Category: Newsletters

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An Introduction to Life Drawing goes Zoom

Zoom Drop-in Groups – click on the links below

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
Wednesday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting
Wednesday Afternoon – Drop-in Portraiture
Saturday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting

Learn to draw the figure from the beginning: An Introduction To Life Drawing

Drawing the human figure is a challenge but if persevered with, it is the surest thread to follow in the larger task of observational drawing. We have run our Introduction to Life Drawing for many years now and well over a thousand students have used it to establish their drawing practice. The central premise is that whilst we all find our own way to communicate what we see, most artists use one of a handful of methods as their starting point. We introduce these methods and allow you to find what works for you.

In two weeks time we will be running this course using Zoom. We will teach using demonstration and discussion, you will get one on one time with a tutor and a professional nude model to work from. Zoom works well for this kind of teaching. This course is ideal for complete beginners but more experienced artists also find it useful for filling in gaps.

Summer Term 10 weeks, 25th June – 27th August 2020
6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost £95

Sign up here

Why you should join the Pleinairists’  Whatsapp group.

Whilst we are all locked down we can’t get into the studio but the advice is now that we can meet in groups of up to six people so long as social distancing is observed. This means that David Sawyer’s Pleinairists can meet and paint out doors. As you may know, David paints outside several days a week as the weather allows, in order to supply his galleries with work to sell. These small groups are the perfect chance to paint alongside a seasoned pro and learn as you go. More info below.

Travel to Iraqi Kurdistan and draw with George Butler

George Butler is going to be running an exciting drawing holiday in Iraqi Kurdhistan in October which you may be interested in looking at here. Whilst Iraq itself is still a troubled area the Kurdish region in the North is safe for adventurous tourists. It has spectacular scenery, and fantastic history: “We will be discovering the legacy of the Assyrian empire, ancient fortresses, bustling bazaars, spectacular mountain scenery, 5000-year-old cities, and the notorious hospitality of the Kurdish people.” You can read more about the holiday here

George Butler’s illustrations of recent protests are featured on the Guardian website here

Pleinairists


Last week, painting on Streatham Common with David

A message from David Sawyer: “The weather looks set to improve next week, although there’s a chance of the occasional shower.
Tuesday morning from 10.00am I’ll be painting at Streatham Common/the Rookery
Wednesday l plan to take a trip to Shoreham village in Kent, it was the home of the visionary painter Samuel Palmer & I hope to find some inspiration & bucolic English landscape.Will be there around 10.00am & will bring my lunch heading back mid afternoon.
Friday morning 10.00am it’s back to dependable Ruskin park but not the garden, I’m thinking of painting further up with the view across the city”

If you are interested in painting along with David the Cost is £35 per session, which lasts approximately three hours and you can sign up here. We use our Pleinairists Whatsapp Group to coordinate.
These are small groups where social distancing is maintained throughout.

Tuesday Drop-in Short Pose Life Drawing 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom

Valeria will offer us a series of short poses which will get longer over the course of each of three hours.

You can choose to join us for one, two or three hours and as we’re still rolling this out the charge will only be £2.50 per hour. To get the special price use the discount code PESTE1 at final check out when purchasing the session.

Click here to book

Wednesday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

Ros will sit for two weeks, this Wednesday and next Wednesday.

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.

Wednesday Drop-in Portraiture 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom

The second and final week with Paul, already some very good work emerging – the one at the top is by Illustrator Ed Simkins who took advantage of the second camera wide angle view and then a head shot by Paula Macfarlane

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.

Saturday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

Fitness instructor Emily is in standing pose and this will be the second and last week. Above you can see the portrait view by Andrew Berridge and the wide view as depicted by Gordon Stewart.

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.
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Clear sweet video and clean sound now on our Zoom sessions

Zoom Drop-in Groups – click on the links below

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
Wednesday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting
Wednesday Afternoon – Drop-in Portraiture
Saturday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting

Last week an optical cable slithered it’s way to our studio, bringing with it many megabits up and down. The megabits allow us to present our models to you with greater clarity and richer colours and enable us to have clear audio so we can hear what you say and you us. This is a massive relief, you’ll know if you’ve tried any of our previous Zoom sessions that the picture has been variable and the sound, at times, positively bizarre. That is now behind us and our system works well.

We have also introduced a second camera so we will either offer you two views or a wide angle shot with the second camera zoomed in.

There are four Zoom sessions this week, including a portrait session on Wednesday afternoon, we hope we’ll see you at one or more of them.

David Sawyer is planning on going further afield. On Tuesday morning he will be at the Rookery in Streatham which has some fine views and trees and walled gardens terraced down a hill. Plenty to paint and whilst the main car park appears to be closed we can park along the road that leads up to it. On Wednesday he will be travelling to Deal in Kent to paint on the sea front. If you’d like to join him on either of these ventures then you can sign up here. You will be invited to join his Whatsapp group to coordinate. These are small groups where we respect rules on social distancing.

Tuesday Drop-in Short Pose Life Drawing 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom

Adrian is our man for Tuesdays short poses. We’ll go through the routine of very short poses getting successively longer each hour.

You can choose to join us for one, two or three hours and as we’re still rolling this out the charge will only be £2.50 per hour. To get the special price use the discount code PESTE1 at final check out when purchasing the session.

Click here to book

Wednesday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

The second and final week with Stephanie in a seated pose: see this WIP below for the pose.

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.

Wednesday Drop-in Portraiture 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom

We have Paul sitting for a portrait this afternoon. Paul is a Street Operative who has a look and charm all his own. The photo is by Henry Miller who snapped him going about his work. He will be with us this week and next.

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.

Saturday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

Emily is a fitness instructor who also models. She will sit for us for a long pose this Saturday that we will return to again next Saturday 20th June.
Here is a painting of her by Bukie Kawano

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.
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Plein Air Painting for the socially distant

Zoom Drop-in Groups – click on the links below

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
Wednesday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting
Saturday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting

Plein Air painting with David Sawyer this Tuesday


Beddington Park – detail, by David Sawyer

Boris has said that it’s OK for six people to socially distance in a group outdoors. That sounds like a plein air painting trip to us!

Next Tuesday David is going to be in Ruskin Park’s maze garden from 10.00am – 1.00pm and then on Thursday afternoon 2.00pm-5.00pm. David feels that having three hour sessions will work better for everyone and we think he is right, it’ll focus the mind and be better value. He’s inviting five others to be six feet away from him. He will be painting and will also support you in your work, this is one of the best ways of learning, watching an expert do what they do and getting feedback on what you are doing. David has a visor to protect you (and him) whilst he is teaching.

If you’d like to join in next Tuesday 2nd June could you respond to this email, (we don’t have a web page put together for this yet). The cost is £35 for each session. You may park at our studio and wander down. (Ruskin Park is very close to the studio)

In future we will run his sessions in a more ad hoc way so that you will have the option to sign up for each individual session or for a block of three or six as works for you. You can now think of this rather like a drop-in. We also anticipate going further afield and being more responsive so that if, for instance, it’s bucketing down, we’ll take a view and maybe go out the next day.

We will use a Whatsapp group for communications, most of us already use it to chat to our families and it’s ideal for a smallish group to coordinate on the go. When you sign up you’ll get invited to the Whatsapp group and then you’ll be in the loop for subsequent sessions or any other updates.

Clare Haward is having a virtual exhibition


Landscape with village, oil on linen by Clare Haward

A range of Landscape paintings by Clare Haward NEAC will soon be exhibited at 155A. The exhibition will run online from next weekend. If you’ve ever learnt anything from Clare you may like to buy one of her paintings, having your tutor’s work on the wall is a constant reminder of their way.

“Clare Haward is a painter of Landscapes, Still Life and Portrait. Recently elected as a member of New English Art Club, she has exhibited her work widely. She also teaches her particular approach to painting, finding this has become an important part of informing some ideas into her own practice.

Price range: £225-£1500”

Tuesday Drop-in Short Pose Life Drawing 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom

Ros is posing for the short poses this Tuesday afternoon. Here is a screen grab from the last time she was here. We will follow the familiar format of starting each hour with terrifying 30 second short poses and move on to longer poses. depending upon who comes and goes we may end the session with a half hour pose. We try to be democratic.

You can choose to join us for one, two or three hours and as we’re still rolling this out the charge will only be £2.50 per hour. To get the special price use the discount code PESTE1 at final check out when purchasing the session.

Click here to book

Wednesday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

We have Stephanie for two weeks, I think her hair has changed since this photo, so you get the sunshine and smiles but not the curly locks!

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.

Saturday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

Last week poor Sara, our expected model, came down with suspected CV so Alison had the challenge of finding a new model at 9.30 on a Saturday morning. Not all models are morning people (to put it mildly) so we were very happy to discover that Adrian is. He dashed over and saved the session with a seated pose that makes the most of his colouring. We will bring Sara back when she has recovered so that we can finish our paintings but we have Adrian for this week in the second of a two week pose. The WIP painting below is by Vicki Cooke on her first digital session with us, let’s hope she enjoyed the session enough to come back!

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.
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Some new words for our new ways

Zoom Drop-in Groups – click on the links below

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
Wednesday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting
Saturday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting


Ros by Heather Sherratt from Tuesday afternoon’s drop-in

New words for our new ways

Whilst half the country is kicking back on 80% of its income the other half, which includes lots of us creative types, are working their buns off trying to evolve new ways of making a living. Models, tutors and organisers have had a tough time but they’ve been inventive, streaming sessions from their homes, doing costumed life drawing to avoid the priggishness of social media, making photographs available for download.

Our response has been to reconfigure our studio so that you can be with us in every way that technology allows.

If I’d suggested two months ago that we should “Zoom” you might have been nonplussed. A “stream” would’ve been of the babbling brook variety and lets face it, a “covid” would just have been a badly spelt crow. But now we are inviting you to join us on Zoom where we will stream images of our models as they pose for us.

Why is this better than a video or even just a static image?

It does seem that there is a sense of connection, a being there, which catalyses our creative activities. And whilst in some ways it may be easier to work from photographic reference, having a real person posing brings an immediacy to things: the slight adjustments to the pose can be an irritation but they can also jolt us back into understanding what we see and move us along from slavish representation. The structure of having a date in the diary can be a bonus too. The images people have sent us of their work have been very good indeed so it certainly works as a modus operandi.

We value your ideas and input so if you have attended any of our Zoom sessions and feel you have anything to add, please do tell us.

We need, for example, to think about the best way of sharing images. We would suggest that posting on Instagram with the #dulwichartgroup is one good solution but not everyone wants to publish a work in progress. We are looking for a slightly more private digital venue, any thoughts?

Each session we run at the moment evolves from the last as we learn together and find better ways. The image quality is good for most people most of the time, we’ve learnt to preserve bandwidth in the studio as we wait for our fibre broadband to be installed and with it the chance to have more and better images.

Whilst we evolve you can get well discounted sessions by using the relevant discount code at checkout.

Painting in Oils 10.00am-1.00pm Fridays

We have a couple of places on this course which is a follow on from our Skills courses. Tutored by Clare Haward you will be taken through a series of still life setups and exercises which will deepen and strengthen your observational oil painting. It will also help you to set up your home studio and instill a process for working at home. This course is for those who have the basic mechanics of drawing and painting and want to move on. We are offering six weeks of this starting from this Friday with options to continue thereafter. The course is delivered through Zoom with email support. Please email us for more information – info@dulwichartgroup.co.uk

Tuesday Drop-in Short Pose Life Drawing 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom

Adrian will be stretching his sinews for us in this Tuesday’s short pose group. We begin with very short poses of 30 seconds, so make sure you’ve sharpened your pencil before we start! The poses get successively longer throughout the hour and then the cycle begins again. This can be quite hard work but nothing trains the eye better, or fills a portfolio quicker.

You can choose to join us for one, two or three hours and as we’re still rolling this out the charge will only be £2.50 per hour. To get the special price use the discount code PESTE1 at final check out when purchasing the session.

Click here to book

Wednesday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

The second of a two week sitting with Valeria in a seated pose. This will be three hours, one pose, streamed through Zoom. Here’s what the pose looks like as seen by artist and printmaker Lisa Takahashi:

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.

Saturday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

This is also the second week of a two week pose, this time with Sara. Three hours one pose, seated in a chair. Here is how the pose is looking to artist Jane Lawrence

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.
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We are now offering Zoom based life drawing and painting sessions.

Zoom Drop-in Groups – click on the links below

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
Wednesday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting
Saturday Morning – Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting


Freya by Bukie Kawano, study from live video stream

It’s been a long time since I walked in the moonlight…

It’s been a long time now since the lock down started and I imagine that you, like me, are missing painting from life. Working from photos is a good discipline to master but it’s not the same as having a model in front of you.

Unfortunately it looks like our studio will not be a realistic place to work in for some time. Even when we are allowed to reconvene we expect strictures on the way we use the space.

Is there a solution? We hope so. You may know that Clare Haward has been using Zoom to run her classes online. Initially we all felt this would fall short of what we expect from an art class but we’ve all been very positively surprised, both at how much value artists get from it and also how much fun it is. It’s not the same as being in a studio, it is different, not worse, just different.

Whilst this format works well for tutor led groups, the drop-ins have been causing us to scratch our heads somewhat. We felt that having a high quality live image to work from was important for you, along with the ability to interact with others.

Drop-in Life Drawing and Painting using Zoom and a Live Stream

The system we have arrived at is to broadcast a live stream of the model, which will appear on our website, coupled with a Zoom meeting where we will be able to chat and bicker as we usually do.

The live stream (which is just a page on our website, think of it like a YouTube video) uses high quality optics at our end to bring you the nuances of colour and light that many observational artists enjoy. We will often couple this with a camera looking over the shoulder of the tutor or artist taking the session so you can see how they tackle the image, for inspiration or amusement.

You may wonder why we don’t just use Facebook or YouTube live? If only life were that simple, unfortunately they have an odd attitude towards nudity and much of what we do requires a nude model. (Profanity, subversion and murder is OK. Just not nipples or pubes.)

We now have everything in place to do this, all except the fibre broadband for the live stream. Whilst we think that the combination of good quality imagery and a Zoom meeting best recreates the feel of our studio in better times, some artists may find that they are happy enough just using Zoom. The painting above was done by Bukie Kawano at one of our test sessions using Zoom, and as they say, the results speak for themselves. The fibre does not get installed until early June, so until then, off we Zoom.

The good news

We are offering Zoom sessions at a discounted rate, see below. We hope you’ll get as much value out of it as we’ve found that others have.

Understanding Zoom

Zoom is very simple but it is new. Do you remember as a child finding it staggeringly complex to use a payphone? In real terms Zoom is as easy as using a phone but the first time can feel a little confusing so, if you are not confident using Zoom, can we suggest that you have a look at some videos online? Alison thought this one was a good introduction. There are many others if you google “How to use Zoom”

The routine will be that about half an hour before the session you will receive an email with a link to the meeting. If you’ve never used Zoom before, just click on the link and the system will walk you through the setup – it’s only a couple of clicks – and you’ll be ready to go. Once you have Zoom installed you’ll get straight into the waiting room for the meeting where Carole or Alison will then let you in.

Obviously a good wifi connection is going to help at your end and if you can set up your computer/tablet beside your easel or table, you’ll find it is an acceptable way to work. Your computer or tablet will send pictures of you to the Zoom group so you can see yourself and others on the screen and talk. It’s best to be there a bit before we start drawing, just as in a real studio it takes time to get all set up.

We’ll follow our familiar format, you can chat away before the session then at the starting time we’ll begin drawing or painting the model from the screen. We’ll pause for a 5 minute model break every 25 minutes.

Don’t forget to apply the discount code when you are checking out!

Art materials

Mr Green’s, or the Art Stationer’s in Dulwich Village (their proper name) are happy to deliver any materials you want to buy during lock down. It’s often Mary, Mr Green’s daughter, who is the paint monger these days and she is also offering a 10% discount as a further inducement to local art groups. So if you need anything, make the order and mention the Dulwich Art Group to get your discount. Their new website is here

Tuesday Drop-in Short Pose Life Drawing 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom

Our model is actor and performance artist Ros.

You can choose to join us for one, two or three hours and as we’re still rolling this out the charge will only be £2.50 per hour. To get the special price use the discount code PESTE1 at final check out when purchasing the session.

Click here to book

Wednesday Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

Valeria is a young dancer who we have painted before. She hails from Greece.

This will be the first of two three hour sessions with the second session being next Wednesday You’ll know that we often have a model pose for three weeks but this is a slightly different situation and we will discuss this further as we go along.

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.

Drop-in Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom

Sara is a French dancer who will sit for us for three hours this Saturday and next. As above we will discuss how long it is appropriate to keep a pose as we move forward.

Please book here

The session fee will be reduced to £10 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout.
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Welcome to the Summer term

So Easter was fun wasn’t it, meeting up with the family, going out on a brisk spring walk over the downs, dropping in at a pub for lunch, maybe going to the theatre in the evening, laughter, hugs, chocolate. Oh, hang on, sorry, I got mixed up, that was another Easter, no this Easter was a whole different thing. Yes chocolate, yes alcohol, not so much the big family meal or going out. Oh my.


Pears by Elizabeth Fell

Our Summer term starts on Monday. The only class we’re able to run at the moment is Clare Haward on Monday, she will be running her Zoom streamed sessions from 10.00am – 4.00pm for six weeks, and if nothing changes, a further six weeks after that. Those who have been joining her have been getting some splendid results and strengthening their own studio practice (see above). Sign up here if you’re interested. Please note, if you’re new to painting this may not be the ideal course for you so drop us a line if you’re not sure.

Preserved shark anyone?

I know I may have said some disparaging things about Damien Hirst’s work in the past, however, I have this fatal character flaw: when I get to know a person I tend to like them. Damien has afforded us all the opportunity to get to know him a bit better by posting some questions and answers on his Instagram feed.Whilst it will take a lot to persuade me to like his paintings I’ve always liked his 3d work but that is sort of irrelevant: his common sense attitude is the thing and distinctly refreshing. I know it’s easy to be relaxed about how one approaches art when one is sitting on a couple of hundred million quid but many of us could learn from his insouciance, his acceptance of who he is and his own output. I have to say I haven’t watched it all so there may be some unrevealed horrors but I suspect nothing more than the view up his nose, – someone teach him about camera angles!

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Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great Pandemic?


Study in oils (orange & blue) by Karen Akhtar
It is wonderful to see how we make sense of our lock-downs. If you are one of the lucky ones to have spent a day in cyberspace with Clare and her hordes (see what I did there?) then you will have found a way of staying locked in to your own artistic discipline. Ms. Haward (pronounced Horde) is keeping her students momentum going as can be seen by this painting above by Karen Akhtar made during the bonus session that Clare often gives at the end of her terms.

We’re now officially in the Easter holidays although there really is no way of telling. It is our intention to do more online work, including tutored groups, life drawing and painting sessions. We are awaiting the delivery of hardware which makes good quality streaming possible, but as everyone and their Auntie wants to do video conferencing the wait is longer than we’d like.  We will let you know when we can.

Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great Pandemic?

When, in years to come, we look back on this period our memories may well be mixed. For some of us it will be dreadfully sad. For others there will be a sense of pride at selfless efforts made in the service of others. For those of us who serve by staying indoors, how would WE like to account for ourselves to that pictured child, how did WE spend the pandemic?

For my own part I’d like to say that I refined my painting, rebuilt my website, started my first book, caught up on ten years of neglected housework, built a studio in my garden, exercised strenuously every day, gave up alcohol and renewed my love of meditation.

I would, of course, be lying. Les Grands Projets are becoming, in political parlance, an aspiration rather than a goal or commitment, the absence of a firm deadline is softening the resolve.

What I am noticing however is that there is a tremendous sense of stillness at times, where the silent canvas upon which life’s story is painted twinkles through. And that is a gift, not of doing but of being. We have all become hermits, unwilling perhaps, but should we be surprised that the revelations sought by these solitary mystics are glimpsed by us too?

So when my children ask me what I did in the Great Pandemic, I will stare into the mid-distance like the fellow above and say it was not so much about what I did but who I was. With any luck, they’ll think I’m very clever and stop asking awkward questions.

Now, where’s the bottle opener?
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A fruitful line of enquiry for artists

Continuous line drawing


Continuous line drawings by students from last Thursday

Last week, on our Introduction to Life Drawing Course, we practised continuous line drawing. Our instructions for this exercise are to become aware of how the eye darts around the object of observation and to record the motion on a piece of paper with charcoal. The eye tends to move in straightish lines and then dwells, so when we notice it has jumped from left knee to right nipple the movement is recorded with a straight line. By not drawing the object but just recording the movements of the eye as it explores it, an image is built up.

The exercise draws upon work done by Alfred Yarbus back in the last century where he tracked the movements of the eye as it regarded a motif. By plotting exactly where we look, an image is built up which has nothing to do with our understanding of what we are seeing and yet still begins to explain the object. (When we draw our understanding of something rather than what we see, we get different results.)


Volga Girl – tracked eye movements by Alfred Yarbus

Now, how scientifically one follows this experiment is not really important, the value comes from describing what is seen in a new way. Plotting the activity of looking springs us out from the strictures of conventional representation and like blind contour drawing supplies us with a fresh line and some delicious visual surprises. Being aware of where the eye goes can also reveal important information about our relationship with what we see. How we use this in our work is up to us.


Continuous line drawing by Nicholas Shaw.

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
1.00pm-4.00pm

Adrian is the Tuesday model this week. Well defined and highly professional.
This one of him is by Sean Cunningham:

Whilst the session runs for three hours it is possible to attend one, two or three hours, as works for you. Joining or leaving the group happens promptly on the hour. There is a tutor available although the group is officially untutored.

Cost £5 for one hour, £10 for two hours or £15 for three.
Tea and cake £1

Wednesday Drop-in long pose untutored
10.00am-1.00pm

The last week with Suzon in a seated pose, here is Sarah Meredith‘s

Cost £15 no need to book, just turn up. £1 for coffee and biscuits at 11.30am
Read more here

Wednesday Afternoon Drop-in Portraiture
2.00pm -5.00pm

Andrew is a big and characterful chap who we are looking forward to painting this Wednesday afternoon and next.

Cost £20 no need to book, just turn up. Tea and cake £1

This is a drop-in group for those wanting to work on their portraiture. If you haven’t been for a while would you fill in the form and read more here so that we can keep the numbers manageable.

Friday Drop-in Long pose untutored
1.00-4.00pm

Maria has a cool elegance about her which we will have a go at painting this Friday and the following two.

Cost £15, no need to book, just turn up. £1 for tea and cake at 3.30pm
More info here

Saturday Drop-in Long Pose Untutored Life Drawing and Painting
10.00am-1.00pm

Freya is in a reclining pose on green satin which complements her fiery hair and fair skin. You might need some cadmium orange. Colour study below.

Cost £15 – no need to book, just turn up. £1 for coffee and biscuits at 11.30am

Regards

Alison and Simon
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Just fill in this box for inspiration


Homework – students on our skills course showing commitment

It is always gratifying watching others make positive steps towards their objectives. The steps we take on the Skills course are simple ones and all the more powerful for it. In the picture above you can see some homework completed after the first week of term. Just boxes filled with lines in different directions.

Does it help us to draw expressively? Of course: the strengthened links between the eye and the hand bring greater precision it’s true but energy also begins to flow and with it our creativity. 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration is the old adage and the inspiration is sweet when it comes.

As we progress much of the perspiration takes place in observational drawing but these basic steps are just the thing to prepare the ground.

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
1.00pm-4.00pm

Elisa will be giving us some dance poses this Tuesday afternoon.

Whilst the session runs for three hours it is possible to attend one, two or three hours, as works for you. Joining or leaving the group happens promptly on the hour. There is a tutor available although the group is officially untutored.

Cost £5 for one hour, £10 for two hours or £15 for three.
Tea and cake £1

Wednesday Drop-in long pose untutored
10.00am-1.00pm

Suzon is in the second week of a three week pose. Here is what Alice Boggis Rolfe has on her easel.

Cost £15 no need to book, just turn up. £1 for coffee and biscuits at 11.30am
Read more here

Wednesday Afternoon Drop-in Portraiture
2.00pm -5.00pm

Second week of a two week sitting with Priscilla. Here is Sarah Meredith‘s WIP being painted over an old life study.

and the woman herself

Cost £20 no need to book, just turn up. Tea and cake £1

This is a drop-in group for those wanting to work on their portraiture. If you haven’t been for a while would you fill in the form and read more here so that we can keep the numbers manageable.

Friday Drop-in Long pose untutored
1.00-4.00pm

Last week with Phoebe in a seated pose – here is Jeanette Watkins version:

and here is Phoebe as seen by a camera:

Cost £15, no need to book, just turn up. £1 for tea and cake at 3.30pm
More info here

Saturday Drop-in Long Pose Untutored Life Drawing and Painting
10.00am-1.00pm

Freya is a red head who modelled for our Intermediate Life Drawing course last week. She has a slim build and fair skin and will be with us for two weeks and then a break for a week and back again. so that’s the 5th and 12th October and the 26th October.

Cost £15 – no need to book, just turn up. £1 for coffee and biscuits at 11.30am

Regards

Alison and Simon

Dulwich Art Group Organisers
Alison on 07968 063523
Simon on 07704 450169
Our venue is at 4a Champion Hill SE5 8AH you can find out how to get there here
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Something you could do for us which would help you too

Are you on Instagram?

If you are, would you do us a favour? When you paint something you’re proud of in one of our groups and Instagram it would you use the #dulwichartgroup hashtag? This makes it easy for us to find your work and we can include it in our newsletters or on our own Instagram feed. We’ll always credit you and the added exposure helps everyone.

It would also help us if you do come across us on Instagram, to ‘like’ our posts and to follow us. The Instagram algorithm warms to users who ‘engage’ so liking and commenting actually helps your own feed.

If you were to look at @dulwichartgroup on Instagram now you’d see that there are some drawings from last week’s Tuesday drop-in. As Alison took the pics I don’t know who did them. If one of them is yours – say so in the comments. Everyone will admire your work and Instagram will smile upon you and put your pictures before more people. If they’re not yours, just like the feed, at least the algorithm will know you’re engaging and that helps too.

If you talk to non-artists, the Instagram world can be a scary and confrontational one filled with trolls and shame. Not so with us artists, it seems that we live in a sort of social media utopia where people post lovely pictures and everyone is polite and supportive. Perhaps the world should be run by artists.

Clare Haward will be giving a talk on the 24th October as part of her one woman show at 155A gallery Fri 18th October – Sat 2nd November (Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only) 11am-6pm You can pre register for the talk here

Tuesday Afternoon Short Pose Drop-in Life Drawing
1.00pm-4.00pm

Priscilla will be providing the short poses this Tuesday. She is a creative who sings, writes and draws along with yoga and stuff. Interestingly her grandmother used to model for Frank Auerbach.

Whilst the session runs for three hours it is possible to attend one, two or three hours, as works for you. Joining or leaving the group happens promptly on the hour. There is a tutor available although the group is officially untutored.

Cost £5 for one hour, £10 for two hours or £15 for three.
Tea and cake £1

Wednesday Drop-in long pose untutored
10.00am-1.00pm

We have Suzon modelling for the next three weeks. Suzon is new to us but she’s modelled around town so you may have bumped into her before – here’s a body shot and a portrait by James Bland.

Cost £15 no need to book, just turn up. £1 for coffee and biscuits at 11.30am
Read more here

Wednesday Afternoon Drop-in Portraiture
2.00pm -5.00pm

Having posed on Tuesday Priscilla will be returning to sit for our portraiture session this week and next. She has a powerful and interesting face which should be a good one to paint.

Cost £20 no need to book, just turn up. Tea and cake £1

This is a drop-in group for those wanting to work on their portraiture. If you haven’t been for a while would you fill in the form and read more here so that we can keep the numbers manageable.

Friday Drop-in Long pose untutored
1.00-4.00pm

We have Phoebe in a seated pose looking good with her bob. This will be the second week of a three week pose.

Cost £15, no need to book, just turn up. £1 for tea and cake at 3.30pm
More info here

Saturday Drop-in Long Pose Untutored Life Drawing and Painting
10.00am-1.00pm

Second week with Vibe, seated, John Barnes’ drawing below

Cost £15 – no need to book, just turn up. £1 for coffee and biscuits at 11.30am

Regards

Alison and Simon