workshop

Acrylic landscape workshop with Joe Norris – June 2026 – Saturday

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Nineteen members met on a very hot Saturday for an acrylic workshop with trees run by artist and tutor Joe Norris. Workshops in the last few years have been soft pastels, watercolours, and inks, so for those of us not used to acrylics it was great to use them again under tuition. Joe was a very patient tutor, informative on the acrylic colours we used gave us many tips during the day which will be useful for further paintings.

Joe brought along paintings of landscapes with trees that he has painted previously for us to see his style and use of colours.

Here’s his website for further info and contact details if you’d like him to visit another art group… https://joenorrisart.co.uk

We painted one picture before lunch and one afterwards. We started by painting our acrylic paper and boards with raw or burnt sienna then not drawing the image but diving straight in with a mix of indigo and yellow to define the shapes of the trees within the landscape. Joe walked around to give advice as we added lighter greens to our paintings and then the grass area. Most of us hadn’t heard of ‘sky holes’, painted on trees to give reference to the sky, but we tried this technique using white and alizarin crimson or red. We also used palette knives and old credit cards to add texture to the foreground.

Here’s the art group working hard, nicely cooled by the air con. Thank you for the photos, Joe.

We all used the same reference image but every painting created had its own unique feel. Some of us didn’t have time to paint the bluebells but we will paint them at home using a mixture of white, purple and blue.

For the second picture we used the same paint colours to paint trees with a path meandering through them. This time the light was ‘contre-jour’ meaning ‘against daylight’, with the camera/artist facing the primary light source with the sun shining through the trees in front of us. After painting the trees and path we dabbed on white and yellow paint for the sun with a fingertip and then used dampened kitchen roll to lightly spread the paint across the painting for the light effect.

Again it was interesting that we all used the same reference photo but every painting was different. Some could have been painted early morning, midday or in the evening and some were of very mysterious woods.

At the end of the session we put our paintings along one wall and Joe gave us helpful critiques of how we had painted during the day.

We thoroughly enjoyed this workshop with Joe as he patiently taught us with his knowledge. Thank you for coming, Joe, we hope to have you back again!

Well done everyone, you worked very hard for hours and took home two almost-finished paintings.

Look out for the next newsletter on 1st July. Our next session is on Wednesday 8th July from 7-9pm.

April 2025

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The group has had a good start to the year with five new members and most other members attending one session or other which is great news. For those too poorly to attend at the moment, we wish you well so you can paint with us again very soon!

Here are this month’s session ideas and, as always, they are simply suggestions, you can come along and ‘do your own thing’.

Wednesday 9th – 7-9pm –  JMW Turner 1775-1851

Born 250 years ago this month Joseph Mallord William Turner is known mostly for his oil paintings but he was also a printmaker and watercolourist. We had a session on Turner a few years ago when his image first adorned the new polymer £20 note, but as it was a successful session and everyone was inspired by his use of light and drama, we return to him. Draw or paint a dramatic scene using colour and light in any medium.

Info on Wiki… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner

National Gallery info, scroll down to see his paintings… https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner

10 Turner paintings… https://animato.uk/blogs/news/turners-top-10?srsltid=AfmBOoo1eUNFk_g7e7rAvrq8napKD7t4z6hyZ7qacDsRkj6cHRdZ4iS2

Saturday 26th – 10am-3pm –  Soft pastel, wild animal workshop with Paul Hinks

Paul Hinks ran a workshop with us in March 2024 and as there have been so many positive comments about the day, he is returning. Paul is a local artist whose work you may have seen at an Under the Rainbow exhibition at Bluewater and at events in Gravesend. His pastel artworks and paintings are absolutely amazing and you can see them here on his website… https://paulhinksart.co.uk

Here’s the blog post of Paul’s last workshop if you want to see what we did… https://chalkartgroup.uk/2024/03/24/saturday-23rd-march-2024-paul-hinks-soft-pastel-workshop/

It will be a soft pastel workshop and the subject will be wild animals again as this is his speciality. More details of photographs and equipment needed will be supplied very soon to give you time to purchase items, but you don’t have to spend anything if you don’t want to, bring along what you have. Oil pastels are not suitable though, you do need soft pastels which are the chalky ones.

At March’s Wednesday session Tracy asked everyone what animal they’d like to create in pastel and eleven different animals were suggested, with several people not minding. Paul will find reference pictures of the top 5 animals suggested and send Tracy an email which will be forwarded to you. If you’d rather source your own reference photos of wild animals that’s absolutely fine, just make sure that you have the correct colours for that animal. It’s no good choosing a flamingo or tiger then realising that you only have blue and green pastels!

The cost will be £12 each to cover Paul’s fee, the hall hire fee already covered by your subs. Please note that Paul is booked for 5 hours from 10am to 3pm so we plan to have an exhibition of all our work on the ledge about 2.45pm to admire what we’ve created.  

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 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 use WhatsApp to message her.

*** PLEASE DO NOT USE the comments box below as messages can take days to get through! ***

Once Tracy has confirmed your place please pay the £12 by bank transfer (preferred) or cash.

Paul hasn’t set a limit on numbers so hopefully everyone can come who wants a place.

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. 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!

Coloured pencil workshop – October 2024 – Saturday

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Fourteen members enjoyed an animal coloured pencil workshop run by local artists Liz and Helen. They met at Gravesend Art Group and both love creating pictures of animals using coloured pencil techniques learnt through online courses. Here are examples of their work that they sell at exhibitions and they also take commissions (apologies for the reflections of the hall lights). It’s amazing artwork with so much detail to look at.

Helen made up packs of sheets of information for us to use and Liz showed us how to colour the eye, nose and fur. By learning these three basics we can go on to create a picture of an animal of our choice. Both ladies walked around all day showing people individually how to lay the colours down and generously loaned their extensive coloured pencil collection for everyone to use, along with their ceramic slices and erasers.

No one had drawn on drafting film before and we were all surprised how well the colour layers could be built up. We put a smooth sheet of hot pressed watercolour paper or cartridge paper underneath the drafting film so the colours could be easily seen. The Tombow Mono erasers were useful for removing tiny areas of colour as the eraser head is so small and the ceramic slices used to remove areas of colour for highlights and individual strands of fur.

We all completed the eye, nose and fur and although we used the same templates the pictures look individual as we used many different coloured pencils in browns, reds, yellows and greys. Everyone was pleased to learn so much throughout the day, especially using the drafting film.

We’re all looking forward to drawing our next animal on the extra drafting film sheets which were given to us. When you finish your picture please email a photo to Tracy to be included in a future blog post.

Here are the finished pictures which were on the ledge at the back of the hall. (Apologies not to get the ones left on tables whilst we cleared up.)

Well done everyone you did really well and a huge thank you to Liz and Helen for such an informative workshop!

Our next session is on Wednesday 13th November 7-9pm, then it’s hanging evening on Friday 22nd November from 7pm and Open Day on Saturday 23rd November. On Open Day we meet from 10am with visitors from 10.30am to 2.30pm.