Didn't she do well ?

Today we painted a seascape, Joyce Ortner style. Using a small selection of soft brushes, we mixed our paint, loosened them with linseed oil and worked really hard at all the blending and softening to get realistic effects. It's much more fiddly than your average landscape, but worth learning Joyce's style as the results really are super.

My student, Sue, brought along to class a painting she made at home. Not only that, she is allowing me to show you all. Sue took 2 portrait seminars with me.......but this one she painted all by herself at home. I think it's absolutely brilliant. As I said to Sue........if this is painting number 3, think what painting number 10 will be like! She's already planning portrait number 4. I knew she would be hooked.

If you'd like to try portraiture do give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line. At only £45 per lesson (all inclusive of equipment and materials) it's a special skill to learn that's worth every penny. Plus, my classes are aimed at beginners. Thanks to Valerie Stewart and her marvellous portrait technique, there's a growing demand for this.

Portraiture in 3D - the new craze ?

I'm tempted to teach portraiture with a difference. Maybe some 3D effects would be quite cool. I've been experimenting with a couple of ideas - see what you think. Here's the story.......when I teach portraiture I need to have something to work on to use as the demo. One of the demo portraits currently on my easel is of my daughter, Stef. She was quite surprised to come home from work to see the underpainting stage, and I think she's quite chuffed with it so far too. She's already cleared a space on her bedroom wall, so that's a good sign. Now I've told her it will be a basic portrait and I don't intend to paint in her fiddly jangly dangly earrings. She's insisting I do. Jokingly, last night I took the portrait upstairs to her bedroom, found the earrings in question and tried to sell her my new 3D effect. I could simply pierce her ear on the canvas and loop the earring through - voila. In the spirit of artistic licence, I also took one of her longest, fullest, blackest false eyelashes and stuck it to the top of her eye - enhancing the dimensions and giving the portrait a very lifelike, touchy-feely concept. I guess you had to be there - but it was a right giggle. Of course, I'm joking, I'll paint in the eyelashes and a lot of other details too - still not sure about those earrings though.......what do ya reckon?

Please stay nice......

I do hope this brilliant weather stays like this for the Bank Holiday weekend. It's been nice to have the kitchen door wide open. At the moment I spend a lot of my time sitting in my dining room as I have a lovely little portrait working area that's been set up for quite a while. It's non-invasive and doesn't hardly disrupt the dining room at all and it's been brilliant painting with all this fresh air and country sounds around me. For the past few days I've had another little portrait sitting in the side lines and I've been messing around with him for 5 - 10 minutes at a time. Probably not the sort of character anyone would want to mess with, but I thought he might make a good subject. He's not quite finished yet but now his features have been refined he really does look quite sinister in the semi-darkness of the dining room. Right, I'm off for a game of Quid Pro Quo.......with a nice bottle of Chianti and some fava beans

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.

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

New Class Subject - with a difference

My oil painting, made on last week, has received quite a bit of feedback from visitors, website fans and art forums. And so, for this reason I've decided to make it a new Class Subject. Not only that, I am keeping it exactly as it is - which is small.........measuring 9 x 12 inches. Plus......it's on canvas paper, so I am sticking to that also. This means, when the painting is dry it can be mounted and framed very easily and economically. Because of the differences in size, materials, brushes used and time, compared to a normal class, I am able to offer the lesson at a cheaper rate. So, we'll be painting this on Sunday February 21st in Capel St Mary Village Hall (and also in Heartlands in February - date to be confirmed). The cost of the class will be just £38 per person. You can find class details HERE. A larger image of the painting subject can be found HERE. It's been named 'Contemplation' thanks to the input from one of my dear students.