Carl likes to paint on a dark background on MDF that he has primed first and then paints plein air. He says that he prefers working outside as painting is easier as you can see what is there
First, he draws in chalk on to the prepared board covered in Vandyke brown, to work out the composition before starting to apply paint. He says he is creating a journey through painting using oil paints and believes the better the materials are, better the painting. Zest-it is used as a brush cleaner, and he also uses walnut oil to mix with the paint.
He paints some of the key areas in thin paint and then overlays a coat of fat paint around the figures. He is just getting colour on in different areas seeing how they react with each other. Because of his experience he knows what colour he wants and has a small book of colour mixes to refer to if he needs a specific colour. He then adds more light colours and starts to get some perspective on it.

​After the break, he starts to paint the tree and adds the sky between, before random yellow is applied to represent traffic lights etc. He then darkens up some areas making sure he is not too neat and adds pure titanium white to make parts stand out. He continues working on various parts of the painting using smaller brushes to add details and works in layers before adding leaves to the tree using a palette knife. He uses white beeswax to thicken the paint. More sky is added between tree branches, eventually adapting it to a twilight effect.
As the composition progresses, a rag is used to blend the sky, before branches are added and then more leaves using a range of similar colours. He washes out some of the chalk lines than aren't needed using thinner and a cloth is used to rub some areas, to blend them in. Towards the end he needs to colour balance the composition by using a continuity of colours, once the framework is in place.

He uses dabs of white and sometimes knocks these back as he says, “You don't often get pure white.” As the painting started to look Christmassy, he decides to add Christmas lights adding light areas where needed. Finishing touches are now added, and some areas are blended again before a few final brushstrokes are added and the painting is complete.
A super demonstration by a gifted artist. I'm sure everyone learnt something that will be of use. We look forward to further demonstrations from him.

#gillnicholas #salfordartclub #salfordmuseumandartgallery 

She then returned to first canvas  adding a thin white glaze which knocked back colours before next layer is applied.
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Next she worked on the second painting, just using white. Not, yet, worried about shapes of sunflowers, then drawing the leaves in pale blue before adding colour for the vase.
Continuing she added yellow mixed with medium and paints on top of white paint and this showed the difference from just white mixed with Yellow. Then by putting Yellow on  top of the blue for the stalks it turned them green. Burnt Sienna is painted on the center of the flowers. She mentioned that as the painting had  a lot of warm colours she now now added some cold colours  using Ultramarine. For the next step she added warm shadows before  a thick glaze went over the whole painting of raw umber and a little burnt sienna.

Whilst this dried she returned to the lighter canvas and painted raw sienna over some of the flowers, talking about use of complimentary colours used in paintings.
Gill likes to work from life not photographs as that can take away part of the decision making process.
Then she worked on the vase and background, Glazing over some of the flowers that she wanted to stand back, Before  adding a layer of clear medium. 

Finally returning  to work on the dark canvas adding colours, each time using slightly smaller brushes. When finished  a glaze coat is added to get even gloss finish.
Gill doesn’t use black in any of her paintings.
Finally before her session ended  more details were added on painting putting some darks in the background.

An informative and enjoyable afternoon and it would be interesting to do a workshop using these techniques.
On a side note the set, using two cameras and a television screen, is something the club must look into for the future.

#TomQuigley #SalfordArtClub #salfordartgalleryandmuseum #localartist

Another technique which he demonstrated, was​ using a rubber with a sharp edge to produce lines on a prepared surface, before adding graphite pencil on top to darken an area.

Having put masking strips on a board and cut into them with a Stanley knife, he used the cut out thin strips to stick onto a piece of already prepared  paper  and then  added watered down coffee on top. Once this was done, he then removed the thin strips to reveal the white lines underneath.
 
Moving on, he used white acrylic paint and a scraper, made by folding paper, to add to different surfaces and scratched through some of this with a graphite stick. 
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​From one of the experimental sheets, he cut out a shape and added it to the working design to show how things  can be be layered to create an interesting composition. Continuing, he added gummed paper to the base paper and the work started to look like the intended map design.

Using more stencils and then darkening some areas with graphite, as well as using card to apply white paint, he started to refine the work.

Drawing on the paper with the pencil, he added detail to create a the 'city-like' scene. 
Lastly, he used a paint brush to paint over the masking tape and then added white paint. These layers started to build up, before tight pencil marks were added. He then used the edge of a rubber to remove small areas of graphite, which resulted in a stage where he was happy to finish this session.

​His final act was to cut the rectangular work into the more interesting shape shown here.



With experimental works such as this, it’s always possible to keep adapting the composition before being happy with the final result.
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A fascinating insight into how these materials can be used.
​ I'm sure everyone present enjoyed the presentation and learnt new ways to use the materials demonstrated.

An excellent turnout for this workshop with nearly thirty members taking part and extra tables being needed.

Lyn started by introducing the subject and asking the members to enjoy different ways of using watercolours to portray the wide range of flowers she had provided.

Because of the number involved the demonstration was given to two groups. Here different techniques were shown, using the paints to show wet on wet and other ways to use watercolour. Next she demonstrated how wax crayon, rock salt and masking fluid could add effects to the paintings. Members were then encouraged to try out these methods.

Members continued to experiment until the break and afterwards were encouraged to either focus on a small part of the plant or try a larger still life.

An enjoyable afternoon, if a little crowded. Lynn has gave a well informed and useful workshop and the group look forward to the one on watercolour landscapes at a future date.

Charles started by showing us some of his work and explaining his usual working process. He uses  a variety of pens, brushes and ink brush pens in his work.
Working from a photograph, he draws the bridge in pencil first, straight onto the white paper. When doing these in the studio or live, he  often does a thumbnail sketch first.  After the bridge, he draws the  mountains in the background before adding the trees. Then he uses a 0.3 pen to add details on the bridge starting with the keystone in the middle. Some structural mark making is added as well. 

 Ink is put in a small container with a dropper, then a couple of containers are made up by mixing water to ink on a 4 to 1 ratio for the darker wash and 8 to 1 mix for the lighter wash. Using a couple of nylon brushes he paints a light wash to add mountain detail at the back before doing the mountain on the left side with a  dark wash.
He then starts adding texture on the bridge and the darks under the bridge using brush marks to get the right effect. He can darken this, if needed, by going over it again. As he goes along he builds up areas adding some more darks with the brush, then more details with the pen.

Then he sketches in the bridge's reflection with a pencil before wetting that area of the paper with clear water and starts to add the reflections in a horizontal fashion. The trees are added behind the bridge before working on the stones along the riverbank making the large one at the foreground more textural.
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He carries on adding detail continually working on different areas as well as adding darks to harmonize the  painting. As the session comes to an end he adds some final details such as the  shrubbery .

Another interesting and informative session from Charles and I'm sure he will be back in future with a new demonstration.

We arrived with anticipation for our first demonstration for over eighteen months. This first one by Mike was to be in the new Learning room at Salford Art Gallery and it was interesting to see the suitability of this room.
Having set up Mike passed round a couple of his black and white drawings made up of dots, before explaining other working methods. For some paintings he started by throwing paint at the canvas and had slowly refined this style. Some of these are shown below.

For his demonstration piece he used a board he had prepared himself. This was coated in Acrylic masonry paint with children's play sand added. This gives a rough surface that he likes to work on.

Having sprayed the prepared board with water, he started by adding the underpainting, blues and oranges etc. in the sky, changing brushes for each colour so that the colours didn't become muddy. These colours are then blended to create the effect he wanted.
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He then drew the buildings in paint and added clouds, before adding Pendle Hill in the background.

Continuing to define parts, and using a 3/4 inch flat brush, he added trees, the road and the wall.  The painting starts to come to life as areas are continually worked on. All too soon the session was over, which was a shame, although looking impressive, the painting needed a little more development.
​ It's always good to see an artist's working methods and we realise that in the studio a painting like this would take a couple of days. 

Our first demonstration in the room and not too many problems. There was enough room for the number that attended and as no projectors etc. were needed no other problems arose. 
Fortunately, Mike didn't start throwing paint at this painting so no cleaning up was need and the front row were safe!
We look forward to the next demonstration next week.