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Saturday, December 30, 2023

SKETCHING IN WEST QUAY IN DECEMBER


Three Adventurous Artists braved the festive chaos and tackled some sketching in West Quay shopping centre among the Christmas shoppers.

Even with all the noise and constant movement of people around us, they lost themselves in their art.

Helen commented: "Good challenge and we enjoyed it".




Friday, December 1, 2023

MARY MASKELL'S CRITIQUE MEETING IN NOVEMBER

 

Mary expertly conducted our critique evening. She invited suggestions to improve  her own floral painting showing two flower arrangements.
 Several members suggested putting something into the white space in the upper middle part.    

Betty was unsure about her landscape painting of the north Pembrokeshire coast. The foreground flowers owed much to her extensive botanical knowledge. 


Betty's painting of a sunflower was called a "multi-layered painting". It was "a charming way of displaying a sunflower, including the intricacies of of the seed-head and petals"

Christine's painting had a dramatic element to the lighting. Comments included "very brave and really effective " and " she looks quite sad". Two suggestions were:  make the background lighter and add "orangey pinks in the background."

 Tina had painted elephants in a landscape with pan pastels. The muted sky gave  "a sense of distance". She used a restricted palette. 

Sue's blue Swiss mountain scene  also used a restricted palette. The cable in the lower half of the painting belonged to a cable car. 

Pat and other members had the opportunity to purchase some of the bring & buy art materials on offer during the break.

Henry was unsure what was needed to finish his Mediterranean seascape. He had used a knife and dry brushes in some sections. Members liked the rough outside edges and sharper edges within the painting. Other suggestions were: "use some sand colour in the sea" and also to vary the sand colour.

June had painted a special family portrait of a girl and dog from a photograph. The girl looking at the camera gave a connection with the viewer. 

June's second painting depicted her own dog. Again the artist's connection with the subject was evident.

The meeting was the last evening meeting of the year. Members took home a short questionnaire to be returned to Helen in January, when membership  subscriptions for 2024 are due.