Doin' the mess around.......

After a private floral class last week, I didn't clear everything away as I normally do. Instead I left out all the paints and soft floral brushes so I could have a mess about with different brushes and various flower types. I also had some sample canvas to try out and it was the ideal time, on Sunday afternoon, to have a play around. The canvas was good, and the thin layer of medium sat nicely on the surface, which means the priming layer was more than adequate. I experimented with the different Alexander floral brushes, the floral brushes I stock and some brushes from another Company. You just never know when you are going to find a new gem of a brush and whether it would be worth stocking or not. I then filled a canvas with daisies, poppies, geraniums, hydrangeas, leaves and a chrysanthemum bloom. This gave me a chance to play around with the brushes and also try different mediums, comparing shop brought mediums to home made medium mixes. So all in all a great afternoon. I'm really loving the daisies, poppies and chrysanthemum blooms and they would be ideal little flowers for a beginner to do. I'll have to see if there's a way I can put them together to make an interesting and pretty painting composition.

Revive your brushes

As I was setting up for today's class, I found 3 x 1 inch landscape brushes that hadn't been properly cleaned. The bristles had gone a little hard, too hard to apply medium with, that's for sure. I decided to use those brushes anyway and very easily rejuventated them to their former glory within minutes. Out came the brush cleaning bar and within seconds they were clean, soft, supple and fragrant. Although I don't recommend using the soap bar with your large (1 inch and 2.5 inch) landscape brushes, it is possible to clean them if you are very, very careful. The secret is NOT to have your brushes in contact with water for a length of time. Just dip your brush into luke warm water, wiggle it over the cleaning bar and work up a lather into the bristles with your fingers. This will loosen any residue medium and paint. Quickly dip your brush into clean lukewarm water to rinse and remove all traces of water immediately, using an old towel or kitchen roll. After this, tightly bind your bristles with clean kitchen roll, which will ensure all traces of water are absorbed away. If you stick to this method your landscape brushes will survive the cleaning process. I showed today's students just what the cleaning bar was capable of as I handed them a very old, stiff 1 inch wide filbert brush. They could barely bend the bristles over. Within minutes, after working it over the cleaning soap bar a couple of times it was as soft as new. At just £3.50 a bar, delivered to your door, if it saves just one brush it would have paid for itself. If you'd like some, you can find the shopping basket for it HERE

Bamburgh Castle - now available to all levels

My Bamburgh Castle painting is probably one of the most popular choices for private classes. However, as it stands it's only open to intermediate students (students who have attended 4 painting workshops). There is a way this painting can be taught to beginners and we'll make this the subject for Sunday July 5th 12.30 - 5.30 at Capel Village Hall. If you'd like to paint this scene, do drop me a line or give me a call. If you're a complete beginner, why not give this pretty castle composition a go and impress you're friends and family. I'll take the class through the method step by step from start to finish, no rush, no pressure and a lot of fun. We'll be painting this on a panoramic canvas as it works well with the composition.

One for the kids (and the grown ups) this summer holiday

Swimming Free - that lovely whale scene which was designed by Jack Kolber, a fellow ACI in the States, is a painting that is absolutely ideal for children. Its always nice to have children along in a class and us adults learn a lot from their sheer bravado. I think it's time to make this a painting subject for the school summer holidays so any children who are budding artists can come along. For those of you with children, it's the ideal painting subject for mum/dad and son/daughter to paint along together (plus you'll receive a £5 discount each on your class fee too.) I'll be having 2 'Swimming Free' workshops in August. One in Capel (in Suffolk near Ipswich) at a weekend and another one in East Bergholt (in Essex near Colchester) on a week day. This link will take you to the CLASS TIMETABLE so you can check on the dates and other painting subjects currently available. If you're interested in these classes, just give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line on info@ayoubart.co.uk to book your seat. Everything is supplied for you - all you need to do is turn up with a smile and a desire to learn something new.

Dingly Dell

I've been wanting to make a new bluebell wood scene suitable for a painting class. Finally, I have one that I think will be suitable for our 7th June class in Capel St Mary. If you'd like to have a go at 'Dingly Dell' do give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line on info@ayoubart.co.uk We'll start at 12.30pm and we'll finish around 5.30pm. As always, I try to introduce new things to the regular students and in this class you'll discover a natty way to highlight your trees and add detail into your foliage highlights. We'll also be introducing a new couple of new colours to the palette.