridget Riley

Mary Cassatt

Georgia O'Keeffe 

Dame Laura Knight

Hannah Hoch

Paula Rego

Dame Barbara Hepworth

Tamara de Lempicka

Berthe Morisot

Jenny Saville

Talking of Impressionist Art I will be teaching a four-week course called 'Impressionist Figures and Portraits' during March at Bembridge Village Hall.  Watch this space for further details or contact me via the blog form for further information.

Happy Painting!

Lee 

New Art Classes for January and February 2017

Painting by Laraine during one of my classes

We are all busy at the moment getting ready for Christmas, but I wanted to let you know the about my new art classes starting in January 2017.  If you would like to book a place on any of the courses please contact me via the blog form or give me a call:

5 wk painting course ‘London Life’ (open medium) 
Friday 20th Jan – 17th Feb. 10 to 12noon, Northwood W.I Hall, Cowes, £70.
Painting all things to do with London - painting people, painting famous buildings, monuments and famous scenery, painting the busy river Thames, buses and taxis, cafés etc. 

A brief course outline - Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject - history and origins, better composition skills and painting structure – grids & rule of thirds, 1,2 & 3 point perspective, painting figures in the landscape as well as people in perspective.                                                    

4 wk painting course ‘London Life’ (open medium) 
Thursday 26th Jan – 16th Feb. 10 to 12.30pm, Bembridge Village Hall, £70.
Painting all things to do with London - painting people, painting famous buildings, monuments and famous scenery, painting the busy river Thames, buses and taxis, cafés etc. 

A brief course outline - Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject -
history and origins, better composition skills and painting structure – grids & rule of thirds,                               1,2 & 3 point perspective, painting figures in the landscape as well as people in perspective.                                                    

4 wk painting course ‘Boats, Yachts & Harbours’ (open medium) 
Friday 10th to 31st Mar. 12.30 to 3pm, All Saints’ Church Ryde, £65.
Painting graceful yachts sailing to moored boats, tranquil harbours to busy marinas.               
A brief course outline - Looking at and discussing famous paintings on the subject -
history and origins, creating movement in paintings, painting water - general tips, painting moving water and still water and do's and don’ts of painting reflections etc.                                                                                                                          

The courses below are taught by me for the Adult & Community Learning Service at Westridge near the large Tesco in Ryde.  To book a place on the courses call 817280:

Clay Sculpture (air dry clay) –Monday 23rd January – 13th Feb. 6 – 8.30pm
Basic Watercolour Seascapes (Taster) - Sunday 29th January, 10 – 12pm
Perspective for Beginners (Taster) - Sunday 29th January, 10 – 12pm
Step by Step Oil Painting (4 Week Course) – Tuesday 24th Jan – 14th Feb, 1 – 4pm (This course is brilliant if you are nervous about painting with oils and will build your confidence)
Painting Poetry (Workshop) – Thursday 9th February, 10 – 3pm
Beginners Skyscape Painting in Oils (4 Week Course) – Monday 6th – 27th March, 10 – 1pm
Simple Drawing Skills – Saturday 11th March, 10 – 3pm (This is course is perfect if you want to draw, but need to learn basic skills)

Newcomers are welcome on all my courses and if you have any questions please contact me via my blog form. One to one art classes are also available and tailor-made individual courses.

I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

Best wishes

Lee 

Painting Reality to Abstraction Workshop - November 2016

Unfinished painting by Pam 2016

Recently I taught a fully booked class called Painting Reality to Abstraction.  Prior to the class I asked the artists to do some preparation work. At the beginning of the class we discussed abstract art in general and had a look at some paintings as examples including work by Joseph Turner, Emile Nolde, David Hockney and Pablo Picasso.  I gave a brief talk on what is reality which lightly touched upon quantum physics.  We then discussed ways of breaking down what we see and the way we see, such as removing all the detail from an object and changing is colour.  

The paintings  you see here were created during the workshop.  Some paintings are more abstract than others, but all are successful in grasping the concept of changing reality to abstraction to different degrees.  

Original painting by Janice 2016

Original painting by Meryel 2016

Original painting by Janet 2016

Original painting by Diana 2016

Original painting by Kevin 2016

Original painting by Vicki 2016

Original painting by Julie 2016

Original painting by Vicki 2016

Original painting by Geoff 2016

Original painting by Mandy 2016

Original painting by Liz 2016

Original painting by Linda 2016

Thank you to everyone who took part in the course and for allowing me to show the work on this blog.

Next week the blog post will be about the upcoming courses for 2017!  

Watch this space!!

Happy painting

Lee