This is one acrylic task I have created for a class this week. It is after the famous painting by Monet. This was great to work on not too difficult. I have created a copy of this in the past in pastel, but I would love to try it in oil, it is just have the time to spare and the method of using oip is more intense and those many layers! This is one I did in 2017 in pastel the other one was the same time but acrylic.

One of the challenges for one of my art classes was inspired by a painting (oil) by Robert Brindley.   I decided to make this in a challenge of many steps and processes. Step One Draw/sketch and then use watercolour to add colour.  This was meant to be a quickish task and one upon which the other two tasks will be built upon.  This was done free hand and in the sketching style of Peter Cronin .  Step Two This next stage was to use tracing paper and copy the image and transfer to a new sheet of A3 paper.  Wahtever methid is used will a teaching oprotunity for the class.  I transfered my watercolour sketch onto a new sheet and used pen and ink as my next medium to use.  tis step took a few hours to complete. Step Three The final step is to use the original tracing and transfer i=onto another A3 sheet but this time make it a completd painting in acrylic.  This was a great challenge for me personally and it is one that took many hours but each medium ...

This is my third time of painting this for my classes, but this time I took my time and did it with pace and more enjoyment.  The students seemed to enjoy this task as well.  As I progressed through the layers of tonal values I decided to add something different, some blue, cobalt and white mix.   This gave the whole scene a little bit of interst and I felt it added to the over all feel of the painting.  The use of a pointer brush or a rigger brush was employed here for the distant and closer trees and foliage.  This took three hours and I used a canvas pad for this one which does give the texture a better sense of being an artwork rather than just painting on mixed media paper. I think the creative enthusiasm from this will help the studnets in the coming weeks.  

After walking to this beautiful bay I decided to sketch this simple scene looking up the steps from the bay (in the evening).  I sketched a pencil outline first and then used dipping ink and watercolour.  I think making journal art is a great way to remember places, this process is to just put this memory into artistic format. A wonderful day last week while in Tenby.

This was a live demo in another class, this time painted on canvas pad in acrylic.  I prefer this attempt to the most recent one.  I really enjoy using monochrome images.  Using just balck and white paint helps to understand the whole process of tonal values.

In a class yesterday I decided on the spur of the moment to paint an image of this bridge along the Taff trail in RCT but instead of colour I decided to use only black and white acrylic paint.  I used A4 canvas pad paper.  It took less than two hours; I enjoyed this attempt as it was more spontaneous and looser.  I applied based tones of grey and just built up the layers and sketched with paint rather than sketch out the scene before hand in pencil.  Monochrome images makes you focus more on what lights and darks there are in an image and this gives a great underpainting if you ever decided to add colour later on.  More like this may be coming for the next few weeks!!  

  This is a recent demonstration image for a handout I have prepared for a new class next week.  I had done this scene many years ago based on a charcoal study from a fine art drawing publication I read a while ago. This was my first copy in 2017. I like the older one better as I took more care to paint it, however, back to the recent demo.  I started with  simple black acrylic sketch. Next, I blocked in some tonal values quickly and roughly on drawing paper (a journal book). Then I moved onto the sky section and worked those soft edges for the clouds and the distant trees. I continued to work on the rest of the midground and foreground and added those poles. Finally, I added all the detail of the poles and the trees and the pathway down to the foreground.  The whole task took about an hour.

This is from a photo a member of the class gave us (along the Taff trail), I wanted to use acrylic for this one. I painted on canvas sheet pad A4 size. Took 2 hours, very enjoyable.  I love the autumnal feel to this scene.