Cotswolds – Final Critique!

It’s over. Our ten days of painting and drawing in the lovely Cotswolds region of England has come to an end. We’ve said our goodbyes to each other and to our hosts at Farncombe Estate. Everything was first class. The staff were always cheerful and helpful, the food was great and our studio was perfect.

Last Saturday afternoon, we gathered once more at our studio for a Pimm’s, a glass of wine and our Final Critique. We set it up exhibition style, with the work taped to the walls. Later on, our guests arrived and it was quite a crowd. Staff members and participants from other courses enjoyed our efforts.

So, here it is! Each participant made a selection of their own work from the ten days. You’ll probably notice that I don’t teach my style. I try to guide each artist and help them to find their own voice. Some have more experience than others. Some took on personal challenges such as perspective or composition. Either way, they all did very well.

I’d like to thank all of our artists. Everyone made a positive contribution to the success of the workshop. Thanks for following our adventures and for your comments.

Advertisement

Cotswolds – Stanway House!

Yesterday, our last of five day trips took us to the stunning Stanway House, not far from Broadway and our home base of Farncombe Estate. What a treat! Stanway House is closed to tourists and visitors on Friday so our group had an exclusive tour of the house from Christine and were able to paint anywhere on the extensive estate.

But first there were a few things to learn. The Tithe Barn is about 700 years old. This may not be the original key but it still works.

If one would like to leave the grounds to explore the village, one must know the location of the secret gate.

Stanway House is famous for it’s gravity-driven fountain. It shot up at noon and continued for about fifteen minutes. It was quite a sight, especially to one of our artists who was a little too close at the time and had to scramble to dry ground.

High above the fountain is a small pyramid pavilion. It was an uphill hike but worth every gasp for the fabulous view.

Friday was our final painting day. We had a look at the work as soon as we got back to our studio. There’s more to come, though. Stay tuned for Saturday’s Final Critique!

Cotswolds – Our studio at Farncombe Estate!

We stayed home today. Our studio is very comfortable and well-appointed. There’s a coffee machine that grinds real beans, cookies and pastries and bottles of still and sparkling water. Newspapers are also provided although I never have time to read them.

I gave a demonstration of two figures in the morning. Three steps were used in the drawing of the man reading the newspaper. Step one is the pencil drawing and cool grey shadows. The second step shows the addition of local colour; the green shirt, etc. I also decided to add a suggestion of the bench. The third and final step shows some pen and ink work.

My lady in a kerchief was done with pencil and watercolour. In this case, I skipped the grey shadow stage and started with the lightest watercolour washes. When they dried, I added the darker values.

      

Some of our artists worked mostly in the studio and others painted outdoors on the grounds. Late in the afternoon, I gave a talk about the fine tradition of English watercolour painting. I’d brought a few books along and we looked at some wonderful work by the great ones; Towne, Taverner, Cotman, Girtin and Turner to name just a few.

During the afternoon, I had prepared a sheet of small watercolour studies with the English school in mind. The village scene was from a photo I took in Stow on the Wold. Each of the cloud studies shows a slightly different approach to an always tricky subject.

This is an inspired bunch of artists. Everyone is loving the Cotswolds region and making the most of the experience.

Cotswolds – Stow on the Wold!

I’d been waiting all week to say “Let’s get this Stow on the Wold!” Yesterday, I got my chance. Stow is a pretty market town. Our driver dropped us off on a small green and we started our painting day with a discussion and a brief review. I reminded everyone of the importance of sketching, especially at the start of the day. Sometimes, we launch right into painting and forget how helpful it can be to first draw for a while. It familiarizes us with our subject and trains our eye for the day’s visual challenges.

We wrapped up our meeting fairly quickly and got to work.

We had a few drops during the day but nothing too threatening. You may have noticed that churchyards are popular painting spots. They don’t seem to attract masses of tourists and often have excellent views of the surrounding area.

The skies opened up with about a half hour to go. We were glad to board our bus and head back to Farncombe Estate. We decided to defer our critique until this morning. This group is really starting to produce some lovely paintings and drawings.

Cotswolds – Lower Slaughter!

Lower Slaughter is a very charming village ranging along a quiet stream and only a mile from Upper Slaughter. It was the smallest place we’ve visited so far but full of great painting subjects.

I used a 3/4″ flat angled brush for my demonstration. It’s challenging but fun to make all of the marks and shapes with the same brush. My demonstrations are always suggestions. No-one is required to do exactly what I do. Still, I hope the demo provided some ideas about tackling the various visual elements of Lower Slaughter.

We’ve seen a lot of nice watercolour paintings on the walls of pubs and a local art group was exhibiting in the Town Hall. However, we haven’t seen any other artists until we got here and a young painter joined us in the afternoon.

As usual, it was back to the studio at the end of the day. Have a look at our work!

Cotswolds – Chipping Campden

My camera doesn’t do justice to the view that greets us every morning at Farncombe Estate. Today’s painting spot was Chipping Campden and it was another lovely town with painting subjects everywhere we looked.

We started off at a churchyard that gave us views of some very interesting architecture as well as attractive rural vistas.

On our way home, our driver stopped at the local lavender fields and then at the famous Broadway Tower. Just quick stops for some photos but it was nice to see a bit more of the area. A tired bunch of artists met at our studio and we had a look at another in a series of daily exhibitions.

 

Cotswolds – We’re Here!

We arrived at Farncombe Estate last Thursday. It’s a beautiful place. The accommodations and food are excellent, the staff very friendly and helpful and the views are absolutely breathtaking.

We took it easy on Friday and painted and sketched on the grounds. Our studio is as wonderful as everything else, bright and roomy with complimentary freshly ground coffee, snacks and both still and sparkling water. Not to mention the delicious elderberry cordial.

I did a few small watercolour studies to use as examples in my earliest discussions with our group. One of them is shown above. It’s a ‘shape-read’ approach, all done with the brush and no pencil.

Our neighbouring town is Broadway, in the valley directly below us. On Saturday, we boarded our bus and headed into town. What a place to paint! I worked on a sheet with two watercolour studies. Later, with the group, I showed them a few pen and ink techniques.

It was a lovely day of painting but, of course, there’s nothing wrong with a refreshing break. After all, we’re in England.

Our bus was on time and we gathered at the studio for a look at the day’s work. Today, we’re going to Chipping Campden. Cheers!