Month: March 2026

‘Portraits’ – Annual Competition – March 2026 – Saturday

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Twenty members met on Saturday to start or continue drawing and painting for our annual competition, this year on ‘Portraits’. Our competitions are friendly affairs and not fiercely contended so there was lots of chatter throughout the day over a cuppa and biscuits.

At the end of the session sixteen portraits were entered and after studying all the pictures we all voted for our favourite one. After counting there was a clear winner with two paintings tied for runner-up. After another round of voting and counting we had the second placed picture.

Here are the portrait entries of family members and famous people…

The runner-up was Susan with her pencil study of Devon based sculptor Peter Randall-Page, RA. The portrait was in pencil with delicate marks and bold strokes defining Peter’s face. Well done, Susan!

The winner was Mary with her portrait of Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones. Painted with energy and positive mark-making the portrait was bold and outstanding. Well done, Mary, we loved your painting!

Other artists painted to their own themes or didn’t enter the portrait competition. Some are works in progress and will be finished at home…

Well done everyone, you rose to the challenge with your amazing paintings!

Look out for the next newsletter on Wednesday 1st April, with the next session on Wednesday 8th April from 7-9pm.

Graham’s finished painting

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Graham started this watercolour picture during a recent session and had fun painting it. Whilst rain teems down and the background is London Bridge on a dull, wet day, the colourfully dressed, exuberant dancers enjoy the rain whilst others rush past with their brollies. It’s called ‘Summer Rain’.

Beautifully painted, Graham, the bright colours against the muted background work so well!

Jackie’s finished paintings

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Jackie has finished three paintings from previous sessions. The Year of the Fire Horse picture was painted in acrylics with several layers of paint being used on black paper, giving a great impression of the heat and brightness of fire.

People in Winter was painted in watercolours, with the colourful sound waves above the people being listened to by the young lad in headphones. What a clever idea!

Jackie sketched this wintery landscape at Shorne Country Park then painted it in watercolours. With a great depth of field, one could walk straight into this landscape and follow the meandering path deeper into the woods.

Well done, Jackie, your pictures are beautifully painted!

Portraits – March 2026 – Wednesday

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Fifteen artists attended the Wednesday evening session, including Denise’s granddaughter, Sophie, who painted with us to see if she’d would like to join the group.

Most members began their portrait drawings and paintings in readiness for our annual competition, to be held at the next session.

Other members drew, painted and cut paper to their own themes.

Our next session will be on Saturday 28th March from 10am to 3pm.

March 2026

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It’s time for our annual competition which is a friendly affair and NOT compulsory.  If you don’t want to enter a painting, that’s okay, please use the suggested idea as inspiration for a drawing or painting.

The competition theme will be on both the Wednesday and Saturday sessions, but if you prefer you can come along and ‘do your own thing’ and not enter the competition.

Wednesday 11th – 7-9pm –    Start painting for the competition

The subject is –  PORTRAITS

This is a very broad subject but hopefully a popular one as many members like drawing and painting people. A portrait can be a literal, realistic representation or interpretive and symbolic.

The subject can be a self portrait, a family member, a friend or someone famous or infamous, living or dead. Any size, any ground, a single medium or mixed media. A simple black and white sketch in pencil or charcoal, or a colourful multi media picture.

Don’t just plonk someone in a landscape, make the picture of just their head, or head and shoulders or include their whole body or a relevant background if it adds to the portrait.

Info from the National Portrait Gallery in London for schools, but scroll down and there’s info from Curtis Holder, winner of Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020… www.npg.org.uk/schools-hub/art-explainer-what-is-a-portrait

Here are a few people with milestone birthdays in 2026…

Will be 100 years old – Sir David Attenborough, Mel Brooks.

Would have been 100 – HM Queen Elizabeth II, Marlyn Monroe, Eric Morecambe, Kenneth Williams, Bill Pertwee, Lionel Jeffries.

Will be 90 – Brian Blessed, Samia Halaby.

Would have been 90 – Glenda Jackson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Pope Francis.

Will be 80 – Dolly Parton, Liza Minnelli, Cher, Sylvester Stallone, Sir Barry Gibb.

Would have been 80 – Freddie Mercury, Alan Rickman.

Any person, past or present, at any age in their life, can be your subject.

There is no right or wrong way to create this subject…just your way.

Saturday 28th  –  10am-3pm   –    Competition continued

Continue with your portrait, or paint another. All pictures to be on the display tables by 2.30pm then we all cast one vote for our favourite painting. There will be small cash prizes for the winner and runner-up.

A maximum of TWO drawings/paintings per member.  

If you have a picture but can’t attend today, please arrange with someone to take and collect your artwork. Or if you come to the Wednesday session but know you can’t make the Saturday session, your picture can be put in our storage cupboard upstairs and brought down for the competition.

If you feel uncomfortable entering the competition, you don’t have to. Paint a portrait but leave it on your own table so it won’t be on the separate tables with the submitted pictures.

Good luck everyone!