Ring my bell

I had a bell. That's a first. I liked it - and I might even get one as part of class equipment - (maybe). With a large group it was difficult for me to round the ladies up and get them to the front ready for stage one. One lady leant over to me and said 'There's a bell on the shelf - use it'. So I did. And it worked. I had everyone's attention. Mind you, so did Lee, my assistant. The ladies cheekily asked if he was a male model. One lady exclaimed 'Oooo, I could paint him all over'. I heard another lady refer to him as 'Young Man', in a very Harry Enfield type manner. Main thing is, he worked like a trojan, soon had the equipment out of the car and in the hall, made an excellent cuppa, cleaned the brushes so thoroughly - even made a much better job of it than I ever could. Beautiful paintings were achieved all round with huge attention to detail. One thing the ladies all remarked on; we all use the same brushes, same colours and follow the same guide, yet we all end up with amazingly different and very individual paintings.

Time for some help

On Thursday I have a really busy class for 2 art groups who are joining together for an oil painting workshop. Both groups are from neighbouring villages and I've given demo's in the past to each of them. It's going to be an 8 hour day and will be manic loading the car, unloading, setting up and clearing away, let alone making and serving the drinks, keeping the paint topped up & cleaning the brushes. In fact I would be done in before I even started. I've had various voluntary helpers in the past and made huge use of several family members and friends - even student residents of the Apollo Studio. Had the class fallen at the weekend I'd have had a couple of people who could help out. Rather than struggle on my own I've decided to employ someone to help out. And the relief behind that decision is well worth every penny. I'll see if he can take some nice class snaps for me at some stage. I hope I'm in the position to do this more often.

Get outta the kitchen

I decided to spend a lot less time in the kitchen. Regular readers will know I often have up to 4 hour sessions at a time, creating all sorts of tasty things with my increasing supply of free range eggs. Despite the reduced hours my productivity has increased - and it's thanks to a long awaited piece of equipment. Last week I decided to treat myself to a food processor, which has cut my manual time by loads. In no time at all I've whisked up a family sized quiche, a chicken and vegetable pie, half a gallon of vegetable soup, 2 dozen buns, 2 fruit cakes, 2 trays of fruit, coconut and choc-chip flapjacks. This means my cake tins, fridge and the freezer are quite full. Plus, there's quite a few attachments I still haven't used yet. I can remember well over 35 years ago my mum getting the state of the art Kenwood Chef. It had so many attachments and accessories and we enjoyed her weekend home baking sessions. She was much more adventurous than me (but my eggs are better).

Family Heirloom

Yesterday, Anne, one of the students, brought along some beautiful framed art works. Anne calls these pieces 'painting with a needle' as they are very fine cross stitch compositions. We started with a beautiful spring posy of daffodils against a dark background on an upright panoramic portrait frame. So many shades of yellow in those daffodil heads. Many moons ago I used to fiddle with cross stitch myself and I really can appreciate how difficult it can be to select the correct colour thread when they are all so close in tones - and don't even get me started on the amount of time it can take to complete a square inch. Anne showed us all several completed cross stitch 'paintings', all so neat, flat, clean and fresh. But, the piece that has us all in awe was the beautiful full portrait of Santa, with angels, by a fully decorated Christmas Tree. Started some 6 years ago and finished recently in Canada, this work is an absolute family heirloom. Costing well over £100 to frame alone it was simply stunning, decorated with beads and gold thread. I knew Anne had a photo of this lovely work on her facebook profile and I am sure she won't mind me sharing it with you all. The photo doesn't do the work justice - but you get the idea.

Tiddlers and Intermediates

Half of today's students opted to paint a tiddler. That's what we now call the mini canvases. It's an option I give to my intermediate students (painting subject permitting). You see, an intermediate student could be sat next to a first timer in a class. This often means an intermediate student will finish a little quicker than the beginner - so - they have more than enough time to carry on working on the smaller canvas - PLUS - it stops them fiddling with their main painting. To qualify for intermediate status you need to have attended 4 painting classes with me. You'll receive a certificate to mark your new level too. In this time I know a student will be fully versed with many of the different effects we can get from the various brushes. The tiddler canvas can be painted at an additional cost of only £5 - and for that amount I know you'll find they make great personalised presents for friends and family alike.

The Women's Institute take to oils

We had a really pleasant drive very early Saturday morning to the venue of my class. Apart from the temperature, you'd think it was a summer's day. The venue was a lot easier to find in broad daylight than it was in the dark too. I'd given a talk on oil painting to the WI ladies of Mendham just before Christmas and they'd subsequently booked me to teach an oil painting class to their group. It was easier for me to go to them, than have them come to Capel. The group settled into the class so quickly and easily with their 'no messing' attitude. Some great paintings all round and everyone's really pleased with themselves. We've already selected the next painting project - everyone present wants to come again and there maybe a few extras too. Interestingly, a couple of ladies came well prepared with protective clothing. They managed, between them, to get oil paint on just about every surface imaginable. Which........in my book, makes you a proper artist.

Learn to paint Portraits in Oils - With Valerie Stewart

I've just uploaded a larger version of my recent Jimmy Carr portrait to my gallery page - which can be seen HERE. I emailed the finished piece to Portrait expert Valerie Stewart, along with the photo I was working from.

I'm thrilled to have received this message back: I am VERY IMPRESSED with your painting. I'm going to look it over with a magnifying glass and see if I find anything but at first glance I see no problems!!!

After close scrutiny, Valerie writes: I honestly don't see anything .... (sorry) :) It is VERY GOOD. Maybe a small shadow on the top of his fingernail???? Maybe a pinch of pink in the lips??? I LOVE it. YOU'RE AWESOME!!!!

So, that's pretty much made my day :)

If you'd like to come along to Valerie's 4 day Portrait workshop here in June, (full details can be found HERE) do drop me a line or give me a call to register your interest. For those of you who haven't yet sent your deposits, please be aware time is getting on if you want to be 100% certain of your booking. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy one of Valerie's more recent celebrity portraits.

New painting subjects - New dates

I've just updated the Class Timetable page and added several new class dates and images. You can find larger images of the Class Subjects by clicking HERE. You might be interested to see how 'Peaceful Evening' looks when painted in a lighter way too. If you'd like to attend any of the workshops, do drop me a line or give me a call on info@ayoubart.co.uk - 01473 311938 - 07950032557

I ♥ my pedometer

Here's a little bit of (useless) trivia for you. This morning I was getting all my bits and bobs ready for a private class near Diss. It took me almost 2 hours to get all the sundry items counted out, boxed up & loaded into the car. As you can imagine, there's a lot of stuff - probably more in sundry items than actual painting equipment. What's more, according to my pedometer, I managed to walk almost 2 miles in the many trips from my studio outside, to my car. Tomorrow I shall wear the pedometer again and see just how far I walk during a class. Both yesterday's students and Pop Art customer remarked I had lost even more weight. I'm not so sure, but I certainly am clocking up the miles on foot.

Senile moment!

What a plonker. Yesterday on my 30 minute drive to Heartlands I enjoyed listening to the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1. As I was driving along, through several miles of roadworks, I could hear the feint noise of police sirens. I was scanning my wing and rear view mirrors to see what the fuss was about. I couldn't see a thing and the sirens mysteriously stopped. 3 times this happened before I realised it was background effects in Timbaland's song 'If we ever meet again'. Is this a sign of old age? Thank heavens Chris wasn't playing the 23 minute, 6 piece suite, Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd. I'd have probably took cover from bombs, avoiding the wild horses.

It's all go.

Talk about cutting it fine........I had a Pop Art portrait to complete and deliver to a lady who lived fairly close to Heartlands. There was just a small section of hair to finish off and I was absolutely deteremined to try and get it done so I could get it delivered today as it would save me an extra trip. So, at an unearthly time yesterday morning I set up my bits and cracked on. It took a cup of tea to get me fully awake and I did have to rub my eyes a couple of times to focus on the fiddly bits. By 8am he was done. I scurried around for my varnish, protective covering and bubble wrap and loaded these extra bits into the car. I managed to get him varnished during the lunchbreak of today's class and he was fully dry and ready to wrap and deliver by the time class ended - (which over ran a bit as my flipping clock stopped). By 3.30pm it was safely in the hands of the new owner and by 3.35pm it was hung on the wall. Before I left I had an order for more - my client wants to fill a recessed wall. They are going to look absolutely fabulous all grouped and hung together. Fingers crossed, we'll also get a portrait done of the family dog too

Pop Art Lesson

Last year, for mother's day, my eldest daughter gave me 'Aha Shake Heartbreak', a King's Of Leon CD. 'Mum', she said, 'You won't like this one straight away, but when you get used to it you will LOVE it the best'. She was right. I didn't like it. How can I describe it....................? Mmmmm - if it were a painting it would be an abstract! Today the CD came out and got played during today's class, along with 2 other Kings of Leon CD's. And today I have to say, I absolutely love the album the best - just like she said I would. The music didn't bother today's student at all. Rachel is a big KOL fan and it was perfect background music to the development of their PopArt Portrait. It was impossible to finish a 4 person portrait in the single 5 hour lesson and Rachel knew this at the time of booking. So, she has left with brushes and paint to enable her to complete this portrait at home. I bet she's working on it right now.

Portrait commission - gulp

Last Autumn I enjoyed catching up with a work colleague I hadn't seen in about 8 years. We had so much news to share and our lives (and careers) had taken on very different angles since our Tesco's days. Lou saw some of my oil portraits and mentioned about perhaps painting her children. I didn't feel ready for anything like that as I still felt I had so much to learn. Today though, it's another matter. Last night I put my Jimmy Carr portrait on facebook with a comment 'Who shall I paint next.....' Lou promptly answered, reminding me of her sons. Consequently I arranged to call at her house later in the week to pick up some photos. But I actually couldn't wait that long, so, with a spare couple of hours, I lifted some images from her facebook profile and made a start. I've emailed her the early stages and I'm delighted to receive the reply 'Oh my God, that's brill'. Let's hope I can keep up the standard.

Even more portrait painting - and lovin' it

Firstly, a very happy Valentine's Day to all you romantics out there. I hope you are getting suitably spoiled with flowers and chocolates. My Valentine's treat was a Peter Gabriel concert on DVD. I have the gig on video - but haven't had a video player in the house for ages now. We enjoyed watching the show last night (with chocolate) and I'm very much looking forward to seeing him in the flesh next month. As long as he plays 'In Your Eyes' and 'Biko' I'll be a happy bunny. Alan and Tris have been busy in the garden, with Tris cutting my trees back to a more manageable height and Alan burning the cuttings and other garden rubbish. I've been working some more on our comedian friend in the warm. It's getting pretty near completion now with just a few tickles here and there. Finally, his teeth and tongue are in.

More portrait painting

We've suffered 3 days of snow and ice but this morning the last traces of it have gone. It's been very hairy walking across my patio to the studio and storage areas at times. But, if nothing else, I've been enjoying picking away at my portrait project in the warm whenever I can. I've been getting a lot of feedback on the work as Alan, both daughters and their boyfriends' have seen this take shape from blank canvas stage. I've had Valerie Stewart to keep me company as I paint, to remind me of a few things. But.......I do find I'm watching less and less of her DVD now. I hope that means I've followed it enough to just get on with it. Later today I will be working the mouth, tongue and teeth area and I will have to pull out Valerie's DVD that specifically covers that area. If you'd like to paint along with a virtual Valerie, you'll find her DVD's HERE, starting at just £16 delivered to your door. She shows how to mix the various paint colours and how to create portraits using just 5 brushes. These products can be found HERE, starting at just £17.50 for a complete brush set. And of course, if you'd like to paint along with Valerie in person, she'll be teaching a seminar in Capel St Mary in June. Details of the workshops can be found HERE

Portrait Painting

I'm pleased I don't have to drive down the narrow lanes of Ufford tonight - if they've had the same weather as Capel they'd be pretty much snowbound. We've had an absolute blizzard here today with 2 inches covering my patio in under an hour. At times it was coming down so thick you could barely see out the window. With weather like this it's ideal to set up in the cosy warm and get painting. My recent portrait project was next on the list and late this afternoon I decided to get cracking on some more details. There's still loads to do but the 3 base skin tone colours are in and I've started to work on some detailed areas. The eyes are in and I feel it makes the painting start to come to life.

Demonstration for the ladies of Ufford

I opened last night's demo with a question. Just as I was about to start my journey to rural Ufford, the car groaned and died. Luckily, within minutes Alan arrived. He diagnosed a dead battery, attached the jump leads, bringing life back within seconds. He gave me the leads (just incase I had problems starting her again) although he assured me the journey should charge the battery. So my question to the ladies of Ufford was.......'If I laid a set of jump leads on the table how many of you would actually know what to do with them?' I was relieved when about 8 ladies put their hands up. 'Good', I replied, 'Please don't any of you leave until you know my car starts'. (It did.....................)

Lowell Speers - Seascape DVD

I have a seascape project on DVD that I've been eager to paint. Last weekend I enjoyed painting along with Lowell Speers and learned some new tricks into the process too. Now my task is to adapt the composition so it's a suitable painting project for my students. I will go ahead and paint it all over again on a much larger canvas, incorporating some slightly different brushes to ensure we get good results. I particularly like the way Lowell puts together his foreground wave and the method he uses for the wave foam is new to me. Very clever indeed. His clouds are added using a different technique too so it was really interesting to learn new ways for the sky as well. If you too would like to try Lowell's seascape project from the comfort of your own home, the DVD is available HERE at just £9.50 incl delivery. If you'd like a more 'hands-on' tuition, keep an eye on my class timetable as it will feature as a new class subject pretty soon.

I just love green

Last week in class I painted one of my favourite paintings 'Woodland's End'. I love this scene as it contains a huge variety of greens and limes - my favourite colours. It's been a while since I taught this painting subject and we all really enjoyed messing around with it today. I decided to have a mini version on the go - you never know, it might end up being framed - might even go into exhibition. It shows the students how easily you can adapt the same brushes to work on small scale - plus, painting small-scale is an addition that my intermediate students have the option to do for a nominal fee (painting subject permitting). The mini-paintings make great gifts. They actually look great hung together in a collection too.

Bubbling.......at last

It's been nice Pop Art painting away to some gentle background noises. Yes, we've more wine on the go. We started it over the weekend and normally we get bubbles fairly quickly from the yeast. This batch sat dormant for a couple of days but I'm happy to say it's been bubbling away like a good 'un.Our girls (the feathered ones) seem to be a lot more active too and I'm delighted to see we've gone from one egg a day (almost) to two. What's more, the extra egg we've been getting has been a blue one. Nice to know Henrietta, our cream legbar, is back in her laying mode - although we can never really be sure that she ever stopped laying. Wouldn't surprise me if I came across a big pile of eggs tucked away under the woodpile, or in the hedge. Hopefully it won't be too long before they are all back on full production.

Art Group

I decided to take my sketch pad along to (a very cold) art group session today. I had an unfinished sketch that I started last year and I felt in the mood to work some more on it. Plus, the pad and the pencils fitted neatly into my handbag, which was more than convenient. As I started to blend the graphite with my fingers I immediately wished I had brought my pastel belnding stumps along as my fingers were too big an area to get into the smaller nooks and crannies. (No innuendo's necessary.) Alison, sat opposite, handed me a cotton bud and it was the perfect tool to polish and soften. Throught the meeting we often get up and walk around to see what everyone else is doing. Quite a few ladies passed remark about my project today, wondering who the live model might be. (I wish.) As I've been working on this fella I've considered it an exercise in lights, darks, blending and shape, but one lady has made me view this pose in a completely different light now. When Diane saw my project her first words were 'I wonder what he's looking at?' And the rest of the table came up with several suggestions. Now I can't look at him without wondering the very same thing. Any ideas?