Hi folks

This week I gave you all some really tricky challenges and it was great to see how you all embraced the tasks.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 took on “The Pinecone Challenge”.  This is always a tricky one and you really had to concentrate to achieve this level of accuracy, well done!  The Beginners Pastel Drawing Course had to deal with a mainly white still life and had to get creative with their colour mixing for the shadows.  Fantastic work everone.  I’m so pleased with how you’re all doing so far.

Don’t forget there are no classes next Monday (17th April) as it’s the Easter Monday bank holiday.  Hope you all have a lovely Easter and I’ll see you all back in class on Monday 24th April 2017.

Wendy

P.S.  There is a Chinese Calligraphy Workshop in Leeds on 26th April (not run by Leeds Art Group).  Further details can be found on their website here:   https://lbchinesecalligraphy.eventbrite.co.uk

Hi everyone

Only week 2 of the courses and you’re already producing fantastic work!  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 continued to work on shading techniques by making some observation drawings of plants.  You all managed to get a really good range of tones, well done.  The Beginners Pastel Drawing Course created some really colourful and vibrant drawings of still life.  Great work everyone, I really enjoyed seeing the work you produced this week, hope you enjoyed it too.

There is a painting/drawing workshop at CafeLux in Pudsey on Sunday 16th April that might be of interest to some of you.  It’s 10am – 3pm and costs £35 which includes all materials.  This isn’t run by Leeds Art Group so please contact the course tutor Paul Ashton at: paulashton6969@gmail.com for further info.

See you all next week.

Wendy

Welcome back everyone!

It’s great to see familiar faces back in class and also some brand new ones.  I hope you are all ready to get creative.  If I had to give you one piece of advice right now then I would tell you to forget about any self doubts you may have had about coming to art classes.  You’ve already done the difficult bit by joining the course.  Now all you’ve got to do is relax and enjoy it.  So give yourself a good pat on the back and hold onto that positivity for the rest of the term.  This term we have 2 different courses running.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 started by using basic lines and shapes to build up a drawing and then using shading to make objects look 3 dimensional.  The Beginners Pastel Drawing Course began by looking at Impressionist paintings to explore colour mixing and mark-making.

A great start everyone, hope you’ve got a taste for more!

See you all next week.

Wendy

Hi everyone

Well, we’ve now come to the end of the current courses and you’ve all made brilliant progress.  As you know, there are no gradings or assessments in Leeds Art Group courses but please consider yourselves all to have graduated with first class honours!  The Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 2 finished the term in a beautiful flurry of colour by using ink blocks to create some amazing peacock drawings.  The Beginners Drawing Course 1 tried one of the most difficult subjects to draw but also one of the most rewarding – the human figure.  I could clearly see how you all improved your technique just in this one lesson, well done!  For the finale of the Beginners Portraiture Course we had the opportunity to finally put together everything we had learned throughout the course by drawing a full portrait from life.  Well done, you were really thinking about all the different aspects we have covered and you produced some great drawings.  Thanks to both our models: Nicoletta and Grace and to Mary for the yummy Victoria sponge!

I’ve hope you’ve all enjoyed the courses.  I’ve had a great time teaching you and I’m looking forward to seeing many of you again next term.  For those of you who haven’t signed up for the next courses yet, it’s not too late. Some of the courses are almost full though so please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment

The new term starts on Monday 27th March 2017 and full course details can be found on the “Courses for 2017” page.  If you have any questions or would like to book a place please get in touch on tel: 07788 871286 or email: leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or contact me via our “Contact” page.

See you all soon.

Wendy

Hi everyone

What a great week of drawings!  The Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 2 did some fantastic drawings of leopards just using black, white and the golden colour of the paper.  The Beginners Drawing Course 1 drew some amazing self portraits, all starting with the same guidelines but producing very individual results and fantastic likenesses.  The Beginners Portraiture Course made some drawings of children this week and focused on how their proportions are slightly different to those of adults.  You’ve created some brilliant work this week and I wish there was room to display all of them on here.  Keep up the good work!

Next week is sadly the last lesson of this term but don’t worry – you won’t have to wait long for the next one to start!  The new term starts on Monday 27th March 2017 and full course details can be found on the “Courses for 2017” page.  Some of the courses are starting to fill up so please apply early to avoid disappointment.  If you have any questions or would like to book a place please get in touch on tel: 07788 871286 or email: leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or contact me via our “Contact” page.

See you next week.

Wendy

Hi folks

It was nice to have a splash of colour again in the Animal Portraiture course with your oil pastel drawings of highland cattle.  The Drawing course did some timed drawings of still life to help them focus on the key elements of a drawing at the start before adding detail.  The Portraiture course tackled two different features this week – hair and ears whilst also practising their shading skills.  Well, done everyone.  You’ve made so much progress so far and haven’t been afraid to try new things each week.  Give yourselves a well earned pat on the back and I’ll see you all next week.

Wendy

Welcome back everyone!

Hope you all enjoyed being back in class after our little break.  The Animal Portraiture course were thrown straight back into getting messy with charcoal this week.  Well worth the mess if you ask me, for the fantastic pictures you produced of the iguana.  The Drawing course looked at accuracy and how using a grid can help to enlarge pictures accurately.  Attention to detail was very important here and I could almost hear you all concentrating.  The Portraiture course moved onto eyes this week.  Possibly the most important part of a portrait and worth spending time on to get them just right.  It’s great to have you all back and I’m looking forward to next week.

The details for new courses starting 27th March 2017 are now available on our “Courses for 2017” page.  Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to book a place.  Tel:  07788 871286 or email:  leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or use the Contact page.

Wendy

Hi everyone

Another great week of new challenges and new techniques.  The Animal Portraiture Course 2 produced some incredible pictures of wolves using scraperboard.  This was a very unforgiving medium so you all did exceptionally well.  The Beginners Drawing Course 1 looked at scale this week and the difficulties involved in enlarging objects in a drawing whilst still keeping the correct proportions.  Well done everyone, you really got the hang of this.  The Beginners Portraiture Course made some studies of noses this week in both pencil and pastel – using the grey paper to act as a mid- tone.  Fantastic work everyone!

Don’t forget there are no classes next week but classes will resume on Monday 20th February 2017.  Enjoy the break and I’ll see you all back in class very soon.

Wendy

Hi folks

In the Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 2 we went all bright and beautiful this week with pastel drawings of butterflies.  Despite us all getting covered in pastel you produced some really lovely drawings, well done.  The Beginners Drawing Course 1 continued to look at composition and proportion but this time using manmade objects as a subject.  These are always a little bit trickier to draw than natural forms but really good practise to improve your drawing skills.  In the Beginners Portraiture Course we started to look more closely at individual features to really focus on details.  This week we looked at mouths and tried a cross-hatching technique to create different tones.  Great work everyone!

See you all next week.

Wendy

Hi everyone

What a great start to the new term.  The Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 2 started with a watercolour pencil drawing of a fish.  We really focused on getting the proportions just right as this is going to help us throughout the course.  You all did really well, especially as this was a brand new technique for some of you.  The Beginners Drawing Course 1 began with drawing some natural forms and looking at composition.  You selected some great compositions and it was good to see how well you picked up the basic shading techniques.  We will practise this a lot more in the rest of the course.  The Beginners Portraiture Course started by looking at facial proportions and how slight changes in the angle of the head, neck and shoulders can make a big difference to the overall look of a portrait.  You really got the hang of this and I was so pleased with the work you produced.  Well done everyone!  A fantastic start.

Looking forward to seeing what else you can all do.

Wendy