Many members finished their Year of the Dragon pictures and jolly colourful they are too, with a couple having gold paint on that really catches the light. Good work everyone!
Finished Year of the Dragon pictures
Month: February 2024
William Morris – February 2024 – Saturday
What a busy session we had with 23 members creating drawings and paintings inspired by William Morris. It was great to see so many members as the day was filled with chatter and laughter as well as creativity. Several dragon pictures were finished too and those photos will be published on another post.
Portraits of William Morris and a couple of his wife Jane, a Pre-Raphaelite model, were done in pencil, charcoal, pastels and acrylic paints. Black and white photographs were used and his leonine hair and bushy beard all added to his interesting face. The first photo is a very apt quote from Morris himself, taken from a book brought in on the day.
Many members chose to draw or paint images of designs for wallpaper and fabric made by Morris & Co, which are still printed today by Sanderson & Co. Lots of pictures have in them the Pantone Colour of the Year Peach Fuzz, so well done for including the colour. Gold stars go to Janet W whose table covering was the Strawberry Thief design and Janet T who brought in her Morris design tea towel :o)
Two pictures were of houses linked to William Morris. The Red House in Bexeyheath was designed, built and furnished by Morris and Standen House in East Grinstead, West Sussex, is furnished throughout with Morris designs. Susan created her picture of Standen House in watercolour and collage and all the tiny pieces were cut from prints of Morris designs. Can you find the 3 birds in the garden?
Some members chose their own subjects…
Lesley designed and made this stained glass panel of an angel at Adult Eduction classes. We’ve previously seen the design drawings so it’s super to see the finished item, well done!
Details of next month’s sessions will be posted on 1st March and our next session at the hall will be on Wednesday 13th March 7-9pm.
Chinese New Year of the Dragon – February 2024 – Wednesday
Our Wednesday evening session saw 11 members at the hall, mostly drawing and painting dragons as the Lunar New Year began just a few days earlier. Mediums used were graphite pencils, coloured pencils, watercolours and acrylics.
Most are works in progress, but if you complete your painting before the next session on Saturday 24th February please bring it along and put it on the long ledge at the side of the hall. Tracy will then take photos of the finished artwork for another blog post. If you can’t make the Saturday session please email or WhatsApp a photo to Tracy.
Here be dragons!
Other members chose to complete pictures of their own subjects, showing amazing attention to detail in their artwork.
Well done everyone, it was a very colourful evening!
February 2024
January was a good start to the art group’s year with many members attending the two sessions. There is always a buzz when more artists come along as it’s great to catch up with friends and see what each other is painting.
Tracy’s been asked why there are suggested ideas each session. The session ideas are not compulsory at all, you don’t have to paint the idea if you don’t want to, you can come along to draw and paint whatever you want to. The suggested ideas are simply to give you inspiration of what to paint and draw if you’re stuck for ideas.
Some subjects are to do with current or historic events in a certain month, or when an artist was born or died. Some ideas are to promote learning by including depth of field, perspective or colour exploration. Other ideas are to gain experience of human portraits, animals, texture, or certain media. The ideas are to help not hinder you, so if you don’t want to paint the suggested subject then come along and DYOT – Do Your Own Thing!
Wednesday 14th February 7-9pm – Chinese New Year of the Dragon
Chinese New Year in 2024 falls on Saturday 10th February and will be the year of the Dragon. The Lunar New Year, as it is called in other countries, is celebrated by over 2 billion people and is a national holiday in Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, North Korea and Taiwan.
Draw or paint any New Year celebration including a dragon, real or imaginary. Just paint a dragon or include the traditional red lanterns and people enjoying the celebrations. Use any media but use bright bold colours.
Saturday 24th February 10am-3pm - William Morris
British textile designer, writer, poet, artist and social activist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris is one of Britain’s greatest designers. His original wallpaper and textile designs are still in print today and are also on everyday items like mugs and bags.
Draw or paint a portrait of William Morris, along with his wife Jane, who was a model in many Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Or create an image of one of the thousands of designs in the original colour way or tweak the design to your own image and colours.
If you’d rather paint a house exterior or interior, William Morris had Red House designed and built in Bexleyheath and it’s been open for years by the National Trust. Another Arts and Crafts house looked after by the National Trust is Standen House in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Morris didn’t live there but the whole house is decorated with original items produced by Morris & Co. Morris also lived in Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire and his childhood home, Water House in Walthamstow, is now home to the William Morris Society.
Lots of ideas, the choice of subject and medium is all yours.
More info online…
www.morrisandco.sandersondesigngroup.com
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/london/red-house
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/standen-house-and-garden
Chalk Art Group 