newsletter
WELCOME
Newsletter number 4! Any ideas, suggestions or questions, contact me via the contact page.
Here in Ireland we are having what we consider to be a “cold spell”. Temperatures are around freezing point and we have had some snow and some lovely bright frosty mornings. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get out to paint, although, come to think of it, last year when I tried painting outdoors in similar weather the paint froze on the paper!! Perhaps it’s a good time to think of the warm sunny months to come (wishful thinking) and to take a look at this year’s workshop programme. At the moment I’m teaching four of my own workshops as well as one for the Burren Painting Centre in Lisdoonvarna in the west of Ireland and a weekend away for my local art club, Dundonald Arts Club.
DVD
The DVD is finally available on the shop page on the website. Apologies to all of you who have waited patiently for this. I can post these worldwide and can supply NTSC versions for the USA and Japan. “Trees and the Landscape” covers general landscape subjects with special emphasis on trees through the seasons.
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q: I can’t seem to be able to mix colours that are dark enough. Any ideas?
A: Well, the simple answer is that you are not using enough paint -
1. Are your paints moist enough? Tube paint should have the consistency of thick honey and pans should give up their colour easily, without resorting to scrubbing. If your paint is old or is
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of average or poor quality, this will cause problems.
2. If you are making a mix, are you dipping into water when you change colour? If so, you probably believe that this prevents colours becoming contaminated but it doesn’t really and all that dipping merely adds more water to your mix.
TIP OF THE MONTH and TRY IT AT HOME
This is a bit obvious but if you think you can’t draw or paint something, the only
answer is to draw or paint it. If, say, boats are your problem then spend a couple
of days drawing and painting dozens or hundreds of boats, preferably from life and
definitely quickly and simply. Don’t worry about fine detail. It is not fine detail
that makes a boat a boat -
Finally, I am writing this on New Year’s Eve wondering if there is any point in making
any New Year resolutions. If you are stuck for one, may I suggest a resolution to
paint or draw every day, even if only for a few minutes. Or how about trying the
tip of the month and work at drawing or painting a subject that you think you can’t
paint. I’ll stick my neck out here and tell you mine. Although I paint plenty of
figures as additions to a landscape, I don’t paint figure studies or portraits -
JANUARY 2010
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