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.

People in Winter – February 2026 – Saturday

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

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

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.

Susan’s paintings

A couple of months ago Kay asked us to send her images of paintings and drawings done at Rochester Cathedral. A few members emailed their artwork and one painting was chosen for the front cover of the brochure for Rochester Cathedral Trust’s annual dinner.

Susan’s beautiful, softly coloured watercolour of Rochester Cathedral was chosen.

The painting looks fantastic as the front cover and she has been given a brochure to keep.

Here’s the whole brochure if you want to see all of it. Susan is named on page 10.

file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/ac/12/D796A57B-3EA9-466B-942B-326C24304E06/Final%20Nave%20Dinner%20Brochure%20-%2020.11.25.pdf

Here’s Rochester Cathedral’s website if you want to visit… https://www.rochestercathedral.org

Susan has also finished her painting of Jane Austen, from a watercolour done by Jane’s sister Cassandra.

Super paintings as usual, Susan, well done!

Tracy’s pictures

Tracy took part in Inktober 2025 by drawing an image every day using a 4-coloured ball point pen. By dividing up 2 pages of a sketchbook each box was only 5cm x 7cm. Each small picture took less than 5 minutes, including a quick sketch in pencil.

Every day was suggested by a list of prompts. Tracy’s favourite days were the 4th – ‘murky’, the 20th – ‘rivals’ and the 26th – ‘puzzling’. The 30th – ‘vacant’ was the easiest!

Tracy also finished her ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ picture, now called ‘Zentangle Girl with a Holographic Earring’. Drawn using a black waterproof pen, a Faber Castell Polychromos coloured pencil in Cold Grey III and some holographic nail varnish.

Railway 200 – October 2025 – Wednesday

Eleven members met on Wednesday evening to draw and paint together over a cuppa and biscuits. The suggested subject was the 200th anniversary of the first passenger railway journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, with artists invited to paint historical or any age locomotives up to modern times.

Some paintings have been photographed with the reference image, to see how the artist was inspired.

Some members created pictures to their own theme or continued artworks from previous sessions.

The next session is on Saturday 25th October from 10am to 3pm. Check the newsletter from 1st October for the subject idea.