In the 4th November session we decided to have a little bit of fun with Portraiture.
Time to loosen up, mix the materials up a little and not worry about the likeness in our portrait. Instead, we enjoyed the energy and freedom of the continuous line. All high risk but as Tina suggested ‘just let rip’!
In the first exercise Tina used black oil pastel on white A2 cartridge paper to outline the portrait and then watercolour for the larger tonal areas and shadows. Starting in the centre of the face wonderful textured line and contours were created.
We needed to keep the pastel on the paper at all times, whilst at the same time twisting and rolling the pastel stick as it moved across the paper which gave exciting marks and added ‘weight’ ; even the accidental marks can be beautiful in their simplicity.
The second portrait involved the use of pastel pencil on 300gsm A2 watercolour paper. The paper was dampened slightly before drawing commenced. It was important to keep the marks free and loose. Drawing into the wet paper created lovely textured lines that glided over the surface. Watercolour was then added again for tone and shadow.
We had a super hour of artistic endeavour.
Thank you again Tina for your wisdom and talent. There were so many of us on the Zoom that, quite honestly, we would not have fitted into the room at Tettenhall Institute, so there is a positive aspect to using technology in that more members are able to take advantage of the monthly life drawing fix.
If any of our members would like to join us but need some additional help with logging in and using Zoom please do not hesitate to contact one our committee members and we will be more than happy to help.