truro art society and painted a seascape · seascapes, such as the following one. her equipment was...
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TRURO ART SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER
AUTUMN / WINTER 2016
CHRISTMAS PARTY
This is the one meeting of the year that we
hold on a Saturday (before the end of term,
so that we can still get into the school). So it
will be on December 10th. All are welcome.
Bring along your family and friends. The
more the merrier, and no admission charge for
guests. All we request is that you bring along a
seasonal winter picture, or Christmas card
design, a plate of festive food (not too much,
we don‟t want lots left over), some change for
the raffle, etc. plus your artistic talent and
knowledge. If you happen to have any
unwanted gifts from last year, any unwanted
books, etc. to add to the raffle prizes, they
would be gratefully received. We will supply
drinks and entertainment.
INNER TIDE WORKSHOP
In September Tony Hogan, a nationally
renowned artist, now living in Wadebridge,
tutored a watercolour workshop upstairs in the
Inner Tide Café.
Nine ladies attended and painted a seascape
in the morning, using a sideways draining
technique for the sky and credit cards to
remove heavily applied paint to depict the
rocks. Some very colourful and subtle works
were created; all different. A delicious lunch
was provided by the very helpful Inner Tide
cafe staff. The afternoon saw us painting a
perspective picture of receding trees and again
there were some delightful works produced.
Tony Hogan will be joining us next season to
introduce us to Atelier Interactive Acrylic paints
- anticipated to be a lively session.
Also in the Inner Tide Cafe, TAS member Pat
Cunningham organised a successful little
exhibition for the Thursday painting group and
Kea art group.
CATHEDRAL EXHIBITION
This was a smaller exhibition space than we
had at Chacewater Garden Centre but the
membership rose splendidly to the challenge of
producing suitably sized pictures. The new
hanging chains and clips proved easy and
effective to use. The result was a very
attractive and well-received exhibition. We
would be tempted to use the venue again next
year sometime (perhaps for a third exhibition).
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The pictures sat very well within the
background of the Cathedral‟s stained glass
windows - and even the reflections of the
windows in the picture glass added a certain
something. The venue was also pleasant to
steward and we did sell several pictures.
You covered the whole range of materials
between you; oil, watercolour, pastel, textile,
pen and ink, even gold. Style and subject
matter were equally varied; realism and
abstract, serious and humorous, architecture,
flora and fauna, portraits, landscapes and
seascapes.
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SEPTEMBER MEETING
We were lucky that there were no problems
with Judi Trevorrow‟s flight from Spain
because she came to us almost straight from
Newquay airport for her watercolour still-life
demonstration.
Rather than using “fresh” mushrooms that
would have progressively shrivelled during the
course of the evening, she had photographed
and printed out some rather beautiful
Portobello mushrooms.
And rather than copying the arrangement in
the photo, Judi selected which mushroom to
draw and where to put it, and progressively
built up her composition. Before painting, she
put masking tape around the edge of her
design.
Judi gave a running commentary as she
“played” with her paints. It all looked so easy!
She paused from time to time so that we could
go away and repeat what she had just done.
Not quite so easy!
The limited palette gave Judi a chance to talk
about various colours, brands; their
advantages and problems. The brown burnt
sienna she had chosen was transparent,
whereas the blue ultramarine was granulating.
When used together in a wash, particularly on
wet paper, they behaved differently and gave
some beautifully textured effects. It was
impressive how many shades of fawny greys
could be achieved just by different proportions
of the same colours and varying amounts of
water.
A good tip was to have two pots of water:
clean water for wetting the paper and adding to
the washes, the other for washing her brush.
Wetting the paper and tilting it allowed the
water and paint to run in the desired direction
without having to brush it.
Judi produced her light areas on the
mushrooms by dabbing away the water and
paint with some kitchen towel. And the
mushrooms were made to look more three-
dimensional by putting in the dark shadows.
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Judi waxed lyrical about her (rather
expensive) paintbrush. It was large enough to
be loaded up with a lot of paint to lay down
large marks but at the same time it came to a
good point for putting on fine lines. The final
definition was produced by picking out the
ends of the stalks and the fine lines of the
radiating gills.
OCTOBER MEETING
This month‟s demonstration by Wendy
Parkyn, gave us some idea of how she
produces her wonderful moody, atmospheric
seascapes, such as the following one.
Her equipment was pastels (she likes Unison
and Sennelier soft pastels but also uses hard
ones), set out in a handy sewing box (you can
store pastels in ground rice to keep them
clean), and creamy coloured Ken Bromley
Fisher 400 Art Pastel paper (advertised to hold
“twice as much pastel as pastel card”) which
she was trying out. (She has usually been
using grey pastel card, which is slightly rough,
though not as rough as sandpaper.)
This time her subject was Polzeath, using a
photo she had taken herself from the top of a
cliff. It had interesting perspective to deal with
– looking down towards the rocks below the
cliff and outwards towards the horizon. It was
towards the sun, which threw the far cliffs into
shadow. If you work from a photo you do not
have to copy it slavishly. You can alter the
state of the tide if you want more or less
beach. You can alter the sun‟s intensity by
varying the shadows. You can reflect the
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colour of the sky from wet rock. You can leave
bits of rock out if they are confusing. It is your
composition!
Before starting she selected the colours she
thought she‟d need and tried them out on a
scrap of card. (If the correct colour is not
available you can get the colour you want by
layering and rubbing two colours together. Use
a rolled paper “torchon” to blend You can get
blenders or shapers with rubber ends, but they
may be too drastic. If you use your fingers, as
Wendy demonstrated – and she did a lot of
rubbing to soften the colours, they can become
extremely raw and sore.) Normally Wendy
works flat, but for the demonstration she had to
use an easel.
She drew the picture out first, so that
everything was in the right place, using a
pastel pencil of an appropriate colour. (These
are also useful for details.) Then she worked
dark to light and background to foreground,
making marks to help with angles and
perspective. (It is important not to put the
highlights in too soon as they can get messy.)
Initially Wendy used cobalt blue for the sky,
making it paler down towards the horizon, and
Prussian blue for the sea, with some dark
green. Dull background green, blended with
black, was used for the cliffs and rocks.
(Remember that whites and brights look better
if there is enough dark contrast.) Rocks are
darker where they are wet underwater,
irrespective of shadows (push colour up to
avoid lines) and the sea is slightly darker under
the headland where the rocks continue down
under water (cliffs don‟t float). She put some
warmer greens in the foreground plus a bit of
orange.
The beach is grey-brown. However, the main
interest is the sea. This was layered; dark first,
then medium, then lighter blue. (Try to make
marks the way the water moves.) Then to put
on the surf! To get the perspective right, check
the angles relative to the horizon and the
foreground and the foam should not be a
straight line – so lots of scribbling needed. The
crest of a wave has a darker shadow
underneath the foam. The white goes on last –
a soft pastel gives a brighter white than a hard
one does – but don‟t overdo the highlights –
don‟t put them everywhere!
NOVEMBER MEETING
We are grateful to Gordon Hunt for
stepping in to fill the gap when Sally MacCabe
was unable to come. He gave a fascinating
demonstration of his unusual contre-jour
technique. A return visit, this time he showed
us how he puts figures into his tonal
landscapes. He used to paint empty
landscapes, now he thinks figures draw the
eye in.
Known as an artist who “paints the light”,
some of you may have seen him as one of the
contestants on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of
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the Year, painting the beautiful Scotney Castle
in Kent, in purple tones.
Gordon started off with a “mood board”, a
selection of his own photos of backlit figures,
with plenty of reflections and shadows, some
with sections enlarged. The figures were in a
variety of wet locations, including the beach,
although he was painting a rather rainy Truro
street scene. (Note, it is easier to take photos
of people when they are walking away from
you!)
The starting point was a completely black
canvas, with outline buildings and the first
figures sketched in with watercolour pencils
(easy to erase or cover). Gordon showed us
how extra figures could be traced onto the
canvas using homemade “carbon paper” (light
pastel rubbed on the back of ordinary paper),
again easy to eradicate.
It normally takes him 5-6 hours to do this size
of painting, even using acrylics rather than oils,
so demonstrating in less than 2 hours required
some shortcuts and the occasional use of the
hair dryer. Gordon finds that cheaper Reeves
paints work just as well as more expensive
brands. Having a pre-mixed selection of tones of grey
saved time. He reminded us that acrylics
always dry darker than they look when wet.
Starting with the darkest, he painted the
negative spaces around the figures and
buildings, leaving the main figures standing out
in black.
Using progressively lighter tones of grey and
adding extra figures as he went, always
painting the negative space, Gordon built up
the picture. Shadows, rather than being added,
were areas left unpainted when the next layer
went on. Perspective was achieved with the
further figures being progressively smaller and
lighter grey, always with the background being
lighter than the figures.
Colour was finally added for sunshine and
sunny reflections on wet cobbles. Gordon also
likes to put random dots, sparkles, in
complementary colours, to give the effect you
get when you squint in bright sunlight. It helps
to bring the picture to life and move the eye
around. Finally, when the paint is dry, any
watercolour pencil or pastel still visible can be
wiped off gently with a damp cloth. We went
away fired with enthusiasm to try the technique
ourselves.
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MEMBERS’ NEWS Gordon Hunt was not the only familiar figure
at Scotney Castle. TAS member Joanne
McGee was lucky enough to be able to enter
as a “wild card”. Although she generally paints
at home, as it is not always easy for her to get
out and about, she was inspired by the idea of
painting in a beautiful location to apply after
watching and enjoying last year‟s competition.
Here are some of her comments to give us a
flavour of what it was like to be in a big
competition.
Entrants were required to send digital images
of paintings done within the last five years.
One of those had to be a main entry. It was
hard choosing which ones to send, and it took
me a few days to complete the application
process and write a few things about myself.
Time went on, and I put it out of my mind.
For a while, I had been attending a wellbeing
art group near Mylor. This was the reason I'd
started to paint again; after losing all
enthusiasm due to some very dramatic life
changes. I'd just been to my wellbeing art
group and decided to drive a bit further down
the estuary and have a go at a live painting. It
started to rain, and a few walkers approached
me to ask about my work, when my phone
rang. It was Sky Arts inviting me for the 14th
June at Scotney Castle (the nearest location).
There were strict conditions, and I wasn't
allowed to tell anyone, other than my nearest
and dearest, until it was to be broadcast.
My daughter and I drove up to Kent in my
campervan the night before, complete with my
mobility scooter, canvas and paints. All
contestants had to be at the castle for 07.30
sign in, though no painting was allowed until a
horn sounded at 09.00. All the crew were
helpful and kind, and we were shown the area
from which the wild cards were to paint. Being
one of the first down there, we had a beautiful
view of the castle.
We had 4 hours in which to complete the
artwork, spread over a total of 6 hours to allow
for breaks.
During a break, the film crew came over to
take some close up shots of my painting and
an hour later judge, Kathleen Soriano, came
over with the film crew and asked if I would
give an interview. They went on to interview a
couple of others throughout the day. Sadly, my
interview wasn't in the final broadcast edit, but
my daughter and I were featured a lot in the
group shots.
Everyone had to stop when the horn
sounded again. Kathleen announced that a
wildcard had been chosen, and we went over
to take a look. It was easy to stand around and
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applaud as the wildcard was beautiful, and
very deserving to have been chosen! I wasn't
at all disappointed, as just taking part had been
the biggest opportunity I could ever have
imagined.
We went to the main contestants‟ area to see
the paintings there! It was all surreal, it was like
a dream. The weather for the day had been
kind to us and the location perfect. I thought
that the area for the wild cards had been a
much better spot than that given to the main
contestants. The whole day was one I will
never forget, and given the chance, I would
apply again.
A BLAST FROM THE PAST Looking through the archives I uncovered
“Outline”, a magazine produced by TAS for a
few years, starting in March 1988. Long before
the electronic age, it was produced using typed
stencils and duplication. Pam Entwistle (for
many years our highly respected President)
invited members‟ contributions on any topic
involving the visual arts. The first report about
a meeting was on an oil painting portrait
demonstration by Nicholas St. John Rosse at
Archbishop Benson School (our venue before
we moved to Truro High School). Here‟s one of
his pictures, though not the one done in the
demonstration. Wouldn‟t it be nice to get him
back – though he‟s probably far too grand and
expensive now!
Rita Glover summarised: “Look hard, be
definite. Although Nicholas carefully, but firmly,
lays the small patches of paint on (various
sized patches) he uses his brush at all angles
continually.” Other meetings had hosted Clive
Williams (art master at Penryn comprehensive)
on art in the 50s and 60s, and Roy Walker,
painter and printmaker, (who sadly died in
2001). TAS had a December exhibition at The
Art Centre Trust, Lemon Street and sold two
paintings. Some works had been rejected
because of unsuitable framing. It seems that
some problems are perennial!
COMPETITION NEWS
These are paintings selected for exhibition in
previous years of the Lynn Painter-Stainers
Prize. The call is out again for entries for
2017. Visit the website for more information:
http://www.lynnpainterstainersprize.org.uk/
You can apply directly through the website via
the „Info for Artists' page which will redirect you
to the ArtOpps website where you can set up
an account and upload your work:
https://lps.artopps.co.uk/
The deadline for entry is 5pm on 19
December.
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COMING IN THE NEW YEAR
On January 18th we look forward to a return
visit from Ann Bennett-Lofthouse who will
demonstrate a number of figure drawings
using charcoal and pastels. This will be
another great opportunity to join in and draw at
the same time, so bring along drawing pads
and some materials and have a go. A good
little fore-taste of figure drawing is available on
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpzDHQqc
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I don‟t think our efforts will be quite as
ambitious as Ann‟s picture above, but you get
a good idea of possibilities for colours, etc.
Charcoal and pastels provide a great range of
darks and lights, particularly with a mid-tone
paper.
On February 15th, Sue Lewington will also
pay us a return visit. This will be a
demonstration of watercolour techniques
together with a chance for us to ask questions
and sort out individual problems. Coupled with
this we are bringing the Critique forward, so
please bring along your own work of art
and Sue can give advice and comments. (It
doesn‟t have to be watercolour.)
Sue‟s own watercolour works are
enormously varied, in techniques, styles and
subject matter.