A bit more space

Taking that office door off (in my studio) was timely. I had some last minute interest in last week's class and was able to squeeze one more person in. I felt a bit like Joyce Ortner .......she likes to sit on a stool and teach from the stand up easel. That's exactly the pose I struck for the class, setting up the free standing easel just inside the office with a stool to one side. The student who was sat closest to the rear exit was the only person who had to leave their chair to see my demo stages, so it's working really well. Tried and tested.

My 'other' hobby

I'm at it again. It's been a while since I had a bake up and today was the perfect day for it. With the house to myself all day long I switched on the radio LOUD and had a good look in the cupboards. With eggs beginning to pile up again, first on the menu was 3 large farmhouse fruit cakes, followed by 2 dozen rock buns. Next up, a home made white loaf had the kitchen smelling wonderful combined with 8 pints of rich leek and potato soup. We have quite a lot of apples to use, so they went into 2 family sized apple pies, the rest were stewed up and popped in freezer bags. The customary tray of flap jacks were thrown into the oven, as it was on.....and whie I was on a roll with the pastry I thought I'd do a tray of large cheese scones. Although I sit here with an aching back after nearly 5 hours in the kitchen, it's so rewarding to know the freezer, fridge and cake tins are full of goodies. Aren't Alan and Steffi going to have a nice surprise when they get home?

Back to work.......

The holiday break has been great - and so has the weather, which was a welcome bonus. It's back to business as usual now though. Student Sue and I have kicked off the week by working on her second portrait lesson. All the colours have been added over the underpainting, many facial details have been completed, we've worked the background and started on the clothing. I'm fully confident this can be totally finished off on one more lesson. The portrait lessons are taught in 3 hour blocks and will continue until the painting is complete. Each block is £45 (weekday rate) and the price includes everything you need to make the portrait. It's a great way of working, with classes running (normally) from 10am till 1pm. Other times can be arranged if needed. Next summer I will be running evening classes from 6pm to 9pm to suit those of you who work full time. For more details on portraiture classes CLICK HERE

Let the sun shine in.....

Recently influenced by the beautiful weather, I was determined to create a new painting class subject and sat browsing through some holiday photos for inspiration. I flung open the double doors of my studio and let the sun and heat stream in - I put my new CD on the player, turned up the volume. I made myself a lovely glass of cold pineapple juice. Out came the paints and off we went. It almost takes me as long to record each stage in my note book as it does to paint it. But - my notes are vital if I want to re-create it as exactly as I can. If any of you are familiar with Joyce Ortner, you'll know that's the way she works too. She even suggests keeping a 'recipe book' for al the colours that you mix, which is a great idea too. Anyways - I leave you with Cor Phew. You can see a larger version of this painting in my class subjects gallery.

A sea of faces

Last week I enjoyed some time in my new painting area. I've been busy working on portraiture. I have hung various portraits in the studio, some complete and some are W.I.P's. It's been quite nice painting while being overseen by various celebrities and other faces. One little fella, Lucas, really makes me smile. Lucas is a baby and I've been painting him in a pose where he is lying on his belly with his head held up. As I look beyond the right of my easel his face looks full of curiosity and wonder. His turn next, he needs some details to his clothes, background and some final details to the face.

Hot Hot Hot

Has it been a hot one where you all are? Yesterday morning at 9.30am Pauline, Alison and I set off headed for Stowupland again. We're organising a ramble for the WI ladies in August. Today we had a second trial run, taking in a different route. Pauline and I decided to cover a walk that we used to enjoy when we were about 10/11 years old. A slightly shorter walk this time led us through a farm, several fields and many country lanes with the occassional little stream. We stumbled upon a farm with an open day event. In we popped and spent a little while looking at the animals and stalls. We sat on a bale in the sun and enjoyed 3 cups of tea and 2 slices of cake for just over £2.50 for the lot ! A familiar face from my past school days served us too. I have to laugh at Pauline as she issued a warning to Alison. 'Be careful what you say and do and watch out when she gets the camera out as it could all end up on Sue's News" she said. Mmmmmm. Would I be so cheeky? I think not. Instead I shall leave you with a photo I took of a couple of cows.

Ever had the feeling you're being watched.....?

Our grey tabby, Ziggy, really loves painting lessons. Well, he loves having students around is what I mean. This morning he reached the door before I did when he heard a knock and sat on the doormat waiting for me to open it. He then followed the students to the painting area to make sure they settled in OK. His next move was to curl up on a chair, totally hidden from view by the table covers. He then had a nap and is often heard snoring. He emerged again at lunchtime incase there was any food on offer. Normally at this point he would return to the chair for another nap during the second half of the class. Today he had a surprise. Today he decided to take a more active interest in the painting subject ................................just incase it might flap it's wings and fly off the canvas. Yes, you guessed it, today we painted 'Feathered Friends' . And Ziggy didn't take his eyes off Kate's painting. You can see him here watching Kate's progress. I think we can safely say the painting was realistic enough to fool the cat.

Forgetting the most important thing.....

Is this a sign of old age? I hope not! My car was loaded for today's demo - with the exception of a couple of things which I had left in plain view on the dining room table. Despite this, I managed to tear out the door, forgetting the most vital piece of equipment. Of course, I didn't realise my predicament until I arrived at the hall and started to set up. I mean, how can you begin to do a demo when you didn't bring your paints with you? With the words 'You Plonker, Rodney' ringing in my ear I had no choice but to drive home for them. I was up and running by about 11.30am, so all was not lost. It was great to see some familiar faces, being born and bread in Stowupland. The clock most definately turned back to Primary School years and it was great catching up with some childhood schoolmates - and some old neighbours. But - one of the best results of the day was a delightful lady who had a plant stall. I've stocked up with some more vegetable plants for an absolute song. The lady in the queue in front of me spent £25 on garden plants and I'm thinking there's easily £75 - £100 worth of products there had they been on display at any garden centre.I managed to steer clear of the home made cake stall, but did give in to a slice of cake in the afternoon. The hall ran the most amazing coffee shop, also providing full lunches which was really successful. A very short stroll down the road, in the local Church, the flower festival is on display. Sadly I didn't manage to have a look at that, I must pop and see the arrangements before they are taken down.

A new product

Here's a natty little piece of equipment you might like to add to your art supplies. It's the Alexander Brush Cleaning Screen. It measures just over 4 inches wide and is less than an inch high. This means you don't need much thinners in your pot to get coverage - which is great if you use an expensive variety. Available direct from the UK it's only £5.30 delivered to your door. I used mine for the first time yesterday and it does a great job, even cleaned my delicate liner brush and other soft brushes too. Because of it's size I only need a little cleaner pot. CLICK HERE to be taken to the shopping cart if you'd like one. Remember, price includes postage and packing to any European address.

Learn to paint by DVD

Let me tell you about Meera. Meera recently came along to a painting class at Heartlands. She drove for approx 3 hours to get to me, sat for 5 hours painting mountains, lakes, pine trees and clouds. She drove home after the class with her first ever oil painting masterpiece. And her painting was beautiful - really beautiful. She was beaming. Meera purchased a Lowell Speers DVD from me, the monochromatic seascape. Recently I received an email from Meera and attached was a photo of her painting which was made just by following the tuitional DVD. I think you'll agree she has made a fabulous version of this tonal seascape. If you'd like to have a go at this painting project you can find the details of the DVD HERE at just £9.50 delivered to your door.

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.

One place left.......

I had an opportunity to start today's class at 10am instead of 12.30pm and very, very luckily all the students who were booked in didn't mind the earlier start. Of course, an early start meant we were done and dusted by 3pm and it was good to clear away while it was still light. And for once, I can keep everything to hand as I'll be teaching 'Cold Snap' again on Tuesday at Heartlands in Gipping, near Stowmarket (10am - 3pm). We have space for one more student and if you'd like to have a go at this pretty pastel mixed media painting, do give me a call on 01473 311938 or 079500 32557. Full address details can be found HERE.

Clever student........or what????

Well, both I and my student rose to the challenge and the results, I feel, speak for themselves. When I was asked to make the Venetian scene a class subject I was not really certain about it (at first). One thing I knew for sure - it could not be done in a single sitting. So, as you've seen on the timetable and Sue's News, it was broken down into 2 shorter classes. Well, the second stage was finished today and I guess the overall time for the 2 classes was in the region of 7 hours, give or take. I think you will have to agree, my student has done a fabulous job - and she fully intends to get this hung in her home. I've been showing the photo (a much larger version) to both Alan and Tris (my daughter's partner). Alan was raving about the water effects and the blended sky - Tris thought the painting was one of mine. I'll put a larger image in my forum so you can see the details better. Well done Sue G xxx

2 day workshop

Today saw the first stage of 'Venetia' completed. It's the first time I've taught a single painting subject over 2 seperate classes. There's just too much of 'Venetia' to be done in a single session. Instead of a normal 5 hour class, this is broken down to 2 x 3 hour classes. That way, energy levels stay high. We've re-scheduled the second date for 22nd January by mutual agreement. As this class finished earlier than normal I was able to take advantage of the set up and get to work on a new portrait. I'd already prepped the canvas the previous night, so it was ready for the first shading stage. It's nice to work on a portrait from scratch again.......

Worth a look

I'd like to draw your attention to a chap from Ohio. David Steffy is an oil painting instructor, who, with some encouragement has launched an independant website. David has been sharing his work for some time on my FORUM and his input has been valuable to all. You see, David has developed a new concept with the wet on wet, incorporating biblical characters into his compositions. Recently he completed a rather large composition and showed his half way progress so we could comment. The picture in question is not only magnificent, it is also a fund raising charity painting. I'm sure you will join me in wishing David all the best with this. Do pop over and give him a visit, you won't be disappointed. CLICK HERE and if you have 5 minutes, do give his website some feedback by signing his guestbook.

A popular subject

Bamburgh Castle really has been a popular little painting these last 3 months. It's the most demanded 'private' painting subject too. My equipment has been set up for 4 consecutive private lessons - all of them are for Bamburgh Castle. I'm really getting quite a collection of these paintings, creating a new one each time I teach it. I'll have to put them on sale I think. I was delighted to hear that one of my students recently entered her version of Bamburgh Castle in a competition. She came 3rd in the contest with a professional artist taking both 1st and 2nd place. She's thrilled to bits with the result and I am very proud of her. Well done to Maxine, here's her painting.

FREE DVD OFFER !!!!

Just to get the month started and to whet your appetite, why not take advantage of the FREE DVD OFFER? Details can be found HERE. Thanks to Valerie Stewart and our 5am virtual chat whilst both of us were in our pyjamas! Simply place your order and you pay only shipping and handling. GET YOURS TODAY!!!

Anniversary September Class

I've had a little change of mind. I've realised next month celebrates the 6th anniversary of the first time I ever seriously dabbled with oil paints. It's the month I created the first ever oil painting I sold at exhibition too. That painting was 'Peach Dawn' and it was my version of a Bob Ross painting project. Earlier this week I just felt like painting it again - for old time's sake. I had a biggy and a little 'un on the go at the same time. Anyway's, I digress, I'm going to make 'Peach Dawn' our Spetember painting subject at Capel St Mary Village Hall on Sunday 13th. If you'd like to coma along and paint this pretty scene, do give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line on info@ayoubart.co.uk This painting was life-changing for me. Who knows, it might just change your life too.......

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.