Getting there – slowly

… and on the subject of inspirational art centres (see previous post) …

Over two years ago I talked about wanting to brush up my artistic skills, but my attempts at drawing and painting on my own soon fizzled out. I read lots of ‘how to’ books and watched ‘step-by-step’ videos, but it’s a big jump from understanding the theory of painting techniques, colour mixing, composition etc. to putting that knowledge into practice. I just couldn’t make my hands create the pictures I could see in my mind!

Then, last December, I plucked up the courage to join a newly formed art group that meets in the Realitas Arts Centre. What a revelation! Some members are complete beginners, others are more experienced, and we’re led by the talented Sheila who has a wonderful knack of making the apparently complicated seem very simple.

 ‘Try a touch of this colour,’ she’ll say. Or, ‘Here’s an easy way to suggest that texture.’

I learn something new and useful at every meeting.

I haven’t yet produced a picture that I think is good enough to be framed but here are a couple of my least worst efforts to date.