Continuing in Cornwall

The second day of the Beginner's Art course and I was excited to see 'what next' - where would I be going with my creativity? It was a joy to open the curtains to this wonderful view, with its constantly changing clear light, creating such variety of colour. I began to appreciate why so many artists have come to Newlyn since the early 1880s.

It was a joy to walk back into the studio and to see my charcoal chair still on the easel. A powerful reminder of what I had achieved the day before. But soon, we were again drawing that chair, this time with a pencil, and using technique to measure the distances and angles between key points. And I realised how early I was in my drawing journey.

We then returned to colour mixing, and I found it so meditative ! Using yesterday's palette as a starting point, we created tertiary colours, having so many surprises along the way. Adding white changed the hues again. The realisation that all those shades can be created with cool blue, yellow and red, warm blue, yellow and red and white. How did I not know this after having taught art to young children for so many years!?! And a passing comment from our tutor Marie Claire 'You are a colourist' was a touching surprise to me.

The challenge of the afternoon was to apply this new found knowledge and create a painting! But again, we were gently supported by having an artist's approach and a photo as our stimulus. I found it hard to select a photo, but opted for a red bird on a branch. Part way through I regretted my choice, but I accept that choosing a subject to paint is a key part of the process. Mixing the range of greens I needed taught me so much and I was soon absorbed in painting. My mind was fully focussed and I felt an easing of the usual dialogues going on in my mind:

I was quite chuffed with what I had achieved, given this was the first time I had attempted anything like it! At the end of the afternoon though I was feeling quite drained. The weather was not good enough for a swim, with a chilly wind and grey skies. I drove along the coast a few miles to the famous village of Mousehole. Thinking of the concepts that Marie-Claire had introduced to us, I played with taking photographs of the spaces in between elements, such as the ropes of the boats in the harbour.

I found the famous Mousehole Rock Pool, but the weather put me off having a dip. I looked for more patterns and colours in the scenery around - so many possibilities for a painting:

I returned to Newlyn and treated myself to relaxing meal at the Newlyn Filmhouse and watched the film The Salt Path. It was just what I needed to recharge my batteries, ready for the last day of the course. As I waited for my meal, I played with the long exposure on my new phone, hoping that I will be able to do ICMs:

On the third (and sadly the last) day, I woke really early, but not quite early enough for the sunrise! I did capture the changing light on the sea. I was reminded of the exhibition I had seen at the Courtauld of Monet's paintings of the Thames. He would on the balcony at the Savoy Hotel painting the changing light as the sun rose, working feverishly to apply the paint for about 10 minutes, before starting a new canvas as the colour changed. When he went back to Paris, he took over 100 canvases of sunrise and sunsets to finish in his studio. I took a series of photos and as the colours changed before my eyes, but maybe the AI didn't quite capture the subtleties:

Once again, it was good to see our work on the easels when we arrived in the studio. Our first task was to spend some time completing yesterday's painting. I found this really hard! Once I had added the blue foot and the feathers, I was too scared to add anything more! So Marie-Claire suggested that I do another version, really quickly, going with the flow. I really enjoyed just splashing on the paint!

And then we returned to drawing - and I was reaching the limits of my capabilities! Draw an egg with charcoal? Surely I could do that? Well after an hour, it still resembled a snail! I just couldn't get the perspective and the shades of light and dark right.

And if that had fazed me, the next activity was an enormous challenge: a drawing of a life model!. Once again though Marie-Claire supported us through a series of collaborative exercises until we co-created a life-drawing!

As I made the long journey home, I refelcted on the workshop. Amazed by the progress I made, yet aware now of how much more there is to learn. And keen to do more courses with the Newlyn School of Art!

#newlynshoolofart; #beginnerspainting; #playingwithcolour; #charcoalmarmaking; #cornwalljourneys