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| Morning Hike, Namibia Lin Taylor Acrylic |
or, if you're in town, why not pop in to The Hungry Artist and see some of the originals.
Monday 23 February 2015
Morning Hike, Namibia by Lin Taylor
or, if you're in town, why not pop in to The Hungry Artist and see some of the originals.
Friday 20 February 2015
A Short Word On Copyright
COPYRIGHT
In view of our forthcoming Annual Exhibition we thought it would be helpful to remind all members about the issues of Copyright. With this in mind, Peter Barber has very kindly condensed and simplified a version that is easy to understand.
A copy will also be posted on the notice board at Newton and we would be grateful if you could take a few moments to read it. Any queries should be directed either to Peter or me.
Marianne
Sunday 1 February 2015
Peter Barber tries to paint a portrait
When I first started on portrait work I worked in coloured pencil, a medium which is easy to work in. The fine points on the pencils allowed one to get the fine detail and the wide range of colours available was a big help, although by use of layering thin coats one over the other it is possible to blend and produce graduation in changes in colour.
However after a while I found that working on paper was a limitation as I liked to be able to put on thick layers to get the deep intense colours. I tried working on mount board and that was pretty good but difficult to correct mistakes, which were frequent. I then hit on the idea of using a finely textured gesso applied to mdf board. The surface could be left rough or sanded to produce a hard smooth surface which would take very fine detail, but since it was hard one could use a plastic rubber to totally remove any errors. I also found that it was possible, with care, to varnish these pictures. Spray varnish in very thin coats worked well but great care was needed as the varnish whilst still wet dissolved the wax of the coloured pencil !
After some time I felt the need to move on and wanted to try oils, fine but colours had to be mixed as the range available was much more limited. I enjoyed this challenge although I am still having to work very hard to match mixed colours on subsequent days, particularly in different light conditions.
I have never liked working on soft surfaces so again I find that mdf board suits me best. A couple of coats of Gesso, works well for me followed by a thin base coat of oil before I start work in earnest. The board will tend to warp with the water from the gesso, so I find it best to coat both sides at the same time and then it stays flat, I also like to sign my boards on the back in the wet gesso!
I quite like to mount the board onto a light wooden frame, to give stiffness and also with painted edges it might not need framing. With most of my work I like to paint what I see and so the portraits are precise and detailed, it takes time but I enjoy it. The one I am working on at the moment is oil on board and I am working from a photograph.
I am also a believer in squaring up, in just the same way that the old masters transferred their sketches from sketchpad to finished pictures. The oils I am using at the moment are the ‘Alkid’ which dry overnight, that's good but I do find that sometimes they are going off too fast as after about an hour it becomes more difficult to blend the colours. I like to do quite a lot of the colour mixing actually on the surface of the picture and have no qualms about getting my fingers in there to help the blend, or using a piece of rag to take paint off where it is too thick or not wanted. A plastic shaper is also useful
So there we are , that's how I go about it, with varying degrees of success.
After some time I felt the need to move on and wanted to try oils, fine but colours had to be mixed as the range available was much more limited. I enjoyed this challenge although I am still having to work very hard to match mixed colours on subsequent days, particularly in different light conditions.
I quite like to mount the board onto a light wooden frame, to give stiffness and also with painted edges it might not need framing. With most of my work I like to paint what I see and so the portraits are precise and detailed, it takes time but I enjoy it. The one I am working on at the moment is oil on board and I am working from a photograph.
I am also a believer in squaring up, in just the same way that the old masters transferred their sketches from sketchpad to finished pictures. The oils I am using at the moment are the ‘Alkid’ which dry overnight, that's good but I do find that sometimes they are going off too fast as after about an hour it becomes more difficult to blend the colours. I like to do quite a lot of the colour mixing actually on the surface of the picture and have no qualms about getting my fingers in there to help the blend, or using a piece of rag to take paint off where it is too thick or not wanted. A plastic shaper is also useful
So there we are , that's how I go about it, with varying degrees of success.
A Vision for this Blog in 2015
The main objective of this blog, as I see it, is to keep the members in touch with what is happening at the Newton Art Group and, to some extent, within the other art groups around York. To achieve this I felt we should try a monthly feature to ensure that members logged in on a regular basis. As a small art group, Newton itself simply does not generate enough ‘news’ in itself.
Our Chair Peter Barber has very kindly started the ball rolling by writing a piece on how he starts to paint a picture. I would like to thank him very much for his contribution and I am sure you will find it interesting. We would love to hear your feedback as to whether this is the sort of article you would like to see more often.
The blog belongs to the members and I would like some contributors for future blog profiles. It does not have to be as wordy as Peter’s just a paragraph about you and your art plus a couple of pictures is fine!
At the same time if you come across anything in the York area that you think will interest the other members please send me an email to marianne@ansabd.co.uk
Our Chair Peter Barber has very kindly started the ball rolling by writing a piece on how he starts to paint a picture. I would like to thank him very much for his contribution and I am sure you will find it interesting. We would love to hear your feedback as to whether this is the sort of article you would like to see more often.
The blog belongs to the members and I would like some contributors for future blog profiles. It does not have to be as wordy as Peter’s just a paragraph about you and your art plus a couple of pictures is fine!
At the same time if you come across anything in the York area that you think will interest the other members please send me an email to marianne@ansabd.co.uk
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