Sunshine
Henry Hensche – Portrait of Loretta Bohaty
We know one thing about the virus and that is that we are better defended against it when we have adequate amounts of Vitamin D in our systems. The best source of that is to stretch out naked on a sunny beach and make our own from the warming rays of the sun. For most of us that just isn’t an option right now so we find another way. Dry pills and oily fish seem to be the thing, smoked salmon is no hardship when taken medicinally but I’d swap it in a flash for a glimpse of the sun.
Like the quickening of a creative urge the sun can rarely be relied upon, sometimes it’s there and sometimes obscured. As artists we know that in the absence of our mojo we turn to process, discipline and routine in the knowledge that turning this soil is the way to provide for future growth when the sunshine breaks through again.
The painting above is by the colourist Henry Hensche. Hensche would paint and teach in full sunshine so that the colours would sing and form the structure of the painting. Those of you who will be attending Erin Raedeke’s Master Class in a couple of weeks may be interested to know that Erin can trace a line through her tutelage back to Hawthorne, Hensche and the Cape Cod School, where colour came first. You can see the similarity in the way the colours are handled in the sliver of Erins work below:
You can still sign up for Erin’s Free Masterclass on the 15th February and the last time I checked there were two places left on the course which runs from February 22nd – March 29th, read more or sign up on this page.
Tuesday Evening Freya’s Fast Poses 7.00pm-8.30pm on Zoom
Adrian @modbodadrian
Freya will be dipping into the murky ponds of emotion and distortion this evening referencing Oskar Kokoshka. Kokoshka was deemed a degenerate artist by the Nazis, what’s not to like?
You can join us on Zoom from 6.45pm and get to know us and any other drawers before work commences at 7.00pm.
The cost is £8 but if you can convince us you’re a student we’ll give you a code to get the session for £5: drop us an email.
Wednesday Portraiture 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom
The second week with Amy as our portrait model. You can see a couple of works at the top the first one from Carolyne Megan the second one by Stuart Fairlamb
We’ll have a further three hours this Wednesday to finish her off. So to speak.
Zoom fee is £15 Please book here
The session fee will be reduced to £12 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout. This is optional.
Saturday Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom
Rebecca by Denis Purshouse
Rebecca by Simon
Rebecca is seated with one knee drawn up and a big mop of red hair – I’ve put a couple of works in progress above to give you an idea. The first is by Denis Purshouse who is going for the portrait view and the second is my own which is from a different angle in the studio (I find it tricky painting through the cameras!) but gives you an idea of the pose, from the camera her knees are pretty much pointing at you.
Zoom fee is £15
The Zoom session fee will be reduced to £12 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout. This is optional.
