Sonia Jacka portrait workshop

Good morning fellow members

Sonia Jacka is once again offering a portrait workshop from 1st to the 3rd of June at her studio in Noordhoek.  She will also be exhibiting her work at the forthcoming Decorex exhibition at the CCITC from the 27th of April until the 1st of May.

If anyone is interested in the course we can send on the details, or Sonia can be contacted direct at art@sonia.co.za 

We hope that you all have a happy and safe Easter weekend.

John Strickland relates sketching in Russia

It was very gratifying to see some 23 members and friends at last night's meeting of FHAS.

Unfortunately we had a major setback: we found on arriving that the projector was not available in the hall, meaning that John had to improvise with his talk and use photocopied photos to back up his sketch books. However, he rose to the occasion and we all enjoyed the recounting of his travels in Russia.


Chairlady Ann introduced John and his theme and left us to be wooed by his descriptions, route, anecdotes - sometimes poignant and touching - and indeed his remarkable sketches. Most were made standing up, on the hoof, and some were finished a little later in the day when John had time to work on them between touring and dining.

The route that John and Jennifer took, began in Moscow (though he started his escapade from South Africa in Belgium and visited Bruges). He joined a cruiser - on of those long, thin riverine cruiser boats - and left the capital via the Volga River. The route took then along canals, waterways and lakes, through the southern reaches of the Arctic Circle before meandering southwards to the magnificent city of St Petersburg.

He was very positive about the accommodation and meals on this organised tour and although he didn't delve into this in much detail, it was obviously a great success.

After the talk, wine and juice was on offer and we ran the raffle.

This time it was our photographer member, Rob McAlpine, who won the goody bag with oil pastels, mounts, pens and more.So now let's see some paintings Rob. You've got the incentives...

On another note, who has had a go at the monochrome challenge? Remember the mandarins
Maureen produced a wonderful work from the challenge.
So let's see yours!

SASA's painting Festival at Noordhoek - come support at 5pm.

Presentation evening Wednesday at 7 pm

Reminder for the evening presentation tomorrow at 7 pm.  John Strickland will be giving a talk and showing photos of his recent visit to  Russia and Croatia.  His anecdotes and sketches of people and places are not to be missed.

We will be serving fruit juice and a biscuit at R 5.00, but please remember to bring your own glass.  There will also be a worthwhile raffle at R 20.00

Art classes at CASA LABIA, Muizenberg

Rob McAlpine forwarded this to some members of FHAS and we thought it was worth posting here as it is a very interesting opportunity to get some more valuable drawing practice.

And there are more. Call Casa Labia or check out their webpage.

Another MONOCHROME challenge - take 15 minutes and see how you go!

Home grown mandarins for breakfast! (don't ask whose home...)

So, having done the monochrome workshop, you'll be looking for those darks and lights. And the easiest, fastest way to do this is to turn the subject photo into a monochrome (sepia in this case) photo to see the dark and the light areas.

A WONDERFUL OUTING

Whether it was for the view, the coffee, the ducks or... the drawing, some 16 members and friends arrived at Groot Constantia for an inspirational morning.


Groot Constantia. Why?

The alley of oaks with the old Manor House is the first introduction to this historic gem dating back to the end of the 17th century. Behind, there are the old winery buildings, Anton Anreith's marvellous sculptured pediment and those irresistible ducks. There are also rows and rows of vines and distant mountains. Plus - important to artists - areas of shade and even benches and walls to perch on.

In short, lots of potential for paintings and drawings.

Here are some examples of what we al got up to...

             

   

    

  

The lawns are (still) verdant despite the drought, and (still) well-manicured, and those solid oaks seem to thrive and characterise much of this old winery.

Today Fish Hoek Art Society was far from the only visitor - the cafés were doing great business and we enjoyed a cup of coffee and tea, even testing the scones and cream (verdict: light, fresh and quite delicious) whilst basking in the warmth and colour that surrounded us.

Nobody finished a work (did you?) but there were great beginnings in pencil, pen, oils, charcoal and watercolour.

With cellphones and cameras, the inspiration to continue those unfinished oeuvres at home was strong.

Thanks to Rob for photos.

    

PAINT OUT at Groot Constantia AND the TALK on 28th March

Just a reminder about the paint-out at Groot Constantia Tuesday morning.

If you need a lift please contact John on 021 782 7337, otherwise make you own way to the lower (or upper if the lower is full) parking area of the Manor house.

Take a stool or similar, your sketching materials, a hat and something to drink.

Next Wednesday the 28^th at 7 pm we will have John Strickland giving a presentation on “Travels with a paintbrush” – his trip to Russia and Croatia.  We will also have a raffle.

As we have informed everyone we will not be offering tea/coffee due to the water situation, but will offer a fruit juice and biscuits at R5.00 if you bring your own glass/cup.

Another framing contact for you

RESUMÉ of MONOCHROME WORKSHOP

Well attended, this monochrome workshop lead by Fiona Nichols was a success and most of the 17 participants felt they had learned something new.

 

   

Fiona started us looking at some well known paintings on an iPad, works in which tone played a major role and how artists through the years have astutely used contrasting tone to create interesting works. Think Rembrandt, Vermeer, Titian.

  

The old adage of DARK against LIGHT, and LIGHT against DARK were more than evident and she pointed out that with masterly use of tonal values, plus good composition, an artist is well on the way to a successful painting.

Interestingly, a good tonal painting - such as a sanguine work - stands as a work of art on its own, without the need for a full range of colour.


We made a tonal chart dividing our chosen medium - mostly pencil, some watercolour and some charcoals - into FIVE tones.

This was the basis for the work we did. The darkest of the tones were to be black and the lightest, the colour of our paper.

There were two still life set ups and we had a chance at doing both. See a photo below.

   

She also showed how to convert a photo on a smartphone or tablet directly into grey scale, which makes working in monochrome so much easier.

   

So why not take up the challenge, and make another sketch in monochrome?