Susan started this portrait on the afternoon of the portrait competition session and finished it at home. It’s a bold painting with rich colours and the subject’s eyes hold our gaze. Well done, Susan, beautifully painted!
Susan’s finished portrait
Finished portraits
Here are two portraits from the recent competition session which have been completed at home.
Dot used soft pastels on Clairefontaine Pastelmat paper for her portrait of Yoko Ono. Lovely use of soft pastels, Dot. Well done as we can see straight away who the portrait is of!
Tracy used watercolours for her portrait of Tony Hawkins MBE. He joined the RNLI Dover lifeboat in 1960 aged 16, was involved in nearly 500 callouts and in total worked and volunteered for the RNLI for an amazing 65 years. Tracy saw Tony’s obituary in the RNLI magazine last year and wanted to paint his lined, weather-worn face and wonderful eyebrows.
Sandra’s finished picture
Sandra has completed her pastel picture of a very cute, fluffy kitten. It looks good against the warmly coloured background and the tiny hairs must have taken hours to draw with many different pastel pencils. Well done, Sandra, it’s beautiful!
Jane’s finished painting
Jane was commissioned to paint a dog in oils and she has finished the picture. The brindle patterned fur was a challenge to paint but she mastered the colours well and is happy with the picture. Well done, Jane, the owner will be so pleased!
Spring Flowers – April 2026 – Wednesday
Eleven members met on Wednesday evening and most drew and painted to the theme of Spring Flowers.
It was a very colourful session with beautiful flowers painted in watercolours, acrylics and also with coloured pencils. The black backgrounds work well don’t they? Good to see a couple of vases with flowers for a still life approach. The last two photos are paintings from previous sessions and other art groups.
Other artists created picture to their own theme. Vikki’s super black dog picture in coloured pencils is finished and for a friend.
Lovely work, everyone, do finish your paintings at home!
The next session is the ink/watercolour workshop on Saturday 25th April from 10am to 3 pm.
All twenty spaces are taken and two people are on the waiting list. If you’re booked in and your plans change, please let Tracy know ASAP and your place can be taken by someone on the waiting list. Thanks.
April 2026
Wednesday 8th – 7-9pm – Spring Flowers
Flowers are always a popular subject and here are a few ways to tackle the subject as suggested by members…
- Set up a vase of flowers at the session to draw and paint.
- Think of the internal structures of plants and microscopic organisms. This could lead to abstract pictures.
- Paint a corner of your garden with spring flowers in borders or pots.
- Sketch a view at a park including flowers, then paint it at the session.
- Use collage for the flowers.
- Use texture for the petals and leaves.
Flowers are always a popular subject and here are a few ways to tackle the subject, suggested by members…
Saturday 25th April – 10am-3pm – Ink and watercolour workshop with Victoria Wainwright
This workshop will be an introduction to inks for members and should be an interesting workshop even if you have a little experience with inks. We will start with inks in the morning and segue to watercolours in the afternoon.
Victoria is a former tutor at Kent Adult Education and now teaches at other settings including the WI. Her website is… www.victoriawainwright.com
You will need to bring – your watercolours, 1 or 2 water pots, watercolour paper (at least A4 size or larger, 300gsm, NOT/cold pressed or rough paper), kitchen roll, a table cover, pencil for sketching.
Victoria will bring – inks, palettes, pens, cocktail sticks, images.
The cost will be £20 each to cover Victoria’s fee, the hall hire fee already covered by your subs. She is booked for 5 hours from 10am to 3pm so that’s only £4 an hour for her tutoring.
Please turn up promptly to start at 10am so we don’t waste any time. If you arrive late (we appreciate parking can be difficult at times) please find a free seat quickly and unpack quietly.
Check the date first to see if you are available.
If you are free and want to attend then EMAIL Tracy on her usual email address, or text or send an individual WhatsApp to message her, but not the group’s WhatsApp or phones will be pinging away.
*** PLEASE DO NOT USE the comments box on the blog as messages can take days to get through! ***
There are 20 places available and if we reach that number then a waiting list will be introduced. Some people do drop out so you have a chance of attending the workshop.
Once Tracy has confirmed your place please pay the £20 by bank transfer (preferred) to the usual account, or cash. If you pay first it won’t guarantee your place, they will be allocated in the order that messages are received.
Please don’t book a place then realise the day before that you won’t be able to come. Unfortunately in the past we have had members cancelling on the day or just not turning up. This is awkward as others could have come from the waiting list. If you can’t come please let Tracy know in good time.
As you have already paid for the hall in your subs we aim to make the hall accessible for everyone on the day, even if you’re not taking part in the workshop. We’ll have the workshop set up towards the big window end of the hall and a couple of tables at the kitchen end of the hall available if you wish to come and ‘do your own thing’ on the day, but please work quietly. Thank you!
‘Portraits’ – Annual Competition – March 2026 – Saturday
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
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
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
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.
Chalk Art Group 