Painting with a group

A couple of weeks ago I went along to a painting group in a nearby village with a friend of mine who has been going there for years. Fiona, she said, why not come and paint with us all? It's a group of painters who meet weekly, have a natter, paint in any medium they choose and enjoy the company of like minded people. I thought she would probably be right and it might be nice to meet like minded people, and paint in company. There is no tuition, it's just a painting group, so that is perfect as I don't feel like I'm stepping on anyone's toes.

I went along with my 10 x 12 inch blank canvas, easel and art bag, met everyone, wandered around and had a look at what everyone was doing, had a 'cuppa' and listened to everyone chatting away.
During the morning I blocked in all the basics for my next painting.  

This is the stage I got to, when the hall began to feel a bit cold and the lights went out!  Yes the meter had run out and that signalled our time to go return home. It was a very chilly day, but not half as cold as it would have been if we had been painting outside!

The colours I used so far are Shadow, Bluebell and a touch of White.

Already I can see how the painting is building up. I love it when a painting gets to this stage, I know its going the way I want it to and I then can't wait to move it along.

I think some people get a bit nervous is at this stage of their painting, when nothing looks finished. Some people love to have a small section complete, perhaps the shed or greenhouse, however I would say don't do it! Avoid completing any section too soon, just allow the painting to slowly come into ficus, otherwise you just keep on being dragged towards the finished bit to keep on tinkering with it, at the expense of the overall painting.

The finished painting turned out rather well and I will share my process with you tomorrow.