Hi folks

A colourful week for us this week with the Beginners Birds Drawing Course creating these beautiful pastel drawings of Kingfishers.  The Beginners Pastel Drawing Course experimented with different techniques to produce vibrant still life pictures.  The Beginners Portraiture Course Level 1 focused on mouths this week using pencil and pen to create interesting tone effects.  Lots of great drawings this week and it was difficult to narrow it down to just these four.

For all you budding exhibitors, the Ilkley Art Show is now accepting submissions for it’s exhibition on 16th & 17th August 2019.  Click on this link for further information:  www.Ilkleyartshow.co.uk.

See you all next week.

Wendy

Welcome back everyone!

Hope you all had a good break and a great Christmas.  A warm welcome to all our new students this year aswell.  We started the brand new Beginners Birds Drawing Course with some scraperboard drawings of Starlings.  This meant sort of working in negative as you had to scrape away the lighter areas.  The Beginners Pastel Drawing Course worked from photos of Impressionist paintings to practise mark making and colour mixing.  The Beginners Portraiture Course – Level 1 started with the basic proportions of the head – the fundamentals for a good portrait.  Fantastic work everyone!  Hope you all enjoyed your first lesson and I’m looking forward to seeing what else you can do throughout the rest of the course.

See you all next week.

Wendy

Hi folks

For our final course lesson the Beginners Watercolour Course 2 painted directly from objects rather than photos.  People often find this more difficult than working from photgraphs but you all did great.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 worked on a group collaborative piece based on an Escher lithograph, using all the skills they have practised throughout the course.  The Beginners Drawing from Nature Course created some really vibrant drawings of blackberries using watercolour blocks.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 had a life model to pose for them this week (thanks Harry).

Well, it’s that time again.  We’ve finally come to the end of term and the end of the courses for 2018.  But fear not!  Full course details for next term can be viewed on the “Courses for 2019” page of the website by clicking here.  Places are filling up fast and the Monday Morning course is already full, so please apply early to avoid disappointment.

If you have any questions about the courses or would like to book a place then please get in touch either by telephone on 07788 871286 or email: leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or via the “Contact” page.

Thank you to everyone for all your hard work and enthusiasm this term.  Thank you also for the lovely flowers and chocolates.  The chocolates are long gone but the flowers are still going strong.

Hope to see you all in 2019!  Bye for now.

Wendy

Hi everyone

After our week off the Beginners Watercolour Course 2 were straight back into it with an explosion of colour in these enlarged flower paintings.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 worked on different backgrounds in pen and used cross hatching to produce different tones.  The Beginners Nature Course also used pen and similar techniques to create drawings of toadstools with just a hint of subtle colour.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 did some fantastic self-portraits.

Great work everyone.  Only one more lesson of the courses next week before we break up.  Better make it a good’un!

The course details for next term have now be announced and full course details can be viewed on the “Courses for 2019” page of the website by clicking here.  If you have any questions about the courses or would like to book a place then please get in touch either by telephone on 07788 871286 or email: leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or via the “Contact” page.

See you next week.

Wendy

Hi folks

The challenge for the Beginners Watercolour Course 2 this week was to paint white without using white!?  In other words: painting the shadows on white objects.  Very tricky to do but very effective with a bit of practise.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 had their own challenge in drawing not just glass but water aswell.  Well done for not being phased by how difficult this looked.  The Beginners Drawing from Nature produced these fab, shiny, conker drawings using watercolour pencils.  In the Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 we did a series of timed drawings to help work out the best way to build up a picture and focus quickly on the key elements.  Difficult tasks for everyone this week but well done for rising to the challenge!

Don’t forget, there are no classes next week.  Lessons will resume in the week commencing 5th November 2018.  Enjoy the break and happy Halloween!

See you all soon.

Wendy

P.S.  a couple of things that might be of interest:  “The Big Draw” events nearby.

For anyone that submitted postcards for the St Gemma’s Secret Art Project, the postcards are now up for auction on their ebay site.  Click here to view the postcards.

Hi everyone

This week the Beginners Watercolour Course 2 painted a series of landscapes and practised using different colour combinations to make greens.  In the Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 we did a series of exercises to help us draw what we can actually see rather than what we think we can see.  The Beginners Drawing from Nature used a “Stick and ink” technique to create large scale drawings of shells.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 worked on accuracy and explored how using a grid can help with proportion.  Fab work everyone!  Half way through the course already and you’re doing great.

See you all next week.

Wendy

Hi folks

In week 3 the Beginners Watercolour Course 2 combined colour mixing and layering of different tones to create these paintings of pencils.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 took on the “Pinecone challenge”.  If you can draw this you can draw anything!  Well done everyone!  The Beginners Drawing from Nature Course used oil pastels to create wonderful Autumn leaves and the Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 worked on scale and looked at how to enlarge shapes using a viewfinder (whilst also getting messy with charcoal and pastel).  Lots of challenges for everyone this week but you are doing fantastic – keep it up!

See you soon

Wendy

Hi everyone

This week the Beginners Watercolour Course 2 focused purely on tone and layering to create depth in their paintings.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 did some fine tuning on their shading techniques.  The Beginners Drawing from Nature Course got to be the messy group this week by using soft pastels for these fantastic flower drawings.  Yes, we all got covered in pastel but it was worth it for these results.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 moved onto manmade forms this time.  A bit trickier than natural forms and much less room for error but great work, particularly on your proportion.

I’m really pleased with all the work you’re doing and I hope you are too.

More next week!

Wendy

Welcome back everyone!  And welcome to all our new students too!

Hope you’ve all had a good summer.  You were certainly all ready to get stuck into some arty stuff this week.  It’s great to see you all so enthusiastic and eager to learn and hopefully the first lesson wasn’t as scary as you thought it might be.

We kicked off the new term with the Beginners Watercolour Course 2 who practised colour mixing and a few techniques to help them throughout the course.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 explored tone and how it can be used to transform flat shapes into 3D objects.  The Beginners Drawing from Nature Course did some enlarged watercolour paintings of pebbles and the Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 used basic shapes and shading to build up drawings of natural forms.  Fantastic work everyone!  A really good start to the new term and I’m looking forward to seeing what you can create over the next few weeks.  Remember if you want to comment on anything on this website, anything you’ve done in class or anything else to do with Leeds Art Group then simply click on “Leave a comment”.

See you all next week.

Wendy

Hi everyone

Even after the exhibition is over there is still work to be done and we were back in class again for the final week of lessons this term.

The Beginners Portraiture Course Level 2 used ink blocks to create these vibrant and colourful portraits.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 faced the ultimate challenge – self-portraits with some great results.

Thank you to everyone for all their hard work and enthusiasm this term.  You’ve been great classes to teach and I hope to see you all when the new term starts in September.  The following courses will be running next term:

Beginners Watercolour Course 2

Beginners Drawing Course Level 1

Beginners Drawing Course Level 2

Beginners Drawing from Nature Course

For full course details please visit the “Courses for 2018” page and if you have any questions or would like to book a place then please contact me on tel:  07788 871286 or email:  leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or get in touch via the “Contact” page.

Enjoy the rest of the Summer and I’ll see you in the Autumn.

Cheerio!

Wendy