Circles of Light

Saturday, 1 April 2017

Art Circle days out, 2017

11 May Warton Hall (see link below) TIME CHANGE now 12 - 4pm
25 May Ribble Cruising Club Dock, Lytham Rd (opp Mc Donalds)
1 June Lytham Windmill & Lytham Lifeboat House, Lytham Green

This year I've introduced a programme of out and about sessions for Art Circle. Some are afternoon visits and others, as shown above, are for the day. The afternoon sessions are £3.50 and the day sessions are £7.00.

For the day activities, you will need to bring your own materials, a chair and a packed lunch.

Please arrive for a 11 am start: we will finish 3 - 3.30pm. All welcome and no experience needed to enjoy. Come and have a go.

Entry into Warton Hall is a £3 donation to National Open Gardens Scheme and although Lytham Windmill & Lytham Lifeboat House are free to enter, individual donations would be greatly appreciated.

If you're new to Art Circle, please email me to book a place. You can borrow my materials too, if you don't have any! christine.stringfellow@hotmail.co.uk

The full list of Art Circle out and about sessions 2017 can be seen on the page above.

Thursday, 30 March 2017

an "old" lifeboat, a new lifeboat & sketchbooks

What a lovely way to spend a soggy afternoon: sketching in the lifeboat station.

Many thanks Lytham St Annes Lifeboat Station, St Annes for your hospitality. I hope you enjoy our sketches which are below.

If anyone is interested in the new lifeboat or would like to support the RNLI Lytham St Annes Shannon Lifeboat Appeal please follow the link.

My last plug for RNLI... if you haven't visited this station do. It has a viewing gallery, dressing up for children, interesting displays, lots of events coming up and a shop. It also has a roof so perfect for a wet weather visit!

Stuart

Monica

Lydia

Mike

Dorothy

Roland

Monica

Mike

Angie 2

Angie 1

Lydia

Patricia

Here we are... except Lydia who's taking the photo. From left Roland, Dorothy, Mike, Me, Stuart, Angie, Patricia & Monica.

limited pallet, images & interiors

Art Circle at St Annes Library: Thursdays, 11 - 12.30

The task...

Using a limited pallet of four coloured pencils, depict an interior using an image as a starting point.

I love the simplicity and coherence a limited pallet brings to these drawings. Notice Roland's drawing, I think most would agree it's easily recognisable as "Vincent's Bedroom at Arles" Vincent van Gogh 1889. Less well know is Stuart's starting point, "Card Players in a Sunlit Room" Pieter de Hooch 1658: the idea of inside & outside is captured beautifully.

Well done everyone: all the pieces work really well!

Mike

Dorothy

Stuart

Angie

Patricia

Monica

Lydia

Roland

Kay

Friday, 24 March 2017

Silhouette, the Queen & St Annes

A silhouette is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless and the whole is usually presented on a light background.

Silhouette images were first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed.

Cutting portraits in profile from black card became popular in the mid-18th century, though the term silhouette was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century: this tradition has continued under this name into the 21st century.

Silhouettes represented a cheap but effective alternative to the portrait miniature. Skilled specialist artists could cut a high-quality bust portrait, the most common style, in a matter of minutes, working purely by eye. Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, which could be equally quick.

The name comes from Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who made austere economies in 1759 because of the Seven Year War. His name became synonymous with anything done or made cheaply including silhouettes as we know them today.

[from Wikipedia]

Contemporary silhouettes made by manipulating origami paper...

Kumi y Amashta

Kumi y Amashta

Our task...

Draw the profile of the Queen onto coloured paper / card.

Make the image into a silhouette or something else.

Example:
using a straight edge, a grid was drawn over an image of the Queen
another grid was made on paper
Marking where the Queen and grid intersected assisted in drawing a copy of the first image

Pencil, then white marker were used, then I added white coloured pencil.

The fab results are below...

Angie

Mabel

Patricia

Stuart

Monica

Mike

Dorothy who experimented with "torn" outs too

Roland

In the afternoon Art Circle reconvened at the Water's Edge Cafe near St Annes Lifeboat Station where fab drawings were made of the station, the pier, the beach & the promenade. Next time I'll make sure I move my camera from my morning bag into my afternoon bag!

Next Thursday, 30 March

St Annes Library 11 - 12.30 & RNLI Lifeboat Station, St Annes 1.30 - 3pm.

If you join us in the afternoon, and you're very welcome, bring a chair.

Thursday, 16 March 2017

paper, pen and portraits

The task...

Bring the paper or pad you would use for making notes or lists.

Bring the pen or pencil you would normally use to make the notes/lists.

Draw the portraits provided cut from a daily newspaper.

Draw each other.

Simple - but not easy!

Without exception, everyone improved their observational skills: the beautiful drawings are below. Notice in some, the economy of line to give a soft rendition and notice in others the striking resemblance to the people drawn. Excellent!

Next week (23 March)

St Annes Library 11 - 12.30, lunch then we're off to Water's Edge Cafe on St Annes promenade for more. 1.30 - 3pm ish

The following week (30 March)

St Annes Library 11 - 12.30, lunch then we're off to RNLI lifeboat station on St Annes promenade for more. 1.30 - 3pm ish