Painters Online

OCTOBER 2020 13 „  Caran d’Ache/Jakar Award Shirley May Washing on my Line , gouache, 11 x 15in. (28 x 38cm). Shirley has a background is nursing and writing indexes for medical and scientific books. ‘Painting en plein air is my favourite occupation! Using gouache on paper or canvas board, I like to work in the open air in front of my subject and try to catch the fleeting effects of light on form. During the Covid-19 lockdown, I often worked in my small garden, which is where Washing on my Line was painted. I had just hung out the washing when I noticed how nice it looked so I got my painting gear together. The painting took about an hour-and-a-half, with me sitting in the shade by the shed, squinting for tonal values. As the washing swung about, the blue scarf on the right billowed, and the bright sunshine created wonderful effects. It was so good to see it and I really enjoyed painting it. I used super angled flat brushes for the detail and Round acrylic brushes Nos. 6 and 9 for the main work. I used very little water in a bottle I could hold and a small round palette. I’m so glad I put the picture into the exhibition . ’  St Cuthberts Mill Awards Pam Williams Cliffs at Étretat , watercolour, 11½ x 15¼in. (29 x 39cm). ‘My watercolours are mostly landscapes of local scenes in the East Riding of Yorkshire and views from trips abroad to France, Italy and Greece. I started painting in retirement and immediately loved the challenge of watercolour. What appeals is the careful planning needed, combined with the focus and spontaneity of performance. Just watching water and pigment blend on paper gives such pleasure and always a sense of discovery.  ‘This picture derives from a trip to Honfleur last year. We went to Étretat to see the cliffs that Monet painted and spent a glorious day sketching and painting in the sunshine. The studio version tried to express how I felt that day, a mixture of thoughts about paintings I’d always loved and the challenge of trying to capture the majesty of the cliffs in front of me.’   Colart/Winsor & Newton Awards Collette Hughes Daniella looking Glum , oil, 15¾ x 15¾in. (40 x 40cm). ‘I work as a railway guard for Transport for Wales. I did well at art at school, but life took me in different directions. I always kept my interest in crafts and gained an OCN in design through evening classes then studied advanced courses in Photoshop and Illustrator. As a hobby, I designed graphics for the craft market. I wanted to return to paint and canvas, but had little opportunity to attend classes.  ‘In 2016 I signed up with Art Tutor, the online school, and it was life changing; painting took over my world. In 2019 I took Will Kemp’s online portraiture course, which I really enjoyed and that introduced me to the grisaille and glazing methods. This is my third painting of Daniella, who is a model from PoseSpace and the second portrait of her I have done in oils. I knew I wanted to do both portraits cropped up close, in a square format. I chose Daniella because she has an expressive and attractive face. In the first portrait she has a beaming smile and I wanted this portrait to be a contrast.’  Batsford Awards Jill Hammond Springing Hare , acrylic, ink and collage, 10 x 13¾in. (25 x 35cm). ‘A friend asked if I would experiment with a painting using hares as the subject matter. This resulted in a development of a few hare mixed-media compositions. I began by researching images of hares, foliage and various moods then produced a small series of compositions. The title encompasses both the feeling of spring in the flowers and fruits using pinks, whites and reds together with the springing action of the hare. ‘I began with a few pink marks as the first layer, which peak through the next layer of darker paint to carry the colours throughout the painting; this unifies the design. The background was painted using old credit cards as I do not use brushes. The dark tones were used to allow the moon to shine out from the painting; the moon was added to emphasise the kind of mystic qualities of hares. The background faded out towards the bottom to allow the shape of the hare to be seen. ‘Before painting the moon and hare a gold mesh was collaged onto both areas to provide a textured finish. Bubble wrap works well for berry and flower forms and results in shapes that are not too perfect, which I like. For the leaves and the hare I prepared my own stencils, which allowed me to give the hare a slightly plainer but textured appearance and to control the shading and highlights. Final details on the hare were done using a fine pen. Haphazard areas of white paper were left around the edges to add to the looseness of the image . ’ LP10 12-17 TALP_f.indd 13 19/08/2020 15:16

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