Tag Archives: welsh artists

What you can do with some watercolour and paper!

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This week I held another Art Blossoms Painting Day (I refuse to use the word “workshop” as it conjures up images of people doing difficult and unpleasant activities and anyway art isn’t work!)

Mary showing the poppies who's boss!

Mary showing the poppies who’s boss!

Two sisters - Mary and Pam came over from Tonyrefail and Efail Isaf respectively to build on their watercolour skills.

This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo - they painted along with me as the others watched us both

They had requested activities on flowers and animals and some general watercolour techniques on how to create a good composition from a complicated floral landscape scene.

Using the wet into wet technique Pam was soon creating poetic poppies

Using the wet into wet technique Pam was soon creating poetic poppies

For our flowers we did a magical blue himalayan poppy. Using wet into wet for the background we simply lifted out any colour that went over the flowers and then painted those in when the background was dry!

This is what you might get if you follow along with the demo in this post - good luck!

This is what you might get if you follow along with the demo in this post - good luck!

Here is the demo if you want a go and please - send me in pics of how you do?

Blue Poppy 1Blue Poppy 2The animal we painted was a simple greeny-yellow seahorse which allowed for loose and atmospheric painting of underwashes before tightening with accents and shadows as the painting dried.

Seahorses are delightful to paint in watercolour

Seahorses are delightful to paint in watercolour

Again - have a little dabble and maybe use different colours.

I like my students to paint an eye as this is considered a tricky subject and I want to show how to tackle it with ease. What do you think of their very first attempts below? Not bad at all if you ask me

After a brief eye demo by me Pam and Mary knocked out these two fab eyes:)

After a brief eye demo by me Pam and Mary knocked out these two fab eyes:)

We had a lovely day batting cat back and forth as we worked about watercolour, art, drawing, places we had visited in the world and despite the heatwave outside my north lit painting room kept us bearably cool.

eye dog alsatian

Thanks for coming Pam and Mary and I hope you continue to build on what you did during your day.

Art Blosoms final

If you fancy watercolour tuition and live in the South Wales Valleys area give me a call on 01443 791532 or email me at eastwitching@hotmail.com - we can sort out a day or half day tailored to your needs!

An Art Blossoms Morning with Pencoed’s Kestral Art Group

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What a fun morning we ladies had down at the Woodlands pavilion yesterday.

Situated in Pencoed just outside Bridgend in South Wales the low level building is surrounded by lush mature shrubs and trees and wide open green spaces making it a gorgeous location to come for a morning of watercolour.

Jayne - in her oils - or should that be watercolours?:)!

Jayne - in her oils - or should that be watercolours?:)!

Below are some photos of artists in action!

No stopping them now - painting seahorses in watercolour

No stopping them now - painting seahorses in watercolour

The day was boiling hot but our end of the building was light but mercifully cool! We opened all the doors wide though to let in a lovely breeze.

A sample of the finished paintings - aren't they gorgeous?

A sample of the finished paintings - aren’t they gorgeous?

I had been invited back to Kestrals to do this morning workshop following on from a demo I did for them a month back. So Audrey, Jayne, Gill, Christine, Elaine, June and Diana were my class and it was a joy to be able to do the demo and then go around and help as they got underway with trying the painting for themselves.

Part of the seahorse step by step handout I had prepared for each member of the group

Part of the seahorse step by step handout I had prepared for each member of the group

I had done each demo myself at home a few days before and photographed each step. That way I was able to create handy step-by-step A4 sheets in full colour with instructions which I gave out so to help everyone follow the process with ease…

Untitled-1

We painted a magical emerald seahorse and a very realistic dog’s eye as well as having a brief introduction to watercolour papers, paints, brushes and fundamental techniques.

I wish I had got shots of all the eyes painted as there were great results!

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Art9One such technique - The Thirsty Brush” proved very useful during the morning as we lifted out colours to create highlights or simply to remove paint from places we didn’t want it to be.

This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo - they painted along with me as the others watched us both

This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo - they painted along with me as the others watched us both - first was Elaine and then Jayne - well done girls for coping with the pressure!

We had a lovely teatime with Christine having made sweet and ever so pretty flower decorated and butter-creamed cupcakes as well as slabs of cherry and chocolate cake. Thanks Christine for that. Wish I’d taken a photo of them but I was too interested in getting my mitts on one and eating it.

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Audrey painting her seahorse

Several ladies had not done much with watercolour at all and so it was lovely to hear as we worked how much they were enjoying having a go at it. I hope that they will continue to experiment at home now with their new found confidence.

As usual I got so absorbed in the class and what everyone was doing that we painted right up to the bell and we all had to rush to pack away then! So sorry about that ladies. Next time we’ll stop 15 minutes earlier and re-cap and reflect!

Jayne - here seen agonising over which shade of green to use - decisions, decisions:)!

Jayne - here seen agonising over which shade of green to use - decisions, decisions:)!

If you would like to come to my home studio in Ynysybwl, Pontypridd, for an Art Blossom Painting Day or half day please contact me at eastwitching@hotmail.com or call on 07554344686.

Art Blosoms final

You may also like to read about what to expect here in my blog post - https://eastwitching.com/2013/04/18/art-blossoms-painting-days-new-for-springsummer-2013/

Art Blossom Day

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This Thursday I had two ladies - Christine and Barbara - come to my home studio for a watercolour painting day. They are members of Pentyrch Art Society and I have also know Christine from when we were both painting at Arnold Lowrey’s watercolour classes years and years ago.

Barbara painting a lurcher

Barbara painting a lurcher

There was much chat about types of paint, brands of paper and models of palettes and a god lot of information exchanged. We all tend to have our own way of painting and may not realise that another simple tool added to our armory would be a good thing.

Barbara working on ear detail of a lovely lurcher

Barbara working on ear detail of a lovely lurcher

After seeing how useful Barbara’s pipette water dropper was I feel the need to get one. Similarly Christine took a shine to how I used my very fine water mister to keep the painting damp as she worked.

Christine had recently been on a trip to Tanzania and had taken 100′s of animal photos in the wild from which she worked during the day.

I am a big fan of Betty Edwards as you know and so we did some of her exercises including a blind contour drawing where Barbara’s drawing hand and sheet of paper was covered with a box as she drew a woodworking tool held in her other hand. The result was amazing!

The book that has taught me the most about seeing and drawing

The book that has taught me the most about seeing and drawing

We also worked upside down as needed in order to see shadows and tone better! It’s incredible how shadows jump out at you once you turn a photo upside down.

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Christine painting an elephant

Christine painting an elephant

The focus was on animals and so we dove straight in with a realistic dog’s eye. It was a fun day and very interesting to see other artists at work! Here are some photos of art in action!

eye pairs

A stunningly realistic dog's eye by Christine

A stunningly realistic dog’s eye by Christine

dogeeee

It was great having painting company in my studio and we all enjoyed a M&S Victoria sponge cake and tea later in the afternoon.

Art Blosoms in a nutshell

If you fancy a half day or a full day session learning about watercolour please contact me via eastwitching@hotmail.com and you may find this additional blog post about it useful too. https://eastwitching.com/2013/04/18/art-blossoms-painting-days-new-for-springsummer-2013/

Alison

Brushes at the ready but I only used a 3 and a 6 round really.

Brushes at the ready but I only used a 3 and a 6 round really.

Come along to my Friday Private View - Art Sale

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exhib2

Today I am launching a mini exhibition and art sale via my online gallery - http://www.eastwitchinganimalart.co.uk

For the lover of original art you will find a range of my works on paper to browse.

There are pastels, watercolours and line drawings to choose from.

So - pour yourself a glass of wine and sit and let your eyes wander!

Enjoy - Alison

To come to the private view simply click on the image below.
cherries

Art Demo - Painting a Young Stag in Watercolour Part 2 & Final

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Now I have established a basic foundation of raw sienna and burnt sienna washes with some cool greys, blues and greens for contrast I am going to focus on getting those eyes.

Click on the image to bring it up nice and big and you can see the stages it took to complete the eye.
Doe eyes copy

To complete the face I continued with darkening colours and adding form which is show in the image below.
doe eyes2

When I had finished I realised that his face was a bit too thin so I put some more flesh on his face to make him fuller by painting more raw sienna all along his cheeks from under his eyes down to his muzzle. I used my customary spatter to complete the painting.
Click here to see him as a print - perfect to create your log cabin look!
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Art Demo - Ladybird in Watercolour Part 2 Final

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Here we are for the last part of this demo (the earlier part can be seen here).

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I looked at the ladybird after having left it for 2 days. It looked too weak and I decided it needs strengthening up with richer washes of red yellow and more details around the head, legs and spots.

The painting to the left is the finished result.

So I begin painting with a reddish yellow wash on dry paper on her body - avoiding the black spots.

Please click on this following pictorial demo to the left for what I did next. It will come up nice and big on your screen.
ladybird 3

Tip - Do not panic if paint runs or bleeds. As shown just rinse your brush and dab it on a towel so that it is just damp and lift out/wipe away bleed delicately.

Which frame do you think suits her best?
Enter my poll here now and then leave a comment on this post to explain why you like whichever one and you could win a print of this ladybird.

I will do the draw by random number generator on Tuesday 29th January (2 weeks from now). Good luck all.

ladybug poll
So what choices have I given you? First, how about a totally OTT grand look gilt frame, a more traditional mid brown mahogany frame or a shabby white frame.

Which one does it for you and why? Enter my poll now so we can see which is popular and also leave a comment below to win a print.

Art Demo - Ladybird in Watercolour

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For this simple yet dramatic demo I used hot pressed paper 9olbs by Arches of France but any hot pressed paper or medium (not) paper will do.
Watercolour Ladybird
I used a No 3 and a No 8 round watercolour brush and the main colours are New Gamboge (yellow), Scarlet Lake, Cadmium Red, French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna.
Brushes galore
I did not stretch the paper first as I am too impatient and anyway I know a way to flatten it at the end which I will show you. Let’s go!
ladybird1
ladybird 2
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Jack Russell says it's teatime

For a cute ladybird print I created a few months ago click here Ladybug April and for a fun double-sided cushion cover ladybird cushion click here
Everything was coming to a natural end for the time being and of course Tilly, my JRT immediately picked up that a tea break was afoot and was more than happy to sheepdog me away from my painting and downstairs to make a cup of tea and give her a biscuit.

The next section of the painting will come soon - see you there!

INSTAGallery - sets of 4 animal art prints ready to frame for $100

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Got walls? Need art? My new INSTAGallery animal print sets may be right up your street!

Whether you would like to add some natural charm into your nursery or add a nautical feel to your bathroom I have self-curated these new sets from many images I have painted this last 2 years.

Sweet and innocent - a set of 4 ready to frame bunnies. Unique new baby gift perhaps?

I have picked out animals that I have painted and created mini gallery sets of 4 prints. If you have any ideas of your own please let me know - see below

These, I feel, sit together harmoniously and saves you trying to imagine how several prints might look like together.

I hope you find this useful.

To start off with I have created a fox set, a woodland creature set and a bunny set. These sets are now available on my Etsy shop but please note matts and frames are not included but will be easy to obtain as my prints are all international photo standard size 8×10 inches.

What about your own gallery request?

If you have any requests just email me at eastwitching@hotmail.com and tell me which of my animal prints on my Etsy gallery you would like to see curated into a set and I will do that for you…so you may see before you buy and there is no obligation whatsoever - so ask away!

To view all my current ready to frame animal sets click HERE.

Alison

Llantrisant - A Welsh Art and Craft Hub!

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At the Llantrisant Art Gallery in the ancient hill town of Llantrisant, South Wales you will be blown away by the range and beauty of locally made arts and crafts. All sourced and curated by Becky Hughes-Williams the owner whose flair for design and style is really magical.

Gallery Owner Becky surrounded by lovely things!

On entering you will be impressed by swathes of colourful and imaginative displays of art, craft and jewellery items in rich and inviting presentations.

A cluster of old-fashioned and arty crafty shops awaits the visitor to Llantrisant

If you are shopping for gifts you will find handmade felted bags, silk and hand-dyed scarves, fun mugs, unique prints, original paintings with a Welsh theme, hosts of arty cards, hand-decorated trinket boxes, candles and stunning ceramics of all kinds - not to mention artisanal Welsh jewellery.

My animal art and books can be bought at the gallery or online.

But that’s not all! The gallery itself has two further floors where local artists have their open studios. Take time to watch them at their work - be it weaving, floristry, pottery or painting.

Click me to enlarge!

The gallery has had many lives and was originally the first ever workhouse built in Glamorgan in 1784 and has also been a shoe-factory.

The specialist and sweet Tradiotional Toys shop just across the way from the gallery

Sitting in its central position in the famous Bull Ring at the heart of the town the gallery is surrounded by other specialist luxury and art and craft shops such as -

The Dairy,

Indian Summer and

Pink Zebra as well as the old fashioned

Traditional Toys shop.

Horse lovers will enjoy http://www.pritchard-saddlery.co.uk/and for general shopping try the Bull Ring General Stores.

HUNGRY?

Eating houses and traditional pubs there are a plenty so take your pick from O’Sullivan’s Brasserie,

The Bear Inn,

The Cross Keys,

The New Inn and the Butcher’s Arms Gallery (for its coffee shop and interior decor range).

You can enjoy a wonderful morning or afternoon exploring Llantrisant (here is the My Llantrisant Facebook Page link -http://www.facebook.com/messages/227660527334279#!/My.Llantrisant ) (visit the parish church built in the 11th century on a sacred site dating back to the 9th century, and make sure to admire the imposing William Price statue (the pioneer of cremation) that stands in from of the gallery. Take a tour of the Llantrisant castle ruins originally built in the 13th century), buying beautiful gifts and then retiring for a coffee and cake when your feet are tired!

To find out more about Llantrisant just go here!