Thursday 26 April 2012

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. 



4 comments:

SquirrelQueen said...

All I can say is I can't wait to see one you consider frame worthy because I think both of these are beautiful. I have always wanted to learn to paint but settled for photography instead. Maybe one of these days (if I found a group like yours) I will give it a try.

Unknown said...

They look really good to me too. Well done, you.

Linda D said...

Thanks for your kind comments. I've still got a lot to learn but I'm certainly enjoying the experience.

Jenny Woolf said...

These are lovely pictures. And the teacher sounds gifted, which makes such a difference to any class.