THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY BY BETTY & TONY

Tony & Betty Rackham January 2013

 

Photos: T.A.S. Editor

 

Fellows of the Royal Photograhic Society Betty and Tony Rackham exhibit their photographs with Romsey and Southampton camera clubs as well as showing paintings with Totton Art Society. The January 2013 meeting  revealed how they produce superb photographs of nature and wildlife using rules of composition, viewpoint, natural light, artificial light, abstract shapes, and lots of experience! They projected their digital photos onto the screen and provided an absorbing commentary. Also on show were their own cards and paintings.

 

Betty informed us that not only do they use the 'thirds' rule - placing important focal points one third from the top and side, but they also believe that eye goes to the top right of the picture first of all, folowed by the top left, bottom right and then bottom left.

They also confirmed that 'hot' colours appear to advance towards the viewer, wereas on the other had, cold colours appear to recede. Her photographs are usually taken with a Panasonic Lumix camera wth interchangeable lenses or this Fuji FinePx F600EXR compact camera.

 

 

Tony showed how to improve images by digitally cropping, increasing the tonal contrast (making sure that the highlights are adjusted to show more detail before adjusting the dark areas), and possibly changing or removing unwanted elements, such as rocks.

 

He enjoys using using his technical knowledge to achieve unusual special effects. Both he and Betty look for abstract patterns and shapes within natural subjects, for example: a seed head looks like a piece of engineering. They sometimes prefer to use a black and white image instead of the usual colour image.

 

Taking close-up photographs is frequently successful. The small group of red and purple autumn leaves with white frosted edges was so simple yet so beautiful. He advised always to take a photo before making changes and setting up the final scene. He confessed to removing petals, repositioning objects and even throwing a stone in the water to create the ripples of a rising fish.

 

The audio-visual films at the end of the evening were beautiful and with the music, quite emotionally moving. The passion for nature that Betty and Tony share is forcefully shown through their photography. Finally they urged us to manage our digital photographs by discarding unwanted one, sorting, labelling, storing and backing up to two or more separate disks, lest we lose them all when the computer develops a fault.

 

Artwork by Tony & Betty

 

The demonstration ended with warm applause and questions from members.



 



CHRISTMAS PARTY

LAUGHTER  FROM THE START

Helen Davies kicked off the evening with 'blind drawing'. One person at each table wore a mask while the others gave them instructions as they attempted  to draw a Christmas picture.

 

Here Pam advises Glennis

 

Jim is helped by Roy to the amusement of Mary and Ruth

 

John is helped from both sides!

 

Pat Osborne takes charge on this table

 

Pat Scammell makes sure that the draw operated perfectly

 The next activity was a 'speed dating' session - to give members with paintings a chance to write an appreciative comment about the paintings of the other members on their table.

 

 

 

 

 

The final part of the evening gave everyone the chance to see Helen hold up each painting and to hear the artist read a comment from the list of comments about their artwork. The list became a 'Certificate of Appreciation' which each artist kept. 

 

 

 Party organisers Helen and Di were delighted to receive bunches of roses for their efforts. Many thanks to Anne, Claire and the other members who contributed to the successful evening.

 



LINDA BUTCHER'S EYE OF THE TIGER

Linda Butcher gave members a detailed demonstration of a portrait of a tiger in November using mostly pastel pencils.

 

 

Linda worked on her painting from left to right to avoid smudging it. The fur grows in similar directions on many tigers.  Linda  painted an Amur tiger (Siberian) which has a broader face. She lightly applied layers of colours overlaid with streaks of different colours flicked upwards to provide a furry texture.

 

The eye began as a dark grey shape and white centre. The coloured iris then appeared to have light shining through it. A brown shadow from the eyelid was applied very lightly on the upper part of the eye. Linda emphasised that the eye is a mirror so the highlight can be one of many different shapes. She aims to have the eyes follow the viewer wherever they might be.

 

 

Totton Art Scoiety's animal artists, notably Paula Humphrey, found the evening interesting. Linda not only uses a pastel paper support but also velour and Pastelmat (with a layer of cork).

 

 

Linda's work may be exhibited at the following venues:

• Nightingale Gallery of the Royal Hampshire Hospital Winchester
• The Discovery Centre Winchester
• Fair Oak Art and Craft Society
• Online at Linda's Art http://www.lindasart.co.uk
 

 

 

 

SHARON HURST'S WORKSHOP

 

Sharon Hurst is a professional artist who paints fantasy pictures using watercolour and gouache.

She demonstrated how to paint a face at the June 2012 meeting of Totton Art Society.

 

Chris Jackson, Muriel Hiscott, David Butcher, Jean Symes, Kay Cavalier, Shirley Lester, June Green, Margaret Lee, Joan Jerrett, Patricia Osborne, Mary Andrews, Ruth Edwards, Rosemary Cunliffe, Pat Scammell & Paula Humphrey attended Sharon's Saturday workshop.

Some people painted portraits and some painted fantasy pictures.

 

Sharon also takes commissions for personal fantasy portraits, paints on silk and creates jewellery. She has now become a demonstrator for Shinhan Artists Watercolours.More details are available on her website.

http://www.sharonhurst.co.uk/

NOVEMBER 2012 MEMBERS' WORKSHOP

 

The November workshop was full-on with most people having a go at a portrait.  

The results were so good that groups of members were seen around the room discussing, praising and sharing experiences.

Jamil Akib certainly inspired us to try something new!

If you haven't come to a workshop yet - give it a try. We are a very supportive group.

NOVEMBER ONE DAY SALE

SATURDAY 10TH NOVEMBER

AT THE THREE SCORE CLUB TOTTON

 

 

THERE WERE CARDS AND UNFRAMED PAINTINGS FOR SALE

MEMBERS OF THE TEAM IN ACTION

MARY MASKELL, CLAIRE PALMER, ANNE HAMERTON, PAULA HUMPHREY AND GLENNIS COURTNEY

 

HERE ARE A FEW OF THE ARTWORKS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEMBERS DISPLAYED A FANTASTIC VARIETY OF ARTWORKS

 

AND 34 PAINTINGS WERE SOLD. WELL DONE EVERYONE!

 

 

 

 

 

 



DOUBLE BILL FROM JAMEL AKIB

We had two demonstrations for the price of one in October when Jamel Akib painted a portrait and a 'city scape' in pastels.Being a prolific and successful illustrator Jamel can work very quickly using soft pastels on a support that he prepares himself.
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He uses mountboard (or packing cardboard if the artwork is for illustration) and paints it with a household paintbrush with:

Golden Acrylic Ground For Pastel available from Jackson's Art Supplies from £10.10 per tub.

This creates a surface like very coarse sandpaper which holds soft pastel securely.

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Jamel determined the angle of the head and the position of the head and shoulders on the dark green support before measuring the relative proportions of the turban, face and body. He continued to measure distances and angles all the time that he was painting. He prefers to draw the eye socket before the eye. He also uses colours for highlights rather than pure white and umbers and purples instead of black.

No blending was done until all of the colour was on. Jamel admitted that his pastel surface is hard on the fingers!

 Jamel's second picture was a view of Charles Bridge in Prague. He used a dark blue support and very roughly blocked in the buildings with deep orange, then scumbled over it with electric blue. Jamil's favourite blue - "magic blue" - is a combination of crimson, white and ultramarine.

The skyline was picked out with 'negative painting'and the sculpted figures were roughed in with dark purple/brown. Heads of pedestrians viewed at eye level should always be in line horizontally, no matter how far away they are. Using lighlights on parts of the figures and narrowing them towards non-existent feet made the couple in the foreground appear to be moving. Following a plea from the audience, Jamel added yellow light from the street lamps.

Before finishing a commission, Jamel often puts a painting away for a short while so that when he does re-examine it, the mistakes are more apparent. Remarkably, when framing his pastel work he uses only a single mount.

Jamel's work speaks for itself and it was amazing the way that he communicates personality in portraits and atmosphere in landscapes.

Jamel is holding a local art class at the Church Rooms, Braishfield on Wednesdays from 10.00 a.m. until 1.00 p.m. His classes and workshops are usually very popular.