Painting in Monochrome
I will bring copies of a pencil sketch I did of a bridge scene for us to work from. Let’s all try to work from the same image.
What to bring with you;
Your medium:
Water colour – bring only 1 tube of colour or one half pan of colour. Put the rest back in your art bag or leave them at home!
Ink or gouache – bring only one colour as above.
Acrylic – Bring one colour and white. You need both to make sure your canvass is properly covered.
Pastel – In this case bring a selection of 8 or 10 pastels of the same colour (ie 8 blues, 8 greens, 8 yellows). Make sure you bring a full tonal range of lights and darks.
Your support:
Bring a support suitable for the medium you are using, stretched water colour paper, pastel paper, canvass or canvass board etc.
Your other bits and pieces:
Bring your brushes, pencils, erasers, masking fluid, paper towels, spreaders, stumps etc.
Your positive attitude:
This is an exercise in tone. It does not matter if what you produce is not lifelike, it just has to be presentable. Leave behind you all your negative vibes and inhibitions.
What you should learn:
That being lifelike and realistic is not always right.
How to bring out the lights and darks, how to find highlights and shadows.
How using a full colour palette can sometimes ruin your study of what is in front of you.
How to emphasise shapes and tones.
How to spend time studying the image before committing anything to paper.
How to read a scene from many different images and combine them into a piece of art.
How to understand that a painting in either full colour or otherwise (and even a photograph) is not the same as real life.
How we as individuals see tones differently
Background research:
Go on the internet and load up Google. Type in Begijnhof bridge and look at the images there are. Print a few off to use as tonal references and use them for reference only. We are going to produce a copy from my sketch book so your reference will not be the same view point.
Fees:
£25 per hour plus usual disbursements.
Booking:
Click on this link to complete a booking form
I will get back to you as soon as possible. If you have not heard within 3 working days please contact me by email at stephen.hillier@hillier.org.uk