Week 5: Horsing around!

Great session this morning with really interesting ideas, not only horse projects(!). Really good progress in the group. See below...!

Anne: well what can I say! Well done for the development of your palette on the skin tones, brilliant and clever.  Keep  analysing the shapes within the skin and painting their edges so you don't lose the form. 

Janice: such wonderfully confident dark tonal values in your colours. Not easy to achieve. Continue developing the area around the faced then see how that helps you better understand the colours in the face.

John: great painting with really well developed combination of mediums (oil pastels and graphite).  Perhaps for your horse project you could combine oil and soft pastels? Just a thought. 

Karen: wonderful progress. There are so many learning opportunities in this painting that it is well worth continuing with it  for a few more weeks at least. Focus next on the tone values of the cheek and ear so you can create the right tonal relationships with the head scarf and shoulder. This will guide you with the lighter face tones.

Margaret: really interesting and lovely palette of greens and greys. Focus on the hills and the lake next to cover the white paper.  Then look at developing the colours further, for example in the greys think about blending in a mauve/light purple bias to complement the greens. 

Moira: really strong start with bold tones and colours.  Good to see the blue background is in - you can really see the other colours now. Continue blocking in the other colours on the horse before you start to blend them. 

Pat: a very good start. I like the technique on the ground colour, good density of colour, well blended with the second colour. Continue this technique and density of pastel on the other big shapes in the horse as per your drawing. We will look at the next level of blending in class. 

Val: great movement. I like the weight of the horse on the right as you look at it caused by him throwing his body weight that way. Keep the shapes on the horse distinct as now whilst you develop the colours and tones. But before you do any of that, make a decision on background and block the colours in over the white paper. Then develop all the colours.

Week Four: Horses! Landscapes! Portraits!

Most of the group completed their portraits and were ready to move on to our horses project. Whilst some continued with landscapes. Excellent response to the portrait in a landscape concept - quite a challenge!

Anne: good to see such a bold approach to the shapes, lines and tones. Focus on the dark tones next and really get darkness into them. This will help you see the lighter tones more clearly.

Anne: excellent painting. Lovely application of solid colour. Strong placement of the face. If you wanted to do any more on this then focus on the portrait and increase the darkness of the hair and beard to make him a bit more solid.

David: great to see such a bold and abstract use of background landscape, making the palette your own. I would blend in a second colour to the blue/turquoise and also a second colour into the pink sand to make them feel as solid as the sky colours. Then add more darkness to the hair and beard to add a sense of depth on his face. 

Janice: very good start. The dark background colours are key and you have done these really well. Keep your marks loose and instinctive on the horse - as you have done today. 

John: great painting. The finishing touches you did today on the face and the background work well. If you want to do any more I would look at the sea on the right behind his shoulder and make it more consistent (colours, lights and darks) as the large area of sea on the left of the portrait. 

Karen: good to see you focusing on a large work giving you the room to really dig deep into the colours and technique.   Concentrate on the tonal values from dark to light and look carefully at the transition areas where dark turns to light. Also look carefully at the way shapes "turn".

Margaret: excellent choice of subject. Strong start with good tone and texture. Focus next on getting the soft dark sky in and the dark hills. Only add the lighter tones after the dark ones are in place.

Moira: such a large drawing - this will allow you to enjoy painting the colours with freedom and space. Do not over-draw the horse - it's about right now. Keep observing carefully as you apply the ground colours so you can correct and features that you feel are not quite right in the drawing.

Val: lovely study of a horse. You have achieved a good sense of light with your sensitive use of tonal values. I also really like that you are not afraid to highlight the almost 'geometric' shapes in the horse. Perhaps you need one more darker tone in small areas to make the head more solid / 3D. Then gridding this up and enlarging it to be an A3 painting would be a good next step.

Week 3: Portraits in a Landscape

This project is developing very nicely. All pictures are starting to take on a life of their own with their own unique identities.

Now is the time to look again at your drawing and painting plus the source images you used and reflect on where you are in the process. At this stage before you add your finishing touches check again: Drawing details - angles and proportions are they okay? Colours - are the tones dark enough? Contrast - too subtle or not enough contrast? Plus overall when you stand back and read your painting, what does it feel like, what story does it tell you, and are you pleased with how it is going?

Excellent progress by everyone!

Anne

David

Janice

Karen

Moira

Val