watercolours

Rochester Cathedral – August 2025 – Saturday

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Thank you to Kay who gained permission for the art group to meet in the King’s Orchard, the private gardens behind Rochester Cathedral. Ten members enjoyed sitting in the gardens drawing and painting the rear view of the cathedral and the stump of a 250 year old sycamore was interesting with insects flying around and into the tiny holes in its trunk. The day was due to be dry but overcast so we were pleased that the sun came out for most of the day and it was lovely and warm. We had a whip round and the cathedral will gain £72.50 including Gift Aid.

A few pictures are finished and others are works in progress to be completed at home. We used pencils, coloured pencils, watercolour pencils, felt tip pens and watercolours. A beautifully drawn squirrel and a hairless cat called Potato join the pictures.

Here are a few views in and around Rochester Cathedral. In the nave is a Short Scion floatplane originally built in 1937 and mini golf with a bridge theme in the garth is free to play. Both are there for another week if you want to visit.

Thank you for a most enjoyable day with arty friends for a good natter whilst drawing and painting en plein air.

The next session is back at the hall on Wednesday 10th September from 7-9pm.

Paint on a postcard – August 2025 – Wednesday

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Last Wednesday fifteen members attended the session on a very warm evening. Most painted on the black and white and lightly tinted postcards, bought from eBay for a few pounds. They were mostly views from the West Country, Kent, the Lake District and Scotland, with a few other places too.

Acrylic paint applied thickly and thinly worked really well to add the colour, as did thick watercolour paint, ink, coloured pencils and felt tip pens. Some of the postcards had been used and the earliest message and stamp dated back to 1908!

Some artists drew and painted to their own theme.

Well done everyone, the painting on a postcard challenge was well received and very enjoyable.

Our next session is on Saturday 23rd August in the private gardens behind Rochester Cathedral. Please email Tracy asap if you can come or not.

Tracy’s finished pictures

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Tracy saw a handmade ceramic plate online of a boat and colourful, curving waves. She painted something similar using watercolours in many shades of blue, green and purple, then outlined all the shapes in gold watercolour paint. The boat’s hull is currently white but she might paint it orange or red or maybe vermillion, as the colour in between the two. Decisions, decisions!

Last year we had a session on drawing and painting on printed paper, including dictionary pages. One of Tracy’s daughters loves capybaras so that page in the dictionary was cut out and finally used this year. Tracy used coloured pencils and very dry watercolours for the capybara and left the dictionary entry of capybara free of colour. Once framed the page was given as a present.

For the last Wednesday session the theme was the Live Aid concert of 1985. Tracy drew Freddie Mercury singing under a spotlight in white coloured pencil on black craft paper. She’s pleased as the effect is what she was aiming for.

If you complete pictures from previous sessions please send them to Tracy or Steve. We’d love to see them finished!

Live Aid 1985 – July 2025 – Wednesday

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Thirteen members attended the session on a muggy summer’s evening, but the aircon kept us cool. Some artists painted the theme of Live Aid, the dual concerts held in London and Philadelphia in July 1985. Freddie Mercury and Bob Geldof were the most popular subjects to draw and paint.

Chris W’s painting of an animal carcass in a barren landscape and an RAF C-130 aeroplane carrying food and supplies is a sombre reminder of the concerts’ aim to raise money for the 1983-5 famine in Ethiopia. £40 million was raised on the day, equivalent to £100 million today.

Most pictures are works in progress to be finished at home or another session.

Other artists drew and painted to their own theme, including a finished picture from Peta of the Angelina Tea Room in Paris which she visited last year.

Lovely work everyone, well done!

Our next session will be on Saturday 26th July at St.Mary’s Church in Chalk, from 10am to just before 3pm, not at the Parish Hall.

“Summer”- Annual Competition – June 2025 – Saturday

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Twenty members met on Saturday to start or continue drawing and painting for our annual competition, which is a friendly affair, not fiercely contended. There was lots of chat throughout the day and we enjoyed painting with like-minded folk.

At the end of the session nineteen pictures were entered and after studying all the pictures we voted for our favourite one. After counting there was a clear winner and runner-up, with the rest of the votes evenly spread to other paintings.

These were the entries…

The runner-up was Chris W with her watercolour painting summing up the theme ‘Summer”. Her entry was all about Wimbledon with the winning men’s trophy, tennis rackets, tennis balls, a net and strawberries and cream. Well done Chris, what a fabulous picture!

The winner was Steve with his water mixable oil painting giving summer vibes of drinking wine on the beach in the sun with the blue sea lapping nearby. Congratulations on winning, Steve, we loved your painting!

Other artists drew their own pictures, brought in paintings from previous years with a summer theme or didn’t enter the competition.

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

The next newsletter will be published on 1st July, with the next session on Wednesday 9th July from 7-9pm at the hall.

Portraits – The Diversity of Humanity – May 2025 – Saturday

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Twenty members attended the session with the suggested subject being to draw or paint a portrait of a person of a different ethnicity to themselves. It was a busy session with lots of work being produced, along with cuppas and biscuits and natter as usual.

It was pleasing to see that several people used pastels to create their portrait, using techniques learned at the workshop, as well as watercolours, acrylics and inks. Most are finished but some are works in progress.

Cynthia finished her Lynx from the workshop and it’s absolutely beautiful. The lynx’s coat looks real with the highlights the hairs. Well done!

Other members continued with their wild animals from last month or drew and painted to their own theme.

Great work everyone, it was a good, productive session.

Our next session is on Wednesday 11th June from 7-9pm.

Portraits by Angela and Tracy

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Angela started drawing Sepoy Namdeo Jadhao VC at the last session and finished it at home. He won a VC in 1945 at the age of only 23, details of which are from the National Army Museum… https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1966-04-5-1

Lovely work, Angela, with good use of pencil in many tones on Namdeo’s face.

Tracy enjoyed drawing and painting a face she saw online during the recent VE Day commemorations. Dorothea ‘Pixie’ Barron is 100 years old and gave an interview with The Big Issue about her life and joining the Women’s Royal Naval Service after she left school and serving as a Wren during WWII. Last year she celebrated her 100th birthday with a Spitfire flight! Read the interview here… https://www.bigissue.com/life/ve-day-second-world-war-dorothea-barron-interview/

After an accurate drawing was made Tracy used watercolours to capture Dorothea’s beautiful face.

Portraits – May 2025 – Wednesday

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Fourteen members enjoyed two hours together being creative by drawing and painting portraits. After our recent soft pastel workshop it was good to see several artists using pastels for their portraits and pictures.

Some drew their grandchildren whilst others used images available online. There are a couple of finished portraits and the others will be completed at home or at the next Saturday session.

Some members drew and painted their own subjects.

Lovely to see so many at the session to have a good natter with! Please send any finished pastel animals or portraits to Tracy for putting on the blog. Thank you :o)

Our next session is on Saturday 24th May from 10am to 3pm with the subject being ‘The Diversity of Humanity’.

JMW Turner – April 2025 – Wednesday

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Turner’s paintings still hold our eyes and imagination 250 years after his birth. Fifteen members enjoyed an art session based on Turner and drew and painted images based on his paintings or to their own theme.

Among the Turner paintings used for inspiration are Self Portrait (c1798/9), Bill Rock Lighthouse (1819), a detail from the Burning of the Houses of Parliament (1835), Snowstorm – Steamboat off a Harbour’s Mouth (1842), Colchester, Essex (c1825), Stonehenge and Sunset, both undated. Some paintings pastoral, some full of light and drama, a few finished and several to be completed at home.

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Some artists painted their own colourful subjects.

Lovely work everyone, Turner was a challenging subject!

Our next session will be a soft pastel workshop on Saturday 26th April 10am-3pm, please email Tracy if you’d like a place.