Helen Talbot's demonstration in September was informative and inspiring using different mediums to create moonlight. Helen had also brought many examples of her work.
Helen said that it is important to control the tonal values in any medium.
Using a dark paper enabled her to create a moonlit scene using white pastel pencil. Controlling the strength of the strokes and the spacing of the cross-hatching is important.
Watercolour on white paper required a different technique.
The strengths of the washes had to be controlled and the white paper used for the lightest area - the moon.
Helen also demonstrated how to use conte crayons with a sharpened rubber to lift out the light areas.
Another watercolour of a deer on white paper began with pencil lines.
Transparent washes of colour were applied in layers.
A dark wash created very subtle contrasts with the moon a pale glimmer of white.
Helen convinced us that creating a moonlit scene can be done simply with the minimum of equipment using her methods.
