Hi folks

This week the Beginners Birds Drawing Course shone the spotlight on the humble house sparrow, showing it can be just as beautiful as any of the more colourful birds in our gardens.  We used watercolour pencils for these drawings and experimented with colour mixing to create lots of varied browns.   In the Beginners Pastel Drawing Course we had the daunting task of self-portraits!  We worked through this step by step to produce some fantastic drawings.  The Beginners Portraiture Course Level 1 finally had chance to put all the pieces together in a full portrait this week.  Another week of fantastic drawings everyone – you always deliver!  One more week of this term to go.

The course dates for next term have now been announced and full course details can be viewed on the Courses for 2019 page by clicking here.  If you have any questions about the courses or would like to book a place or if you would like to be added to my mailing list then please get in touch either by email at leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk, telephone 07788 871286 or via the Contact page.

See you soon.

Wendy

Hi everyone

In the Beginners Birds Drawing Course this week, we produced a series of timed drawings using soft pastels.  By reducing the time allowed with each drawing we were able to practise making quick sketches that would be helpful if wanting to draw from real life.  The Beginners Pastel Drawing Course used all the skills they have learned so far to create delicious looking drawings of cupcakes (which made us all very hungry by the end of the lesson). The Beginners Portraiture Course Level 1 had twice the work this week as we focused on ears and hair. Great to see you all back in class after our break and beautiful pictures this week.

The course dates for next term have now been announced and full course details can be viewed on the Courses for 2019 page by clicking here.  If you have any questions about the courses or would like to book a place or if you would like to be added to my mailing list then please get in touch either by email at leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk, telephone 07788 871286 or via the Contact page.

See you next week

Wendy

Hi folks

We had a gorgeous, colourful Bullfinch to draw this week in the Beginners Birds Drawing Course, created using oil pastels.  In the Beginners Pastel Drawing Course we looked at scale and proportion whilst still practising all our techniques.  We looked at eyes this week in the Beginners Portraiture Course Level 1.  So much to think about when drawing eyes as they are often considered the most important part of a portrait.  Another great week full of wonderful drawings – keep it up!

Don’t forget there are no lessons next week as we have a week off for half term but classes will resume in the week commencing Monday 25th February.

The course dates for next term have now been announced and full course details can be viewed on the Courses for 2019 page by clicking here.  If you have any questions about the courses or would like to book a place or if you would like to be added to my mailing list then please get in touch either by email at leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk, telephone 07788 871286 or via the Contact page.

See you all soon and as it’s Valentine’s Day….lots of love!

Wendy xxx

Hi everyone

This week  the Beginners Birds Drawing Course used collage and pen to create these fantastic pictures of Herons.  The Beginners Pastel Drawing Course did a brilliant job of showing shadows on white objects without using black.  The Beginners Portraiture Course Level 1 also used pastels this week the to show the light and dark tones of noses.  Great work everyone and lots of progress being made already.  Well done.

See you next week.

Wendy

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