Categories
Landscape Teaching Tutorial

Looking at Landscapes

I love taking photographs of landscapes, but very rarely sketch ‘En plein air’ (which sounds very professional but actually means ‘outdoors’ in French). As the nights draw in I thought I would use my photo references to inspire some sunnier day landscape sketches. It also helped me to think about techniques for creating depth in […]

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Development Lino Printing Tutorial

Creating a Repeat Pattern

  If you enjoy illustrating and you would like to try something a little different, why not have a rifle through your sketchbook for some lost or forgotten sketches and create a repeat pattern of your own design? I’ve laid out some step-by-step images for you below based on a square design I did. The […]

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Teaching

Say ‘Hello’ To the Cowes Library Drawing Group! Saturday 14th September

Do you love drawing, or would you love to learn? Would you like to draw different objects every week in a wonderful Victorian setting? Would you like some guidance on how to improve your technique or to try out different materials? And are you partial to a biscuit, or two, with a hot drink and […]

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Development Teaching Tutorial

Inspiration not intimidation

There are so many great artists out there, do you ever feel ‘I’ll never be as good as that’? Do 100’s of images on all the social media platforms confirm to you that there really is no point in trying? It’s easy to feel that way; intimidated rather than inspired. But all of those artists […]

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Teaching

The Cowes Library Drawing Group – What have we got planned for summer?

I love drawing, always have. I love spending hours wrapped up in the gentle art of sketching, coaxing a likeness of your subject out on to paper. I draw to paint too. If you want to create accurate paintings it really helps if you’re coming from a robust foundation where you know that your subject […]

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Teaching Tutorial

Printmaking with lino

Lino-printing is a form of relief printing, which means that areas are carved away from the surface using a tool and the ink is rolled on to the raised area that remains. Paper is applied and pressed or ‘burnished’ and the raised area of your design creates the print. It derives from woodblock printing which […]

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Life Drawing

Finding Stillness – Life Modelling

The nude is ubiquitous in Western Art. Frequently a ‘she’, she is found in paintings, sketches, sculptures, photography and mixed media work from the Renaissance to present day. The Artist has tended to be a man – and the main focus – but I think it’s always interesting to ask the question, ‘who was that […]

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Teaching

The Cowes Library Drawing Group and the Shipwreck Centre

At the Cowes Library Drawing Group we explore different drawing ideas every week and use a variety of objects for our observational studies. This term we have covered texture with teddy bears, colour theory with courgettes and the complexities of foreshortening, with tin cans (of course!) But this week we had the opportunity to combine […]

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Exhibition

Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing

This year marks the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death and to commemorate the occasion the Royal Collection Trust has created a nationwide exhibition of his drawings in 12 galleries across the UK.

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Tutorial

Tonal Values – eggs exercise

One of the biggest challenges in drawing is to take a three dimensional object and give it depth and form on a flat piece of paper. Observing the areas of light and dark in your subject and understanding the ‘tonal values’ in between can really help you capture realism and depth. ‘Value’ is a term […]