Winter Scene Watercolour 2

Our second Winter Scene of the week was of Lowther Church in the Lake District.

We used our own artistic licence and added a door facing this way!

Soft pinks and purples were added to the painting to contrast with the crispness of the snowy scene.

Here the painting has had the masking fluid applied and the first wash.

Here are the pretty churches and wintery trees ....

Winter Scene Watercolour 1

One of most popular classes each year is Winter Scene, it's so popular we have to hold two classes. 

Winter colours are really interesting, creating a feeling of cold, frost and atmosphere.  Claire shows how even when the world is white and snowy, that you can still see the colours in the snow.

Today's picture was a beautiful river and barge boat scene.

Our artists are busy above taking notes of all the colours needed for the early stages of the painting.

Their first stage was to mask out the very white areas before they brushed over their first watercolour wash.

Here are the finished works of art!

At the end of each class, Claire displays them in a mount and we have a gallery of paintings to admire.  They are all so different despite starting from the same idea.

Our first Oils class at Treetops! Huge Success!

After all our years of painting Watercolour, Acrylics, Pen and Wash we decided to hold a Watermixable Oils class (or rather I gave in after Claire convinced me she would clear up any horrible mess!)

It was really popular and sold out very quickly, all but one person had tried Oils before, so everyone was slightly nervous at what lay ahead. 

Whilst everyone enjoyed their morning coffee, Claire spoke about the oils, brushes and how to apply them, she demonstrated at the easel, blending and mixing the colours to create a gorgeous effect. 

There was a huge array of images to choose from, all atmospheric and misty.  We worked on a thin canvas board fixed to some great desk top easels.

Some stood, some sat, but always remembered Claire's words ... "stand back from your work to look at it every now and then".

We broke for lunch, all that concentration makes you hungry!

Citrus Baked Chicken with Pomegranate Rice

followed by Ginger Spiced Cake and Toffee Sauce

Everyone managed to embark on a second painting in the afternoon, after the morning experimentation of getting used to the oils, the artists produced much quicker paintings.

Below is a gallery of our work, some will still be drying .....!

Claire was delighted with everyone's first time at Oils, they were brilliant works of art.  The feedback was that it was an easy medium to apply, and many preferred it to Acrylics.

We will be holding another Watermixable Oils class in the Spring, keep your eye on the dates page (at the top of this blog) for when the dates are published.