Well May has come and gone and overall it has been a great month.

I have continued with my life drawing class and am thoroughly enjoying it. Fran Elliott the tutor has really helped me develop in this hard subject and each week I see a slight improvement. Below is one picture which Fran said I should be proud of…and you know what….I am. Victoria was a pleasure to draw and with inspiration from Fran, I decided to use pastels instead of just charcoal and I am pleased with the overall effect.

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One of the students in the class, Michael Gage, had his first exhibition with a fellow artist Sheri Gee in Greenstede Gallery, Chequer Mead Community Centre, East Grinstead. Between them they had some excellent paintings and drawings and not all of them were life drawings. I am pleased to say they both sold quite a few and I would recommend checking out their websites. If I could paint and draw as well as they can I would be very happy…

Michael Gage - http://www.michaelgage.co.uk/
Sheri Gee - http://www.sherigee.com/

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On a different note, a good friend of mine, Shaun Hodge, had his photo published in the critic’s section of the Amateur Photographer magazine. This can be quite daunting as the critics can pull your work apart and tell you where you have gone wrong and I am pleased to say he received high praise for his motocross action shot.

Shaun seems to have an eye for sporting events and has taken pictures of boat races, motocross, international rugby matches and was fortunate enough to have a press pass for the London Marathon this year.

Please have a look at his site which is http://www.hodgeimages.co.uk/

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Lastly I stumbled across the work of Adam Lazowski who is lucky enough to travel to some interesting places as part of his job. With his camera at the ready he has taken some amazing and atmospheric pictures which capture the essence of the cities.

His website is http://www.adamlazowski.com/ and I would recommend a visit, if only to find inspiration of places to visit.

Welcome to the first of many...

Hello! Welcome to my blog - well the first of many anyway. I thought this would be a great way to keep everyone updated on what is happening in the world of Scarlet Designs!!

So what has been happening....

Well April was a very exciting month for me as I started two very different art courses.

The first was an afternoon class in Pen and Ink for three weeks with a brilliant and inspiring tutor called Chris Forsey. I had so much fun experimenting with this medium as it has been one which I have wanted to dabble in for ages.

Chris started us off drawing very traditionally using the method of line drawing and crosshatching to produce work that was precise and 'contained' and some of the work the other students produced were amazing. Here is my attempt (and seeing as this is the first time I have done this since school, I was quite amazed it came out as it did!)



The second lesson we were able to really explore our creative side and used all sorts of implements to draw with...a dip pen, a quill pen, twigs and bamboo pens to name a few. I decided to paint using a quill pen and the odd twig in violet watercolur ink and then use a brush soften the edges. It's no masterpiece but it did teach me to just be free with my drawing...and when you are painting/drawing in ink there is no going back!!! Mind you, the tutor did wonder if I'd taken some happy pills as it was a bit bright!!! I also had a few accidents with the ink (in typical me fashion) so there are quite a few splodges which all add to the character of the picture.


In the final lesson we could pretty much do as we pleased so I attempted a very intricate line drawing of a boat scene which unfortunately I was unable to finish. However, when I get time I will most certaintly give it a wash of colour and who know's I may even post it here!


The course was run by Linda Bywaters at Art-Events and I would thoroughly recommend joining their classes. They are friendly, fun and great value for money! (Based in Reigate, Surrey)

Contact Linda on www.art-events.co.uk

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My second art class for the month was a life drawing one and again, this has always been something I have wanted to try.

When I arrived at the East Grinstead Parish Hall where it was being held I was totally unsure what to expect. Painting and drawing the human form is one of the best ways of learning to draw as you have to totally concentrate on every single curve and muscle. You have to draw what you see not what you expect to see - we all have our idea of what the body looks like, but drawing it is a totally different matter.

I had a great time even though this class is somewhat more 'serious' than my other Pen and Ink class. The people were really friendly and I learned a lot in three and a half hours. Fran Elliott, the tutor, was so patient in teaching me the basics and making me feel at ease.

Incase you are wondering it did take me a while to get used to a naked person being in one position for a long while, allowing us to look at every detail on their body, but once I got over my initial embarrassment (and it was only mine) I found my charcoal drawing relaxed and my line strokes became more confident.

If you are interested in this course then please contact Babette Adrian on www.sculpture-painting.co.uk

Below you will find the picture I drew on my first evening which unfortunately includes some additions from my cat who decided to sit on it and sharpen her claws on the paper the minute I got it home!!!

Well that about sums up this entry for April....wonder what May will bring!

Thanks for reading and feel free to contact me at my website below if you have any comments!

Helen
www.scarletdesigns.net