Month: February 2026

People in Winter – February 2026 – Saturday

/ tracyqp / Leave a comment

The hall was abuzz with chatter and laughter on Saturday with 26 members attending the session. The suggested subject of People in Winter was popular and everyone worked industriously on their pictures.

Some members were inspired by the Winter Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina in Italy. If you enjoyed watching the events, don’t forget to watch the Paralympic Games which start on Friday 6th March

Some paintings are finished and others are works in progress. There are so many interpretations of the subject, it’s interesting to see all the themes.

Some artists drew and painted their own themes. Sandra’s stoat is beautifully drawn in many colours and looks a cheeky chappy.

Paintings from previous sessions on Animals in Winter and the Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse were worked on and some completed.

Fantastic artwork, everyone, you did so well this month!

Our next session is on Wednesday 11th March from 7-9pm when we start drawing and painting for our annual competition.

Peta’s pictures

/ tracyqp / Leave a comment

Peta has finished two more of her amazing pictures. The first, of bellringers in Southwark, London, is painted with ink and shows intricate details and has great depth of field.

The second, of a turnip stall in Borough Market, also Southwark, with the vegetables looking real. One could reach out and touch the feathery mushroom caps on and smell the herbs.

Fantastic paintings, Peta, well done!

Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse – February 2026 – Wednesday

/ tracyqp / Leave a comment

Fourteen members met on Wednesday evening and one artist worked at home. The Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse begins next week and happens only once every 60 years.

The subject was popular and it was challenging to draw and paint not only a horse, but fire too. We used coloured pencils, pastel pencils, watercolours and acrylics to achieve the depth of colour needed for the flames. Most are works in progress. When finished, please bring them along to the next session.

Other artists drew and painted their own themes, which we are always interested to see. Special mention to Patrick who used coloured pencils to draw a scene from the life of Pocahontas.

Lovely work everyone!

Our next session is on Saturday 28th February from 10am to 3pm.

February 2026

/ tracyqp / Leave a comment

2026 started well with many members attending both sessions in January, so hopefully you want to keep coming along!

Here are two suggested ideas for February, but if you prefer to draw or paint your own theme that’s absolutely fine. Come along and join your friends for relaxing art sessions over a cuppa and biscuits.

Wednesday 11th – 7-9pm – Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse

February 17th is the start of the Chinese New Year, which this year is the Year of the Fire Horse. Along with the twelve zodiac animal, years also have one of five elements associated with them, earth, fire, metal, water or wood. The sexagenary cycle means this combines the horse and fire for the first time in 60 year.

Draw or paint your vision of the fire horse. If you prefer your subject to just be a horse, that’s fine.

Saturday 28th – 10am-3pm – People in Winter

Last month we drew and painted animals in winter. This month we look at people in winter but add in landscapes as they are very popular, and portraits, which some members prefer.

Landscapes – people in a wintery landscape, urban or rural, walking, working, skiing, ice skating, building a snowman, having a snowball fight etc

Portraits – at home draw a person in a woolly hat, wearing earmuffs or a hooded coat. Bring your sketches to the session and paint their portrait.

Fast and loose – work fast and loose with pencils and paints to bring energy to your picture. A downhill skier zooming past would work well.

Texture – as suggested last month, add watercolour ground, acrylic ground, fabric or paper textures to your surface and paint over the top.

Collage – collage the whole image. Bring a cover for your table if you choose this as collage can get very messy!

Mixed media – use three or more mediums to create your people in winter picture.