Workshop in Caterham

What a fun day we had on Saturday painting a street scene.

Caterham Art Group

Its a difficult subject, indeed any subject that includes figures can seem quite daunting, especially if you are fairly new to painting, and this group has mixed skill levels from beginner to advanced.

It wasn't just painting a picture though, the finished painting was just part of the day, we covered how to use photos, what to keep in and what to leave out of a composition, choosing what the actual subject is and how we emphasise this.

We covered a lot and I have to say, the group worked really hard all day and as you can see achieved great results. Wendy said at the end 'hooray I painted my first person'

We were also spoiled with some wonderful cake kindly baked by Wendy which was delicious! So you see, the day was painting, eating cake and generally having a good time.
I painted along with the group and this was my finished painting from the day. It was inspired by our recent trip to Italy and this street scene is in the lovely town of Mantova.
If you look at the painting I did of 'The Flower Market' (13 October post) it is the same market that is at the end of this street, indeed I used the same two figures.

I was in Amsterdam for a couple  of days last week and although I did not manage a painting on location this time, I have a few ideas for paintings which I hope to do fairly soon. I am itching to paint a street scene with figures crossing a bridge with reflections, but I have a busy few days ahead, three demonstrations as well as the NEC show to prepare for next week, so my own paintings will have to go on hold for now.