Dorking Group of Artists Winter Programme September - December 2023

• Sessions are free unless a fee is quoted. Workshops with guest lecturers are £10/day or £5/half day. Please bring cash for this.
• Teas, coffee and biscuits are provided (please wash your own cup up).
• Please help to put away tables and chairs at the end of the session if you are able.
• Please always arrive on time for guest speakers and should you have to leave early, please make your apologies to them.

Date	Session	Notes
Nov 21st 10 -1.00	Nursery Rhymes and Sayings. Develop a piece of work using this as inspiration.	Bring any medium you would like to work in and supporting material.
Nov 28 10 - 4.00 £10.00 fee	ALL DAY – Lancelot Richardson - Drawing from Imagination	Look at notes and materials list below.
Dec 5th 10 - 1.00	Winter Lights – working on paintings either from photos or a still life using objects that we associate with winter. Mince pies etc	Bring chosen medium and supporting photos/objects

 

Drawing from Imagination – Lancelot Richardson
This is a workshop that will go through the fundamental skills for drawing from imagination. In the context of this workshop, drawing from imagination is the ability to draw things that do not exist in front of us, ranging from changing pre-existing material to constructing figures and scenes. We will be doing a series of directed exercises to practise these skills, and learn how to combine and apply references to different contexts.
This covers the process of creating drawings from imagination, using ideas about gesture, informal perspective and using reference material to build imagined ideas from scratch, with a focus on figures. The workshop will also look at how a range of different artists use imaginative drawing techniques in their work.

Materials:
General sketching materials are fine and I encourage people to bring drawing media they are comfortable with. Typically, I'd recommend:

Plenty of paper to draw on - cartridge paper is fine
Pencils, erasers, sharpeners
For those that like to use them: Pens, colour pencils, biros, graphite sticks, charcoal - any materials you like to sketch with.

Things to do in advance:
Find some reference material of things you'd like to draw - particularly for costume/fashion, and artwork with figures in is good, too.

  

 Dorking Group of Artists Winter Programme January - April 2024

Jan 16th 10am -1pm	New Year’s Resolutions – decide how to develop your work….  try something new.	Bring along an appropriate medium.
Jan 23rd 10am -1pm £5.00 fee	Markmaking workshop – Janet Twinn Using unusual items to create your art work	See notes below for suggestions.
30th Jan 10am -1pm	We are continuing with Markmaking.	Bring along what you need to continue.
6th Feb 10am -1pm	Still Life - Bring in your own props or work you want to finish.
13th Feb 10am -4pm £10.00 fee	Ronnie Ireland - All day workshop	See notes below.
20th Feb 10am -1pm	Using a complex background in your work.	Bring photos or patterned paper or fabric to work from.
27th Feb 10am-1pm	Still life.	Bring in your own props or work you want to finish
Mar 5th 10am -4pm £10.00 fee	Landscape in Oils - Tushar Sabale - All day workshop	See notes below.
Mar 12th 10am -1pm	Collage – Jacky Hatton Demonstration of two of the many uses of collage.	See notes below.
Mar 19th 10am -1pm	Life Drawing – Alison Carlier	Bring lots of paper and drawing equipment/pens /pencils etc.
Mar 26th 10am -1pm	Collaborative art project - we will provide you with a board to work on.	Bring a medium you would like to work in and supporting photos etc.
April 2nd 10am -1pm	Still life.	Bring in your own props or work you want to finish
April 9th 10am -4pm £10.00 fee	Gouache - Deanna Sargent - All day workshop	Materials list below.

 

 Janet Twinn

Janet Twinn studied fine art at St Martin’s School of Art, specialising in painting followed by an Art Teacher’s Certificate at London University.

Finding it difficult to make large scale paintings in a small house with young children she discovered the medium of ‘Art Quilts’ which enabled her to create large scale textiles.

After following a City and Guilds course in patchwork and quilting Janet was asked to teach this course at Dorking Adult Education Centre.

In 1995 Janet was accepted into the international exhibiting group Quilt Art and is still a member. Her work has been shown in many countries and is much better travelled than she is.

Janet’s main source of inspiration is the landscape. Her quilts are constructed from her own hand dyed, painted and/or screen printed fabric.

In 2011 her book ‘Colour in Art Quilts’ was published by Batsford Books. 

Materials list for DGA workshop

·         Paper (include some that is lightweight and suitable for using to make rubbings)

·         Assorted brushes, cocktail sticks,

·         Small pieces of sponge

·         Wax Crayons / oil pastels

·         Charcoal / chalk /pastel

·         Watercolour paint

·         Acrylic ink

·         Printing blocks (if you have any) , print roller if you have one

This is just a guide, if you have any other media you might like to play with please bring it.

Ronnie Ireland

There are many ways to do a self portrait - broadly speaking you can concentrate on using your own head to do a technical “study” of a head, or make an image which majors more on character.  I propose we use this second approach. To do this, I would like you to include something in your image which tells the viewer something important about you (what and how much you reveal is up to you!).

This could be something that you wear, where you are (e.g., favorite chair or room, the garden, the beach etc), objects that are important to you (from the past, from a hobby), books etc.   

Most of you will use photos rather than a mirror I would think. You can use one or more photos. Take a few to give alternatives and give attention to the angle that you are seen from and the lighting. Lighting makes a huge difference and you should consider it carefully - subtle shadows or dramatic light and dark.

If you are unsure about basic drawing, you can square up the image (it’s not cheating!).  If so, make sure you have the image printed out so that you can draw the grid on it and not ruin a valuable original print.  

Lastly, we will consider composition - how you treat your image. Where you place it on the canvas or paper makes a great difference to the meaning of the final image.  

Materials list for DGA workshop

Use whichever medium (or mixture of media) that you are most comfortable with. This is not about a particular medium - it's about trying to make a strong and evocative image.   

Lastly, please come and join in - I’ve done this before and the results are always fun and fascinating!!

MANDOG.   Oil on linen.   50 x 70 cm

 

Tushar Sabale: materials list for DGA workshop

·         A good photo with possibility of hills to give a sense of depth or a scene from park. Both should be alright.

·         I work in oils and acrylics, so basic colours:

·         Titanium White, ivory black, cad yellow, Cad red, ultramarine or cobalt blue, burnt sienna, cad orange, magenta would be good set of colours to have. But members are free to add or bring what they have.

·         Flat and round brushes- medium and thin.

·         Canvas or canvas boards are ideal but of course people can get whatever surface they enjoy painting.

 

 

Jacky Hatton: materials list for DGA workshop

·         I will bring plenty of suitable papers for collage, also some mount boards.

·         If you prefer, bring your own paper, sketchbook, art board or even a failed painting. You may prefer to work on 2 supports as we need drying time.

·         If you have it, matte acrylic medium, matte mod podge or PVA and an old brush to use with adhesive.

·         Bring some scissors, if you dislike torn edges (I will bring some).

·         Acrylic paints and brushes – basic colours.

·         Your choice of photos/inspiration (I will bring plenty).

 

Deanna Sergent

GOUACHE…such a versatile medium.

Gouache has a surprisingly long history going back to Ancient Egypt but in more recent times artists used it in graphic design and illustration because, as it is opaque and dries very flat, it photographs well. Like watercolour it contains gum Arabic but also fillers or chalks to give it this opaque quality. It is its opacity that enables it to be layered over either watercolour or itself in painting.

Almost all of you who paint in watercolour have a tube of opaque white paint in your kit. We’re going to explore how versatile that tube of white paint can be, and also how the huge range of gouache colours can either enhance your watercolour painting in mixed media or be used as a medium in their own right.

Materials list for DGA workshop

-   watercolour paint; white opaque paint…either titanium white, designer’s white, or permanent white NOT zinc white as this is a mixing white and not very opaque

-   selection of gouache colours…primaries so you can mix them… maybe some earth colours

-  separate palette for your gouache paints, preferably a white palette so the colours are visible

- a little spray bottle of water…gouache paints need to be sprayed often once they’re exposed to air to keep them useable

- masking tape

- coloured pencils (optional)

-  and all the other usual watercolour painting equipment: watercolour paper, brushes, water receptacles, paper towels, brushes.

… and please bring some REFERENCE MATERIAL …photos of flowers in vases, gardens, trees, buildings etc.