Summer Sunshine & End of Term

The relaxed state started early today.  What a beautiful day!

Today's painting was a Summer Sunshine Landscape with buttercups.

A very happy sunny idea.

I particularly like this inspiring photograph of Claire's.

We pencilled in our initial sketch and masked the buttercups with masking fluid.

Some people did farmhouses, some did cows, it was very relaxed today, you could decide how you wanted your finished painting to look.

We had a complete mix of artists too, from beginners through to artists who've been with us for eight or so years.  It was a lovely group.

We had a "Jamie" inspired lunch, delicious asparagus, followed by Berkshire strawberries which I used in the latest Waitrose pudding recipe.

Here are the finished paintings:

Today was the last class of term.  I will update the blog with next term's dates during the Summer Holidays, if you would like to be on my mailing list, please get in touch.

Malta Watercolour

Hard at work on Wednesday at our Summer in the Med watercolour class.

Claire had chosen a lovely photograph of a harbour in Malta called Marsaxlokka.

It was full of colour and points of interest.

We talked about the composition of the picture, you don't have to put everything in, you can hint at things that are there, and build up a focus around a certain area that the eye will automatically go to.

First we did a wash for the sky and worked on the outline of our buildings.

We used masking fluid for white stripes on the boat and on some of the market awnings.

Some of us used a new fan brush to do the palm trees. 

The boats were the last to be painted, followed by some reflections in the water. 

It was a loooong day, hard work, but lots learnt!

(The painting below still needs to be finished)

We enjoyed a delicious lunch

Some Salmon with Honey, Lavender and Pistachios, from a Good Housekeeping Recipe

With some delicious tomato and bean salad salsa from my new favourite book, The Medicinal Chef, Dale Pinnock, and Mary Berry's classic potato salad.

And there's no better pud on a Summer's Day, than meringues, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and some greek yoghurt with a whirl of vanilla bean paste mixed through.

The Rockies Return ....

This photo sums up our class yesterday, lots of laughter and fun!

Along with tons of drawing, perspective and lines ... before anyone was allowed to pick up a paintbrush!

It was lovely to celebrate a shared birthday of both our tutor Claire and Maggie, who came with her Wokingham Rock Choir friends.