Donkey

Well we began painting today.  We drew up our canvas for homework so we could waste no time in painting.  We started with the darks, using Prussian Blue and Scarlet.  Next was the glass.  By adding a touch of Cadmium Yellow and white to the mix, we made a slightly greeny hue.  While the paint was still wet, we painted in the ear that is behind the glass.  It would have been harder to leave it to dry as we wanted it soft and out-of-focus.  We then blotched (if that is such a word) over the glass with the lighter mix to try and indicate light and dirt.  Anyway, it was a good start to our donkey.

"Isle of Skye Sheep" by Andrea Morrison

Here is the finished painting by one of my students.  It's fabulous - it has lots of depth and movement.  The sheep appear as if you could reach out and touch them.  We were all very pleased with our paintings.

Carly and Calum

I've finished my portrait of the kids at last.  Now I'll have time to finish some of my other works.  I have 4 on the go at the moment, then next week I will be starting 2 new paintings with my students.

How to Paint an Orange - New Ebook

Jo and I are now working on tutorial ebooks targeting beginners and children.  This will be our first - a simple, yet very effective way to learn about light and shadow without the complications of a drawing lesson.  As a children's art teacher for 12 years, I found the simple orange or apple to be the easiest way to convey the basic rules of oil painting.  The kids usually whipped up an orange in about 1 hour with fabulous results.  Anyway, hopefully it will be available on our website shortly.  This is the finished product.