Sketching with Chesterfield Primary School

Enfield Art Circle members spent a fun afternoon at Chesterfield Primary School at the end of June, working with children in Years 5 and 6 to explore the ways that sketchbooks can be used by artists.

Each artist spoke to a different class about the variety of ways that sketching can help an artist to develop ideas, followed by a practical session where the children tried things out for themselves.

Debbie Peaty said: ‘The children were making their own sketchbooks and the class I visited had already made theirs. We started by looking at the concept of doodling – what this was and how it could be a useful way of formulating ideas, practising using mediums and so on. I showed some quite varied examples from my own sketchbooks, then it was their turn to do their own doodles. They were enthusiastic and really engaged with the task with some very interesting results. We looked at using sketchbooks as preparatory work for eventual paintings, experimenting with shading to give things solidity, which they then tried for themselves, once again with some interesting results. We finished up by looking at sketchbooks as diaries of places we had been, people we had met, etc.  I think they enjoyed it and I certainly did. It was a very new experience for me – although I have run training sessions for adults I have never been faced by a class of nine and 10 year-olds before!’

Dolores Kitchener said: ‘Like Debbie, I’d not had any experience with the primary classroom situation and was a bit nervous, to be honest! But the children were really attentive and inquisitive. I decided to have a bit of fun with two-handed exercises, with the children drawing each other – this raised some giggles between them. Then they did drawing of whatever was in front of them, with a continuous single line. Some of them produced really interesting pages. Finally we went into the playground to draw a part of the building with the same technique. Even the teacher had a go!’

Sheila Burbidge said: ‘I spent a delightful afternoon with year 6 pupils talking about my sketchbooks and helping them make their own. Their teacher had devised a series of short exercises about sketching and we spent the rest of the time filling their books with doodles, quick drawings of each other, moving objects and animals, and finishing up with a collage. By the end of the afternoon they had little sketchbooks full of ideas. It was a very worthwhile time, being creative and having fun.’

Bill Simpson said: ‘I talked about how one would progress to draw and eventually paint, presenting my own sketchbook as a demonstration. The children were very responsive and interested inwhy I should spend my time drawing and painting. After that the children were instructed how to collect some paper, with decorative wallpaper for covers, and make a simple sketchbook, then draw in it, and they all set about the task with enthusiasm. The afternoon was a useful and formative interaction. To what extent it will be a lasting memory to the children, one can never know, but I like to think that there will be some that do recall our visit and follow up on some interest stimulated by it.’

Landscape painting with pastels

Thanks to artist Dawn Limbert for an entertaining and instructive demo on painting a landscape scene with soft pastels for our June meeting.

Dawn works mainly on Pastelmat paper, building up thin layers of colour using multiple short strokes, adding tones from light to dark. She scumbles colours together lightly, to avoid the ‘muddy’ effect that is often a risk with too much blending of soft pastels.

Dawn paints both in her studio and in the open air, and finds she gets the best results having experienced the location.

www.dawnlimbert.com

Painting a seascape in acrylics

We enjoyed an excellent demonstration from Sue Gray at our May meeting on painting a seascape in acrylic. Sue works mainly from small sketches which she does in situ, then works up the finished painting in the studio. She uses Daler Rowney System 3 acrylics, working on 3mm MDF boards, coated with gesso.

EAC member exhibits with Society of Graphic Fine Arts

EAC member Elizabeth McCrimmon is showing three ink drawings at the prestigious Society of Graphic Fine Art’s 102nd annual exhibition in central London.

The exhibition runs from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 March at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1.

The Society of Graphic Fine Art promotes original works of high quality that show excellence in draughtsmanship and drawing by hand. Work chosen for the exhibition is selected from a very large pool of entries.

‘This is my first year exhibiting as a full member which is quite exciting. I feel extremely lucky to have my work accepted,’ said Elizabeth.

Building cities with scissors and glue

Everyone got stuck in with the paper, scissors and glue at our March collage workshop, led by Kim Amis, to produce a wide and wonderful range of cityscapes.

‘It was a very good evening – Kim always gives us surprising ways of collating materials and redesigning a cityscape idea,’ commented EAC member Dolores Kitchener.

 

Painting a portrait in acrylics

We enjoyed a great demo at our February meeting from artist Keith Morton of painting a portrait in acrylics.

Volunteer model Christine sat very patiently as Keith spent a lot of time measuring dimensions by eye and ensuring the foundations of the portrait were sound before he began adding paint.

Keith’s top tip for painting is to think carefully and make each brush mark just once – no fussing with the paint!

Local art sale, Palmers Green

Original artworks by EAC and other local artists will be on sale for one day only on Sunday 26 February at St John’s Parish Centre, Bourne Hill, Palmers Green, N13.

EAC artists taking part include Debbie Peaty, David Webster and Guy Jackson, with a varied range of work, including oils, acrylics and prints of iPad paintings.

Entrance to the exhibition and sale is free, open from 11.30am to 5pm.

Dates for summer exhibition 2023

We’re delighted to announce that the EAC annual exhibition will once again be held in the Floristry Barn at Capel Manor Gardens in Enfield.

The exhibition will run for two weeks from Saturday 5 August to Saturday 19 August.

This is will be the EAC’s 91st exhibition, which has run continuously since the Circle’s inception in 1932.

The exhibition is open to all EAC members. For more information on making a submission, see Annual exhibition