Week 9: everything is cooking nicely...

Another productive session with everyone quietly focused on their project pieces.

Anne: very strong developments today. Your tonal values are getting much more effective as you find your way to the required depth (darkness) of tone. In the final stage just keep your focus and look hard for the colours within the tones. 

Brian: you are really getting to grips with this one. Very effective and thoughtful response to the edges. Now sit back and look for the overall feel of your study and see if anything obvious asks to be tweaked (it might not!). 

Christine: a wonderful extension of the previous painting with a powerful sense of abstraction.  I like the subtle introduction of rougher texture. Is there a foreground and a background area I wonder? Could this be a new mini development within this painting?

John: excellent reworking/recovery of the background which simplifies the whole painting marvellously.  Now see if you can add a couple of extra colours with really close tonal values to the trees but without losing their simplicity.

Karen: strong progression today. The shadow on the face and the similarly dark toned colours nearby are starting to come together well. Keep looking for the extra darkness in each of the adjacent shapes as discussed in class. Make them almost the same tones as each other.

Linda: a really worthwhile project is emerging from your initial idea. Try experimenting in this thumbnail stage with bolder colour palettes and close value palettes until you find the colour palette and light register that most appeals and feels  "right" for the subject.

Moira: this is looking much better - you are seeing more clearly how important the various elements are to each other: lines/rhythm, tone/colour, mirrored shapes and lines. Looking good even at this early stage.

Pat: you have painted this at a good pace, quick enough to cover the white paper and to work spontaneously to find the right colours whilst having enough space to reflect and decide on each area as you go. It is looking extremely positive at this stage. Next stage is to start adding layers of colours and depth of pastel powder to get closer to the palette and effect you want.