On the first day of our annual exhibition several members are in the gallery demonstrating, offering critiques, showing sketchbooks and answering visitors’ questions.
New member of the RI, Tianya Zhou has been demonstrating his watercolour technique in the gallery and answering questions.
Tianya is a traditional watercolour artist primarily using pure watercolours, his method of working involves many thin glazes of transparent paint, which gives a great sense of colour and depth. He will often apply as many as 20 layers of paint before a work is completed.
Visitors were invited to bring in a small portfolio of your work for a Critique with Ann Blockley RI
Ann’s longstanding passion has been for nature, inspired by the countryside and gardens close to her Cotswold studio. She has a worldwide reputation for her unique interpretations and has written many books on her painting methods and filmed several DVDs covering a wide variety of subjects.In later years she has moved from flowers and animals to the landscape with its trees, hedgerows, birds, and wild-flower meadows.
Bob Rudd RI has been showing his sketchbooks and answering questions about his work and techniques.
Bob works on white paper so it shines through the translucent watercolour.
“I try to use watercolour as strongly as I possibly can, so right from the beginning I’ll go to the part of the painting that I feel most sure about, it could be a colour I have seen in the landscape or a colour idea, and I paint it as if that is going to be in the final painting unchanged. This confident start gives me something positive to relate to. Working in the same way, passages are added to area by area until most of the painting is covered. Some areas remain unaltered, whilst others are modified many times and a colour scheme emerges.” – Bob speaking to Cass Art last year.
Naomi Tydeman RI and Lillias August RI were in the gallery answering visitors’ questions.