Dear Member

In March Melissa Wishart gave us a seascape demo, watched via Zoom by about 30 members. She was a very good presenter, calm, with good camera work to show us her painting and the palette she was using. As an introduction she showed us a lot of previous seascapes that she had done, many of which you can find on www.melissawishart.com .

Here are some disconnected jottings taken during the demo – which might give some interesting points:

• Brief look at materials: golden open acrylics. Disposable paper palettes.
• Colours used: Titanium white, cad yellow, y ochre, cad red, burnt sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine, coeruleum blue.
• Mix b umber + ultra blue for black.
• Where to put the horizon – she chose a low horizon about one third up.
• Started with sky. Mixed range of cols with pal knife, on the palette. Creamy white – red, yellow + lots of white. Main sky mix – Coer blue and ultra blue. For horizon area, blue, white and a little y ochre – v pale greenish.
• Took blue off sky area with a rag, for initial cloud shapes. Slow drying of Golden acrylics allowed this.
• Darker shadows in foreground sea – dark green – use some sky col in the water. U blue + b sienna + cad y for dark green. U bl + b sienna for very dark blue. U bl and coer bl + white for lighter cols in sea. Made several mixes on palette. Applied with household brush.
• Overall, slightly darker blue of the sea is more u bl and less cer bl, and a bit of b umber.
• Let it dry before putting in the position of the yachts. But even after about an hour the golden paint is still ‘workable’/’tacky’. Drawing of yachts done with a sable brush.
• Worked on brightest bits of sea and then added the same creamy white to the bright tops of the clouds – then with a bit of blue from the sea to add shadows to clouds.
• Swiped up over highlights in sea for ‘sparkle’

Many thanks to Melissa for a very interesting and professional demonstration.

The New Arts Critique, Thursday 20^th May, 2 – 4pm, by George Boyter. This will be like our January critique using Zoom. George will be happy to receive photos of your work and he will then display and discuss them during our Zoom meeting – we will send you the link nearer the time. 

So, if you would like to take part, please prepare your paintings and send good quality photographs with your name, title, approximate size and the medium of the work and also mention Cookham Arts Club, to George Boyter at georgeboyterartist@gmail.com (maximum two per artist – please send two if you can). Please send them between the end of April and 13^th May.

Remember, this is our ‘New Arts’ critique. The paintings should be in a ‘modern style’. What does that mean? Perhaps non-representational, abstract work; perhaps quite representational, but with a twist such as unexpected colours in the subject. It is always interesting to see what people enter for the critique. Please make sure it is a painting which has not been critiqued for CAC before.

‘Tuesday Painters’ are now meeting via Zoom. The meetings are organised by John Eckhart, and if you would like to join in, please send him a note ( jbeckhartforcac@gmail.com ) and he will add you to his distribution list. We have had some great feedback about the enjoyable meetings – so many thanks to John for doing this.

Member’s Contributions

The ‘Just 40’ challenge.

Not a lot of members have sent in their attempts – perhaps, like me, you found it very difficult! But it was fun to try.

Here are efforts by Pam (a snow scene), Kay (shifting sands) and yours truly (goldfinch): 

We have received a few other paintings from members to share with you.

Thank you so much for sending them.

Ann King: New Forest cottage (oils) 

and Mariangela

Judy Walker: Common buzzard and greater spotted woodpecker

Pam Hammond: Scottish wild cat kitten 

Rachel Ireland: Cat

Maralin Cottenham: nude portrait

Carole Baughan: Kingfisher (another collage from Big Issue magazines)

A Date for Your Diary

It is Cookham Arts Club’s 80^th anniversary this year. 

We plan to meet at the Parish Centre for a celebratory party on July 10^th from 2.45 to 4pm. Surely, we will all be inoculated, with a good build-up of antibodies, by then and will be able to have a gathering – so, make a note of the date in your diary and look out for more details in a future Newsletter.

Yours sincerely

Robert Jones email rdjforcac@gmail.com

Newsletter Editor

P.S.

I have just received an interesting email from Teresa Illman, Programme Co-ordinator, Marlow Art and Crafts Society, giving details of an opportunity for those with limited mobility to be able to get out on the river to paint sketch and photograph.  It’s an initiative proposed by Accessible Boating Thames, a charity that specialises in getting people into boats who would otherwise not be able.

It looks like a brilliant idea which might be of interest to some of our members. Just search ‘Accessible Boating Thames’ on the internet if you want to find out more.

P.P.S.There may still be a space or two on the Club Holiday to the Isle of Wight, 12^th – 19^th June, due to cancellations. Get in touch very soon if you might be interested – email Freddie Daniel, fdforcac@gmail.com