FLEET
ART SOCIETY
Life Drawing Session February 2025
Amongst the Society's programme of events is the Open Art session held at St Philip and St James Church Hall. A variety of subjects are chosen, ranging from free drawing, still life and our latest event in which Chris Hutchinson kindly life-modelled for the group. This session was really well attended with some 22 members working in a variety of mediums. An enjoyable afternoon, made even better by the chocolate hobnob biscuits provided by our host, Roger! Here are just a few examples of the excellent drawings produced during the afternoon.
Open Art Session March 2025
Eleven members turned up for this session, several with projects of their own to work on and others to practise and refine their still-life drawing and painting skills. David had brought along some pot plants and a variety of fruit for this. There was a lovely sociable atmosphere and we all took advantage of our tea or coffee breaks to look at and discuss one another's work. Open Art and Life Drawing sessions will start again in the Autumn.
Summer Workshop with Stewart Beckett, June 2024
Stewart provided a very interesting, focused and valuable workshop for those of us wanting to improve our acrylic landscape techniques. Some of the attendees were experienced in this medium and subject, others were just beginning, but all benefited from his expert advice. Stewart demonstrated how he approached each stage of the painting, giving us time to work on our own pieces for each stage, before going on to the next. As we painted, at each stage, Stewart took time to give each person gentle guidance on how to develop the composition, using a different brush stroke, or by changing a colour mix, or by deepening or lightening tones. Most of us worked on a version of the same coastal scene Stewart painted, but a few chose a different scene, although following the same methods.
At the end of the workshop, we all displayed our finished (or nearly finished!) paintings and Stewart encouraged us to self-evaluate. He then gave suggestions of how we could remedy any of the areas we felt didn't work. I am sure most of us will go home and try to put some of these into action.
Stewart's painting
Workshop results!
Summer Workshop with Rodney Kingston, July 2024
An enthusiastic group gathered in the hall at All Saints School for a portrait oil-painting workshop with Rodney Kingston. Rodney explained we were the 'guinea pigs' as he was trying out a different method (for him) of teaching - breaking down the various stages of the portrait, giving us the time to work on that before moving to the next. He painted his own portrait alongside us. At each stage, Rodney worked around the group, giving individual advice and encouragement. A few people were less familiar with working in oils and this was an opportunity to work with, and get tips from an expert. We had all chosen our particular portrait subject and worked from a photograph of a family member, or one taken from an on-line image library. Everyone concentrated hard and produced some very impressive results. One of the group, who paints portraits regularly, said she is going to follow Rodney's methods after doing this workshop. Another commenting on social media, said it was 'so much fun, learning and hard work'. So, the 'guinea pigs' were very happy!
