Leeds Art Group

Hi folks

In the “Places” Beginners Mixed Media Course this week, we created these colourful, mosaic style pictures using magazine collage.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2  had two challenges in one: drawing both glass and water, with some brilliant results.  The Beginners Watercolour Painting Course 2 used all the techniques we have practiced so far to produce beautiful, enlarged paintings of flowers.

Then after we’d done all that, we had our “Pop-Up” Exhibition!  Thank you to everyone who took part and came along on the night.  It was a great turn out and fantastic to see so many of you exhibiting your work and getting to meet other members of the group.  We had over 110 pieces of work on display looking brilliant all together.  Thank you so much to everyone who helped out with setting up and packing away.  The winner of the Favourite Picture Vote was Maureen Cormack.  It was a tie between 2 of her pictures: “Harold The Hare” and “Winter Landscape” (both pictured below).

2nd place:  “Leigh” by Eliza Perdon

3rd place: “Bridge at Malham” by Marie Imeson

Well done everyone.  I’m so proud of you all and really pleased that you got a chance to show off a bit!

See you all soon.

Wendy

Hi everyone

Can you believe we are on week 5 of the courses already?  The lessons are flying by, hope you’re enjoying them.

This week, in the “Places” Beginners Mixed Media Course we used watercolour pencils to create these fantastic pictures of the Statue of Liberty.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 used pen and cross hatching technique to produce tonal still life drawings.    In the Beginners Watercolour Painting Course 2 we looked at how to paint white objects and scenes by painting the shadows.  Well done everyone!  I can see many of you slowly starting to gain confidence in your drawing/painting and so you should, you’re improving every week!  I can’t wait to see what pieces of work you will be submitting for the “Pop-Up” Exhibition.  Here are the details again for anyone who has missed them.

On Friday 8th November we will be having a “Pop-Up” Exhibition at Headingley Parish Hall, St Michael’s Road, Headingley, LS6 3AW, 6-9pm.  This means you bring your work along with you on the night and take it away again at the end.  Anyone who has ever attended a Leeds Art Group course is welcome to exhibit.  Friends and family are also welcome to attend or anyone who just wants to come along and see what we do.  If you would like to exhibit a piece of work please email me for further details at:  leedartgroup@yahoo.co.uk.  There will also be a secondhand bookstall so please bring along any spare books you have on the night.  Hope you can make it!

Don’t forget, there are no classes next week but lessons will resume in the week commencing Monday 4th November.

Enjoy the break and I’ll see you all soon.

Wendy

Hi folks

This week the “Places” Beginners Mixed Media Course used charcoal blocks to create these industrial images.  It’s a pretty messy process but worth it for such striking results.  In the Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 we tried a few different exercises to help us to draw what we actually see and also to think about “negative space”.    The Beginners Watercolour Painting Course 2 experimented with different ways to paint landscapes using all the techniques we have covered so far.

You always rise to every challenge I give you.  So thank you to all of you for being willing to just have a go no matter what seemingly bonkers ideas I present you with.  Now it’s time to show off…..

On Friday 8th November we will be having a “Pop-Up” Exhibition at Headingley Parish Hall, St Michael’s Road, Headingley, LS6 3AW, 6-9pm.  This means you bring your work along with you on the night and take it away again at the end.  Anyone who has ever attended a Leeds Art Group course is welcome to exhibit.  Friends and family are also welcome to attend or anyone who just wants to come along and see what we do.  If you would like to exhibit a piece of work please email me for further details at:  leedartgroup@yahoo.co.uk.  There will also be a secondhand bookstall so please bring along any spare books you have on the night.  Hope you can make it!

See you next week.

Wendy

Hi everyone

In the “Places” Beginners Mixed Media Course this week, we used images from the city of Brussels to put together these great studies in water-soluble graphite. The Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 faced “The Pinecone Challenge” and emerged triumphant!  In the Beginners Watercolour Painting Course 2 we combined all the techniques we have practiced so far to produce these colourful paintings of pencils.

A bit of a tough one for everyone this week I think, but you did not let me down.  Well done everyone.

See you all next week.

Wendy

Hi folks

This week the “Places” Beginners Mixed Media Course looked at somewhere a little less exotic but no less colourful – a pantry.  I showed these fab paintings to a friend and she coined the phrase “Pop Pantry Art!”  You heard it here first!  In the Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 we focused on shading and how to create the correct tones.  The Beginners Watercolour Painting Course 2 used layering techniques to build up different tones in these monochrome paintings.

Well done everyone!  We’ve covered a lot already in this term but you’re doing fantastic.  Hang in there, lots more to come.

See you soon.

Wendy

Welcome back everyone!

And welcome to all our newcomers this term too!  Great to see everyone back in class and ready to get creative.  We kicked off with an explosion of colour in the “Places” Beginners Mixed Media Course.  These fantastic drawings of a sandstone formation were created using soft pastels.  In the Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 we looked at how we can use tone to make objects look 3 dimensional.  The Beginners Watercolour Painting Course started with some essentials – colour mixing and brush control.

A brilliant start everyone!  Looking promising for another great term of drawings.

See you next week.

Wendy

That’s all folks!

Yes, we have come to the end of the current term but the Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 3 finished in a flurry of colour with these amazing ink block paintings of jelly fish.  The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 had yet another big challenge this week  – the human figure.  We focused on proportion mainly and you all made great progress during the lesson.  Big thanks to Rhiannon, our life model, for stepping in at the last minute.  Thank you to everyone for all your hard work this term and for producing such fantastic pictures each week.  It’s been an absolute pleasure seeing all the lovely work you’ve created and I’ll look forward to seeing more when the new term starts in September.

The courses available for September are a brand new course – “Places” – Beginners Mixed Media Course and two other courses:  Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 and Beginners Watercolour Painting Course 2.  Full course details can be found on the Courses for 2019 page 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 email:  leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or tel: 07788 871286 or via the Contact page.

Enjoy the rest of the Summer and I hope to see you all in September.

Cheerio!

Wendy

Hi folks

This week the Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 3 used drawing ink on damp paper to create the fuzzy edges on these ring tailed lemurs.  This is a very unpredictable technique and takes a bit of practise to get good results so you all did incredibly well with it. The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 tackled the dreaded self-portraits this week.  A daunting task at first but brilliant results.  You all produced really good likenesses of yourselves.  Well done everyone!

Just one more lesson next week before courses finish for the Summer but don’t worry, we will be back in September with a brand new course – “Places” – Beginners Mixed Media Course and two other courses:  Beginners Drawing Course Level 2 and Beginners Watercolour Painting Course 2.  Full course details can be found on the Courses for 2019 page 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 email:  leedsartgroup@yahoo.co.uk or tel: 07788 871286 or via the Contact page.

See you soon!

Wendy

Hi everyone

In the Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 3 this week we painted these fantastic frogs using watercolour.  A difficult medium to get the hang of but you all produced some brilliant paintings. The Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 did some timed drawings to focus on how to build up a picture from start to finish.  Fabulous work once again – keep it up!

See you all next week

Wendy

Hi folks

This week the Beginners Animal Portraiture Course 3 used soft pastels to create these colourful bee drawings. In the Beginners Drawing Course Level 1 we drew from photos of Italian statues to practise shading in different tones. We’re already halfway through the courses and I’m really pleased with how well you’re all doing.  You should be starting to feel a bit more confident about your drawings now.

See you soon.

Wendy