Tricks and treats - in Aquarelle

Striking candle by Brigitte Jansen

Here's the treat: a post with fan-tas-tic paintings, created during the last Tuesdays by a couple of  Halloween-inspired Aquarellistas!

Lies Timmermans' Halloween Landscape

The trick is basically 'the white': that is actually the colour of the paper, we do not use white paint!! In combination with dark colours... So the moons, stars and flames ('the light') are left unpainted (white) and everything else is darker than that!
Now check out how well that worked:

Soft candlelight by Liz Douglas

Helene van der Kroft introduced daughter in law Aafke and granddaughter Lois and the two of them did excellent and totally scaring work on pumpkins!!!

Mean laughing scary pumpkin by Lois van der Kroft

Creepy pumpkin in chilling background by Aafke Sikkel

Frightening landscape by Helene van der Kroft

Candle by Agnès McLaughlin

Another candle by Brigitte Jansen

Mieke van Papen painted this candle in her 'big gesture' style and as you can see, even then the "white" rule works!

And last but not least another very Halloween witch- in-the moonlight painting - by Helene van der Kroft!

Watercolour class on Tuesday afternoons

On Tuesday afternoons the Hangar offers a watercolour class, with yours truly as a teacher. We start 2pm and finish painting 4.30pm, and after that we have a line up and evaluation...

I always suggest a subject, and sometimes all join in creating their variations on that theme. This is very interesting because you see the surprising differences in style and personal view... I'll show you some of that later because we have a small group of starters, working on the same exercises and already showing a wonderful variety in design and expression.

Lately, most of the advanced participants have brought their own ideas and subjects, and I thought it would be nice to show you some of the results of that...

Yachts

Roly Bufton loves the sea and everything to do with watersports... here you see his silhouette looking at a classic boat  and below work in progress.. on another classic boat.

Landscape

In our Aquarellista group the theme 'landscape' often means something quitre different from the ordinary.

Like this one by Sandra Seymour Dale

Or this colourful and poetic forest painted by Anna Karin Fast. She used handmade paper of another type and the effect of this paper is amazing: the paint granulates so much more than on our regular Arche Torchon (enlarge picture by clicking it to appreciate what this looks like)

A weird yet very interesting landscape with great perspective by Hélène van der Kroft

This more classic landscape was created by a guest, Ellie. It is very well done - and will most definitely be stunning when the shadows of the village are added...

Still life

Fantasy still lifes by Liz Douglas and Brigitte Jansen (below), inspired by the starter exercise on 'transparency'. Note the differences, knowing that they worked from the same example in the 2nd Hangar Watercolour Book 

China still life by Cathie van der Stel with experimental background, made with wet aquarelle paint and cling film

Cup designed by Lies Timmermans, with her initials

 Surrealistic still life with many interesting aspects by Bibbi Isaksson

Next week - People, Animals, Halloween and more...

Live Class 1 & 2

Marina leaning against a stool - 2 minute pose by Neville Moray

For the first two live classes none of our 'regular' and much appreciated models were available. So instead, yours truly 'sat' for the group, which meant no nagging! freedom of proportion! and the challenge of fabric, folds and patterns - as I kept my cloths on...

The results were actually very good, pastels were used, and paints:

Marina by Fiona Biziou

We also drew from large photographs. Below Lucia experimenting with a thick feltpen:

 And the result...

 Pim by Fiona Biziou

Patience by Fiona Biziou

Neville drew the light; his information was a 'normal' photograph... Not easy!

And after a bit of a slow start, we are now back to normal, with Celia as our model. More about that later!

High Tea - or High Key drawing on Monday

Last week Pim took the drawing group to 'just next to the Notre Dame du Brusc' and he left a message on my phone in which I thought he said 'We are going to make High Tea Drawings'...
I wondered what that would be, but it sounded like fun - and it was, only they had nothing to do with scones, sandwiches and cupcakes. That was wishful thinking -- Pim had said High Key drawing!

That is a bright, light drawing with almost no contrast and lack of shadows... Very hard to do in the Côte d' Azur sharp light... The results were amazing, but impossible to take photo's of, so I cannot show you much and they do not really do justice to the originals. Yet here are a couple that came out at least visible, created by Lucia Gualtieri, Brigitte Jansen and Betty Schep...

Wendy Artin - Master Aquarellista (and more)

'Laura' by Wendy Artin - 2009

Highly recommended for the life class on Monday morning as well as the watercolour class of the Tuesday afternoon, a wonderful and very inspiring artist: Wendy Artin.

'Ape with red stripes' by Wendy Artin - 1999

She paints with sepia and watercolours, and uses 'traditional' subjects, models, still life, the daily life in Rome (where she lives and works) yet the way she paints their light make them very 'new' and contemporary!! She reduces what she sees to just the essential light and dark and the result is - well - breathtaking...

Piazza di popolo by Wendy Artin - 1999

Wendy works from the real thing, for a picture like this...

Roman Forum by Wendy Artin - 2000

... she goes back to that same spot several days in a row when the light is approximately the same...

'Tamara' by Wendy Artin - 2009

From the models she makes lots and lots of paintings, working very fast, and she keeps the really good ones.  Visiting her website you can see a short film with and about her, and I loved hearing her say (on 2.10 in the timeline) 'I just tear them up and throw them away'. (That's about the ones she is not happy with.) See, other people say it too...!

Have a long look for yourself: to see more of her nudes  (there are also fabulous drawings) - visit
http://www.wendyartin.com/pages/nudes/nudes.htm

for everything else: http://www.wendyartin.com

ENJOY!!!

Aquarelle Tuesday, 2- 4.30pm

The Hangar classes have started again! It is great to be back and everyone is full of energy and inspiration! The aquarellista group has a couple of new members, that you will definitely read about on a regular basis because they are very talented!! Right now they are in different stages of the 'starter program' and as far as I know, enjoying it... As you can see the weather also helps...

The spheres-exercise was finished, by Brigitte, Agnes and Liz. They did a wonderful job, all three of them - and learned a lot about light, shade and dark shadows, complementary colours and -as you can see- suggesting volume...

All starters worked on the 'wash-first-then-suggest-volume' exercise, a great one for experimenting with aquarelle and as you can see - with interesting results!

Volume I by Agnes McLaughlin

Beautiful poetic composition by Brigitte Jansen

Two stages of Liz Douglas' surrealistic composition

And then of course there were the regulars, the experienced aquarellistas!! They worked on different projects: 

Anna Karin Fast used the apples from her garden as inspiration for two wonderfully lighthearted still lives 

Helene van der Kroft painted a lovely couple of dancing flamengos

And Cathie van der Stel worked on these pelicans - look at that reflection!