PAST EVENTS
On the 10th September 2018, Mr Keith Nash gave us a demonstration on watercolour skies. Keith explained that he admired other artists such as Brian Day and Trevor Chamberlian, whose paintings are also light and atmospheric. Keith uses 300gms paper (Langton or Bockingford), Hake brushes with a sharp edge, a fan brush, and a Rigger for birds & reeds, plus a sharp knife for scratching out detail like windows, reeds, etc. Keith uses Cotman paints such as Sepia, Paynes Grey & Cerulean Blue for his skies and Yellow Ochre & Alizarin Crimson for other areas. He showed the group the use of tissue paper to soak up excessive moisture to prevent 'cauliflowers' However, Keith's most important tip was never to wash brushes out in a container that is similar to a coffee mug!
On Monday the 5th November 2018 we welcomed Mr David Chedgey to our art group, who prior to his workshop on portrait painting he gave us an entertaining talk on his varied life. He attended several art schools and taught art at Wymondham College as well as his memories of John Lennon! ‘Chedgey’, as he likes to be known, gave us several tips on the positions of features of the face, namely: eyes half way down the face; the corner of the eyes should be in line with the top of the ears; the nose is normally a third of the way down the face; the eyes are usually one eye distance apart; the middle of the pupil of the eye gives you the corners of the mouth and the bottoms of the ears are level with the corners of the mouth. However, it is quite acceptable to trace the outline of a face by rubbing the back of a photocopy (of a photograph) with either a pastel or charcoal pencil, turning it over and placing it over artist’s paper, then tracing over the photocopy to create an outline on the artist’s paper. To paint, start with a neutral colour, burnt umber and Prussian or Phthalo blue to cover main outlines. Then use a combination of lemon yellow/bright red/yellow ochre to blend the colours of the face. When using acrylics use white for the highlights or leave white paper showing when using watercolours. Balance out light/shade with various tones of pink and brown. We had a very informative and enjoyable afternoon with ‘Chedgey’, who helped us all to have a go at portrait painting.
On Monday 10th December 2018: Bacton Art Group's Christmas Lunch at the North Walsham Garden Centre. Yummy lunch, wonderful company, secret Santa and chocs. What more could you want. Many thanks to Mary and Linda for organising it and to Bill and everyone involved in keeping this small friendly art group going. #Turkey #xmas pud #crackers #lovely friends #feel full up #need a sleep.
On the 4th of February 2019, we were given a workshop on ‘furry animals’ using pen and watercolours by Mrs Kate Gabriel. Kate told us that she used either ‘Two Rivers’ or Bockingford 300g/m² paper and advised the use of Artist quality paints, if possible. Kate started with a feint pencil sketch to ensure that the picture fitted onto the paper, or within a mount. The sketch should be free-hand if possible, but it can be traced if absolutely necessary. One tip from Kate was to draw up-side-down, in order to concentrate on the actual shapes and shading, as opposed to the mind drawing what it thinks should be there. Another tip is to look twice as hard at the subject as opposed to the actual painting. When finished, the picture should be gone over using a thin permanent ink pen (that is left to dry) and then the pencil lines rubbed out. The picture is then to be built up using the pen, to define the dark and light areas. Regarding watercolours, Kate said that it is very important to understand how to mix colours, as opposed to using a proprietary colour. The picture should then be built up using light colours to dark ones and then left to dry. If necessary further detail can be brought out, or enhanced, with the use of the ink pen. We had a very enjoyable afternoon’s painting that was both informative and fun.
On Monday 15th April, 2019 Mr Martin Sexton visited The Bacton Art Group and gave us a very enjoyable and informative demonstration of water colour painting. He keeps his colours very simple using mainly Newton and Windsor Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Light Red, Olive Green and Alizarin Crimson. Windsor Blue and Alizarin Crimson are very powerful so use sparingly! Martin uses Arches rough (NOT) paper 300g/m². He recommends a good sized water jar (make sure you clean your brush frequently). Do not use a rubber as it will damage the paper. A sharp Stanley knife can be used to remove paint. You get what you pay for when buying brushes.
When painting after wetting the paper use the back of your hand to test the wetness of the paper. Always put the lightest colour on first and work from light to dark, thinking of the colours underneath first. Keep working on the whole picture and don’t concentrate on one thing. Paint for five seconds and look for five seconds and keep concentrating on the picture you are working from. When painting the horizon line use a ruler held upright at an angle to support your brush. When painting a sky with two colours, leave a gap (about the width of a ruler) between the colours., this allows the colours to slowly merge on wet paper. Other hints are making sure the 'balance' of the picture is right and animals and people give the picture scale. Leave the picture overnight and look at it with fresh eyes in the morning, to decide if it is finished. When painting a picture with buildings start with the sides of the house first. When Martin painted a tree he used the brush like a pallet knife laying it across the fingers.
Martin has a wonderful sense of humour so as well as learning new techniques we all had a laugh!
Bacton Art Group held their annual exhibition over the Bank Holiday weekend 25/26/27th May, 2019. Many members of the group exhibited and sold paintings as well as prints and cards. A percentage of the sale price plus donations covered the cost of the hire of Bacton Village Hall which helped contribute to a very successful three days.
There was a great sense of camaraderie when members and their relatives helped set up the display boards and tables and did it all again at the end of the three days! All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend.
On the 29th July 2019 Bacton Art Group held their annual 'plein-air' painting and sketching day at How Hill near Ludham. It was a glorious day, sunny but not too hot, and the group lunch was very good. We especially liked the views of the river and windmills across the Broads. The flowers, tress and wildlife in the Secret Garden were well photographed for future painting. Despite the distractions of the excellent company magnificent surroundings, some of us actually managed to do some sketching. All in all a wonderful day out, which we hope to repeat next year.
On the 16th of September 2019 the group had another visit by Mrs Kate Gabriel, who gave a workshop on colours and colour mixing. The session started with making our own colour wheels (using either watercolour or acrylic paint), and then defining Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colours. Kate then went on to explain that opposite colours on the colour wheel were known as “Complementary”, and can be used to create a striking contrast in a painting, whilst colours adjacent on the colour wheel were known as “Harmonious”, and can be used to create a more ‘mellow and harmonious’ painting. The group was then given a colour matching exercise, using the new colour wheels, and the workshop finished off with a general question and answer session. The workshop was a very worthwhile exercise in ‘going back to basics’ with colour, and the afternoon was very informative, relaxed and good fun.
On Monday 28th October, 2019 Mr Bob Crook, wildlife artist came to talk to The Bacton Art Group about Drawing and Sketching. He has spent many years in nature conservation management but has always been a keen artist taking inspiration from Keith Shackleton, Roland Green and Jason Partner. Bob emphasised the importance of scale when drawing. Often the scale of a drawing can be determined by shapes or features in the foreground, ie a figure, an animal or a vehicle. He explained the concept of perspective which can be separated into aerial and linear categories and went on to show us one, two and three point perspective and vanishing points. We also discussed shading and the different techniques to achieve this. Finally we all had a go at sketching and drawing which rounded off a very enjoyable and informative
On Monday 16th December 2019, the Bacton Art Group had its Christmas meal at the North Walsham Garden Centre. We had a good lunch followed by after diner mints and gifts. The lunch was very enjoyable with lively conversation intermingled with much laughter. Special thanks go to Linda and Mary for organising the event.
On Monday 17th February 2020 we welcomed Mrs Janet Ellmore to our group. Jan gave us a class on 'secondary figures' in a painting, explaining how to use perspective to scale figures (and other objects), plus how much detailing to use at different scales. This was followed by a talk on different textures using acrylic and watercolour paints. Such as using cling-film, sand, salt, rice, bubble blowing, etc,. The afternoon finished with all the group experimenting with mixing washing-up liquid and water with acrylic paint, blowing bubbles via a straw and laying the resulting foam onto paper to dry. Needless to say the group had much fun and made lots of mess.
The Bacton Art Group closed down in March 2020 due to the Corona virus pandemic and re-opened in June 2021, in accordance with government guidelines.
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On Monday 22nd November 2021 Bill kindly brought his computer and digital projector to the art group and we watched several YouTube demonstrations which will help us include people and animals in our paintings:
Figures, hints and tips - Geoff Kersey.
Landscape Figures - Malcolm Dewey.
Cats and Dogs - Bob Davies.
Chickens - Nicola Newzenler.
Horses - Bob Davies.
Birds - Paul Clark.
Sheep - Peter Woolley.
Painting Figures in Watercolour - Niaz Hannan.
To add to the enjoyment there was cake!!
On Monday 13th December 2021, the art group had its' Christmas lunch at Watsons (formally Sugar & Spice) in Bacton - all in accordance with Covid restrictions. There was plenty of food, presents and lots of laughs.
Bacton Art Group held their annual exhibition over the Bank Holiday weekend on the 30th April, 1st & 2nd May 2022. Many members of the group exhibited and sold paintings as well as prints and cards. A percentage of the sale price plus various donations helped cover the cost of the hire of Bacton Village Hall. It was a very successful and enjoyable three days with a great sense of camaraderie plus lots of laughs and fun. It is always a great feeling of satisfaction when someone appreciates a piece of art enough to buy it!
Joy Cole visited The Bacton Art Group on Monday 11th July 2022 to give a talk and demonstration on painting with acrylics. Firstly she explained that Acrylic paints can be used straight onto canvas or on other surfaces which have been primed with gesso. It is best to buy good quality paints such as Liquitex or Daler Rowney and include a variety of colours. Magenta plus white creates a nice pink. She feels it is unnecessary to purchase expensive brushes. Only use water to clean the brush. Paints in use can be kept moist by lining a container with wet kitchen roll, covered with greaseproof paper. Blending the paint is key. Enjoy being creative and see what evolves. All is not lost if it isn’t working out as the joy of acrylic paints is that you can paint over problem areas!! It was a very enjoyable afternoon and there was cake too! Joy Cole visited The Bacton Art Group on Monday 11th July to give a talk and demonstration on painting with acrylics. Firstly she explained that Acrylic paints can be used straight onto canvas or on other surfaces which have been primed with gesso. It is best to buy good quality paints such as Liquitex or Daler Rowney and include a variety of colours. Magenta plus white creates a nice pink. She feels it is unnecessary to purchase expensive brushes. Only use water to clean the brush. Paints in use can be kept moist by lining a container with wet kitchen roll, covered with greaseproof paper. Blending the paint is key. Enjoy being creative and see what evolves. All is not lost if it isn’t working out as the joy of acrylic paints is that you can paint over problem areas!! It was a very enjoyable afternoon and there was cake too!
Keith Nash revisited the Bacton Art Group on Monday 24th October 2022 to give a lively demonstration and workshop on his watercolour techniques for painting dramatic skies, reflections on water and features including flying geese, the moon/sun, boats, etc. He gave us advice on watercolour paper, paints, brushes, timing and how to achieve simple effects. Everyone really enjoyed an afternoon of learning, fun, painting plus tea and cake.
On Monday 19th December 2022, the Bacton Art Group had its Christmas meal at the North Walsham Garden Centre. We had an great lunch with lots of laughter and lively discussion. Between courses we opened our secret Santa Christmas cards and had much amusement guessing who had made each card, some of which were excellent. Special thanks go to Pasty for organising the event.
Bank Holiday week end 26th, 27th and 28th May 2023 we held our annual exhibition.
Once again this was a great success with 16 members of the group entered paintings.
We had a steady flow of the public coming in to view the exhibition.
On 13th November 2023 We had a workshop on Pen and Water colour given by Lorraine Auton from the Studio Above in Acle. The subject was fungi. 13 members enjoyed an excellent afternoon producing some very good work.
On Monday 18th December 2023 the group held its Christmas Lunch at North Walsham Garden Centre
