Shirley's Poinsettia

This is Shirley's version of the Poinsettia, we were sitting next to each other but we still had different perspectives of the same plant.

You can also see that we both have very different styles.

We went back to college following the christmas break and are planning our first outdoor trip to paint in Dublin on Saturday next along with visiting the National Gallery to view the Turner Exhibit.

The weeks are really going very fast and we are preparing our offerings to submit to the annual students exhibition at the end of the college year............... more pressure!

The Christmas Break

Well last night was the last night of classes due to the christmas break, I'm going to miss the class as I had missed the last two weeks due to illness. It was a very small class last night though and the still life which we painted was the very christmassy Poinsettia plant.

It is unreal that of the seven or eight of us that painted the same potted plant last night - no two turned out the same. Each of us have developed our own style, some of us paint very loosely and some are very tight and almost look like a photo. This is my painting, I must say that I like it and was happy with the way it turned out.

I should get a photo of Shirley's picture to post here and give an example of how our styles differ.

Off to college.

Well, last Thursday was the first night of the new term of "Techniques in Watercolours", the course that two of us signed up to.

The evening courses come under the heading of continuing education. It was really great to be back painting again. It must be about four years since I painted in watercolours.

It is so different from painting in oils or even acrylic where you paint dark to light, with watercolours you have to consider your light/whites first and then your darks.

We had a go at painting washes, mixing colours and painting - autumn leaves in rich yellows and reds - and fading greens.

I must remember to do the homework!