Focus on Flowers Workshop at Dobbies

The Focus on Flowers Workshop at Dobbies Garden Centre, King's Lynn, was a great success and based on the feedback from participants it would seem everyone went away armed with some nuggets of new information and enthusiasm for tackling more flower drawings and paintings.

The four photos here show some of the preparatory work in a sketchbook for discussing how the basic structure of most flowers fall into one of eight categories.

This was the subject I introduced at the beginning before we moved out into the garden centre and had a go at some structure drawings from live plants.

This led into focusing on how tone adds information about the light source, form of the subject and where things are in space, even if it is very a shallow space rather than the foreground / middleground / background of an expansive landscape. There was time to settle and work on one longer tonal study or several shorter ones.



Light and shade visually allows areas to come forward and others to recede - even though it is just a flat piece of paper!

               
                 

We had a break for lunch in the restaurant area and enjoyed a delicious meal of jacket potatoes with a variety of fillings and a  salad garnish. As we sipped tea and coffee there was reflection on experiences so far, and a few people mentioned how interested some customers had been in what was going on and how different it was for them to see flowers being drawn in sketchbooks.









The afternoon was devoted to using watercolour and working from a flower specimen individually chosen from the garden centre. Strategies practised in the morning helped with getting a basic drawing in place; and one participant, feeling bold, decided to go straight in with paint and use soft fusions of colour as her starting point. I had demonstrated briefly some of the main useful watercolour techniques and also how coloured or water soluble pencils can be successfully incorporated to enhance passages in the work.

Working from chosen flower specimens.

Focused on their flowers, observation and creativity...

There was a break mid afternoon and Dobbies supplied us with more refreshments and plates of wonderful cakes and traybakes. Then it was back to work...

Light and airy in Dobbies restaurant, and plenty of room to work.

It was a great day - lovely company, delicious food and plenty of teas, coffees and iced juice to keep the brain cells alert. I thank all the staff at Dobbies for their welcome and generosity in accomodating us. As the weather warms up, your garden comes to fruition and the local parks show off colourful flower displays, try capturing some of that beauty in a sketchbook or painting as a memory of time spent observing nature closely.

Practice, practice, practice...

Quick A5 sketchbook portrait studies
(charcoal pencil on left, charcoal stick on right). 

In my Mixed Media classes this term I have been really encouraging the use of sketchbooks. As the pages have been filling up I can see how my enthusiasm is catching on, and many class members have been using theirs between sessions. It is such a simple way of integrating creativity into everyday life and artists at all stages of development reap the benefits of regular practice!

The photo above was another quick session at trying to capture a likeness in a portrait by looking at the big shapes first. They are both in charcoal, one in charcoal pencil and the other with a willow charcoal stick. Side by side it is easy to see the denser velvety marks deposited by the stick.

Portrait study of my son, 15 minutes.

And another 15 minute study, my son this time as he played on a computer game (wearing headphones). These were in preparation for the class session where members were asked to work in their sketchbooks and do rapid charcoal studies of each other for the first hour. After break they could work on a longer study, in the medium of choice, either from life from their own reference photo. They all did a fantastic job and were pleasantly surprised at how much information could be captured in short bursts of 10 - 15 minutes!

It is still looking like Henderson Art and Framing will be closing it's doors permanently... and I have been firming up plans for the future. The response from the people I currently teach there has been positive and I really hope they will continue on their personal art journeys, with me would be lovely, but in any way, shape, or form. I will be offering various art events and workshops at different locations, so some exciting new ventures for me too! The first is a Social Sketchbook session at a small rare breeds farm next month and in May another outdoor session in the local park. Hopefully the weather will have warmed up a bit by then. Two weeks ago I had a great meeting with the store manager and the catering manager of the Dobbies Garden Centre in King's Lynn to discuss the possibility of holding a workshop there for my class members. I was delighted with the enthusiastic response I received, and in May I will be running a one-day workshop titled Focus on Flowers. 

Pastel Class... working 'as if on location'.

    
In preparation for life beyond the art classes at Henderson this term I included a session for all my hard working students based on the premise of 'as if on location'. I placed some A3 photocopied images around the studio featuring a variety of subjects - a dog on the beach, a bluebell wood, a boat, an old archway, a cat on top of the stairs, a sunflower, some bowls players, a busy scene with chickens and some bright pink flowers clinging to a rock face. I had moved the tables around to enable better views but suggested working with sketchbooks/drawing boards on laps, or even try standing up, to simulate the more usual conditions of working on location.

Mixed Media Class... working 'as if on location'.

There was a great atmosphere in all the sessions and some inspiring work produced. Most people managed two or more pieces of work, some were quick studies but also some resolved artworks. Congratulations to everyone concerned, and my thanks for rising to the challenge!

Entering the spirit of working 'as if on location'...
an enthusiastic class member standing and creating quick sketches
of chickens in her sketchbook!

If you have never tried working on location before why not have a go at this exercise and get in some practice? Instead of having your reference image right beside your working surface pin it up somewhere and pretend you are out of the comforts of your usual art space. Use easily portable art materials and try working quickly to capture the essence of your subject.